Average prices for Arabica and robusta coffee worldwide from 2014 to 2025

Coffee growers raise two species of coffee bean: Arabica and robusta. The former is more expensive, selling for 2.93 U.S. dollars per kilogram in 2018 and projected to increase in price to 4.35 U.S. dollars in 2025. Robusta, named because it can grow at a wider range of altitudes and temperatures, sold for 1.87 U.S. dollars in 2018, projected to sell at 2.8 U.S. dollars per kilogram in 2025. 

Coffee production

Coffee originally comes from Ethiopia, where a significant portion of coffee production continues to take place. The more popular bean, Arabica, takes its name from the Arabian Empire, when coffee consumption spread throughout the Middle East. After overcoming its ban by the Catholic Church, who saw coffee as in intoxicant from the Muslim world, coffee sales per capita are highest in European countries.

Major players

Starbucks has shaped the modern coffee culture, capitalizing on the Seattle coffee shop scene. This opened gourmet coffee to a wider market, shifting the global demand from cheaper robusta to better-tasting Arabica varieties. This shift has influenced the world coffee market, prompting companies such as McDonalds to open McCafé stores to cater to the evolving tastes of global consumers.