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The Food Chain

Factual: Food & Drink

Examining what it takes to put food on your plate

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

The Food Chain: Coffee: Globalisation’s Drink of Choice

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16/05/2015

Coffee: Globalisation’s Drink of Choice

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Coffee: Globalisation’s Drink of Choice

How the coffee industry is changing for growers, sellers, and consumers around the world.

In pursuit of a valuable and widely traded commodity - coffee. Small farmers are threatened by external factors.  Plus, how many cups a week is too much?

How the coffee industry is changing for growers, sellers, and consumers around the world.  This week's programme follows in pursuit of a widely traded commodity- meeting connoisseurs from every part of the coffee chain, from the picking of the coffee cherry to the very last sip.  

Coffee is not an industry without its challenges. Small farmers are threatened by external factors like climate change and are subject to price volatility on the open markets. Maud Jullien reports from Burundi, a country trying to market itself towards niche coffee markets amidst political turmoil.  Then in Colombia, Arturo Wallace meets a real life marketing mascot in the form of a farmer portraying Juan Valdez, the symbol of the Colombian coffee brand and speaks to the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos.  And Shalu Yadav is in India exploring how an aspirational class is setting aside their tea in favour of something stronger.  

Plus, how many cups a week is too much?

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