Coffee and Caffeine FAQ

There is another dimension to all this that rarely seems to get a mention.

I buy only Arabica because Arabica generally requires a larger, more skilled workforce to harvest. Because Arabica will not grow well at high temperatures, but still needs sunlight, it needs to be grown at altitude in tropical zones - typically on hill slopes where mechanical harvesters cannot be readily or efficiently used.

Robusta can be grown in hotter conditions - so it can be grown on the plains where it can be harvested mechanically and cheaply. The cheaper Robusta floods the local market and this then helps drive the more expensive Arabica growers out of business. The Arabica workers then end up working for the big Robusta growers, if there's work available.

More often because Robusta can be harvested by relatively few workers using mechanical harvesters, there is no work for the unemployed Arabica workers who end up displaced from their traditional livelihoods and flood into the urban slums in search of work.

In short, if you want to support the big agro businesses that do so much damage to our planet, then buy Robusta!

If on the other hand you want to help small communities survive, start by ensuring that you only buy Arabica.