The Coffee Bean Becomes a World Trade Good
As the demand for „green gold“ (raw coffee before
roasting) increased, the money followed. When the south Arabian plantation
owners realized how lucrative the coffee bean export was, they began to reduce
the culturing ability, before coffee became a major crop in other parts of
the world. In order to prevent the beans from being grown by other farmers,
the raw beans were immersed in boiling water, rendering them nonviable.
Despite
these measures, the cultivation of coffee plants spread to other parts of Europe,
except for France, during the 17th century. The most competitive of the coffee
growing countries were Portugal and Spain. The profits from trade with the
Spice Islands soared. To profit from the competition between Spain and Portugal
and the Spice Islands, the Netherlands founded the East Indian Company in 1602
and nineteen years later, the West Indian Company.
These companies, with strong
financial backing and many ships, transported the exports of Spain and Portugal.
The expansion to Sri Lanka in 1650, and later to Indonesia in 1699 began with
coffee plants cultivated in Amsterdam. In 1715, the French finally joined the
coffee boom, growing their plants on the island of Haiti. Goods were picked
and delivered with the help of many slaves, which were handled increasingly
inhumanely, as the demand for coffee and sugar increased.
Foward to  The Rise of the Coffee Bean
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