Coffee production in 2010 is estimated to be 7 million tons.
Brazil currently grows about 4 billion coffee trees making them the world’s number one producer of coffee. Columbia is second, with about two thirds of Brazil’s production.
Germany tops the world in coffee consumption with a solid 16 pounds per person each year. Other top consumers per capita are the United States, Italy, Austria, and Nordic countries. United States residents drink an average of 3.1 cups of coffee each day.
Also see: The Top Ten Coffees in the World
Humans consumed coffee as early as the 9th century when it appeared in the highlands of Ethiopia – shepherds there were said to have noticed their goats who had been eating the wild coffee berries were literally dancing with energy. Coffee soon spread to Egypt and Yemen. By the 15th century coffee had reached Persia and Turkey as well as northern Africa, and then to Italy and then rest of Europe and finally the Americas.
About 20,000 to 40,000 pounds of coffee cherry may be produced on a three to five acre Kona coffee farm.
About 4,000 acres in Kona are farmed in coffee, producing about 3 million pounds of green coffee beans annually from about 15 million pounds of cherry, reduced another 20% by roasting.