There’s nothing that gets the day started better than a good, fresh, cup of coffee.

According to legend, coffee was discovered in the 10th century by an Ethiopian goat-herder. As he was leading his herd through the hills of Ethiopia, the goats began munching on a certain bean which made them excited and jittery. The goat-herder tasted some of the beans, and the rest is history.

Today, coffee is one of the world’s most popularly-traded commodities. And one is forced to ask: what is it about coffee that keeps its traders up at night?

 

1. Consumer demand for coffee is enormous. A recent survey of bachelors and bachelorettes reveals that most singles view coffeehouses as the ideal first date.

2. People around the world drink 500 billion cups of coffee per year. Half of those cups are drunk in the morning time.

3. The average cup of brewed coffee contains 95 mg of caffeine (that’s 15 mg more caffeine than a can of red-bull).

4. The top 5 coffee consumers (in order) are: The U.S., Germany, Japan, Italy and France.

5. The world’s top 5 coffee producers (in order), are: Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia.

6. 33% of world coffee is produced in Brazil.

7. In the 1990′s, Starbucks’ founder, Howard Schultz, based his business strategy on bringing the look, feel, and culture, of Italian coffeehouses to America.

8. 125 million people depend on coffee for their livelihood.

9. Coffee is the second-most popularly traded commodity in the world (one spot behind Oil).

10. All of the world’s coffee is grown along the bean belt (a specific area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn).