Which countries grow the most coffee?
Around seventy countries grow coffee commercially, but production is heavily concentrated. Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia lead1, and the five largest producers together account for nearly three quarters of the world’s green coffee2.
Why is coffee seasonal?
Harvests run in roughly two annual cycles depending on hemisphere and latitude. After picking and processing, coffee typically rests at origin for a month or two before shipping, and ocean transit adds several weeks more. From cherry to our warehouse is months rather than days, which is why a roaster’s offerings change through the year even when the bag design does not.
Is the coffee belt shrinking?
Yes, and this is the part that matters most. Modelling published in PLOS ONE projects that roughly half the land currently suitable for Arabica will have stopped being suitable by 20503. The losses fall unevenly: hot, dry areas such as parts of Brazil, India and Central America could lose close to 80 percent of their coffee land, while cooler areas nearer the equator including much of Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Indonesia are least affected, though even those face roughly a one third decline3. A 2026 Rabobank assessment reached a similar conclusion and noted that specialty coffees and established origin brands may be among the most exposed4.
In practice the belt does not disappear so much as climb. As lower elevations warm past what Arabica tolerates, the suitable zone moves uphill, which works until a mountain runs out of height. That is the constraint facing much of Central America, and much of why the price of good coffee moves in one direction.
Try this
Look up where your current bag was grown and check the elevation on the label, then find the place on a map and notice how close to the equator it sits. Do that three or four times and the relationship between latitude, altitude and what is in your cup stops being abstract.