Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1912-12-20
IMPORTS OF DRINKS.
Consular Reports Show United
States Largest Coffee
Consumer.
Amount Of Cocoa Brought to This
Country Nearly Trebied In Ten
Years-Japan and China Send
Most Of the Tea.

Washington. of cocoa into
the United States IN the year which
ends with December will exceed those
Of any earlier year and approximate
150,000,00O pounds, against 67,OO0,ooo
pounds ten years ago. The growth In
the importation Of this article In re-
cent years has been much more rapid
than that of tea or coffee. The guam
tity OF cocoa, or cacao, imported In
1919 is practically three times as great
as in 1902, decade earlier, while tea
imports show an increase OF but ~
per cent. and those Of coffee are act
ually less than in 1902. the COMPARE
sons being for the nine months end
ing with September Of the years
named.
This rapid increase in importationo
Of cocoa has brought the United States
to first rank in the consumption OF
that article, the present consumption
based upon the net imports OF the cal
endar year 1911, being 130,00O,O0O
pounds, compared with 112,OOO,00O for
Germany, 100000 for France. and
66,000,000 for the United Kingdom
out of a world consumption OF ap-
proximately 500,000,00O pounds. VI
the worlds imported coffee the United
States is also the largest consumer
the net imports last year having been
796,000,000 pounds, compared with
404 100000 for Germany, 245,Ooo,ooo
for France, 2s,O0OO0O for the United
Kingdom. and 26.0O0.00O for Russia.
In imports of tea, however, the United
States ranks third, her total imports
Of that article, 10O,O00,O00 pounds, be-
ing exceeded by those of the United
Kingdom, 294,00O,OO0 pounds, and
those Of Russia, 155,000.00O pounds.
.Germany's tea imports for consump'
ton in 1911 amounted to but 100000
pounds, and those Of France 3,OOO.Ooo
pounds.
Most Of the cocoa imported into the
United States is produced in the West
Indies, Central and South America
OF the 131, 100000 pounds imported IN
the first nine months Of 1912, 81 ,OOO'-
900 pounds were from British West
Indies, 2S,O00.000 from Santo Domin'
go, 100000 from Ecuador, and H.
100000 from Brazil; while 2o,OOO,ooo
pounds were credited to Portugal ana
100000 pounds to the United King
dom, though, in fact, produced IN GER
tain of their colonies.
Brazil is the chief source Of our i'm
ported coffee, having supplied 43o'-
100000 pounds out Of total OF 65l,'
100000 pounds imported in the nine
months ended with September, 1872,
compared with 100000 from Colon
bia, 37,5OO,OOO from Venezuela, 81
100000 from the Central American
American states, 100000 from Mex
leo and less than 60,000,000 pounds
from all other countries, including A.
100000 pounds imported from Europe.
Japan usually supplies about one
half of the tea consumed in the United
States, though in the current year the
proportion imported from that coun-
try is somewhat less than one-half.
OF the 100000 pounds Of tea i'm
ported in the nine months under re-
view, 100000 pounds were from ia
pan, 100000 from China, 100000
from the East Indies, and 100000
from the United Kingdom, presumably
the product of certain Of her colonies.
The relative increase in importa-
tons of cocoa, coffee and tea into the
United States is illustrated by the fol-
lowing compilation of the Statistical
Division Of the Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce. 1t will be seen
that in the period from 1880 to 1911
imports of cocoa increased from s.
600 900 to 1S4,000.O0O pounds; those Of
coffee from 404,000,000 to 100000, 900
pounds, and those of tea from 6S,-
100000 to 1O4,O0o.Oo0 pounds. Imports
of cocoa are thus twenty times as
much as in 1880. while those Of cof-
fee in the same period have about dou-
bled, and those of tea increased about
so per cent.