Coffee farmers and coffee farming

There are coffee farms almost all around the world. Most coffee farmers are small entrepreneurs who only have a few hundred coffee plants. Coffee farms differ from each other on every continent, and the soil on every continent is different. Soil is one of the essential factors that affects the flavour of coffee. From coffee farms, happy beans travel to the other side of the world, where they are roasted by Paulig – another family-run company. On this page you will be introduced to some farmers of happy beans.

Coffee farming as a livelihood

Paulig buys about one per cent of all the coffee beans grown in the world, which is 60 million kilos of coffee every year. This means that Paulig has a great responsibility, but at the same time the power to influence the conditions under which our coffee is grown.

Different farms

Wild coffee plants grow in mountainous forests under a canopy of shade trees such as various edible plants and fruit trees. Breeding, however, has also resulted in varieties that are resistant to direct sunlight. In a traditional shade-grown coffee farm, coffee bushes grow in the shade of the native trees. Nitrogen-fixing and commercially viable species of trees are then often planted as shade trees.

Growing conditions for coffee

The ideal temperature for Arabica beans is 15–25 degrees and for Robusta beans 22–26 degrees. Coffee also requires a lot of rain to grow. Arabica beans grow best at altitudes of 1,000-2,200 metres, and Robusta beans at slightly lower altitudes.

Fighting pests

Climatic conditions caused by climate change create, regrettably often, ideal environments for pests to reproduce.

“Each continent has its own unique type of soil, which has a significant impact on the taste of the coffee grown there.”

“Each continent has its own unique type of soil, which has a significant impact on the taste of the coffee grown there.”
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