Expected Quality Gains of Vietnam Coffee Beans

Vietnam coffee is one of the most marketed coffees over the world. Vietnam now is considered to be the largest coffee growing company after Brazilian coffee.

Now, supply of Vietnam coffee is expected to grow even more. According to reports, coffee production in major coffee farms in Vietnam is expected to grow by 10% in this season.

The gain in coffee production is due to increased quality of the Robusta beans. The beans are a bit larger compared to last years crop, but quality gains are primarily thanks to good weather conditions, better treatment of the crop - including Government programs to build warehouses and supply drying-equipment (drying properly, i.e. on the sun instead of fires in case the beans got wet from the rain, is essential, as improperly dried beans spoil the quality) - all contributing to the rise in top-grade Robusta beans.

The Robusta type coffee beans, as a rule, are of lower quality than the Arabica beans, but they are used for various purposes, including for a blend to add body to Espresso drinks.

There are speculations of a possible record increase in Vietnam's coffee production in this harvest - starting past Oct. 1 - to 1.32 million tons compared to 1.17 million tons last year, according to reports.

According to estimates, worldwide Robusta production is expected to reach a total of 3.29 million tons, which is an increase of 5.4% and may lead to an excess in supply of about 4 million 60 kg coffee bags over demand (a total of 54.9 million produced bags of Robusta coffee beans worldwide).

Source:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-06/coffee-harvest-in-vietnam-region-to-climb-10-as-quality-rises.html