This is how Switzerland consumes coffee

Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks in the world. From bustling city cafes to remote mountain villages, coffee has found its way into the lives of millions of people.

The wake-up call is not only a daily ritual for many, but also promotes social gatherings and productivity. Or as this good gentleman puts it:

In Switzerland we also celebrate and enjoy the brown bean drink. For many Swiss it is impossible to imagine life without the famous “Kafi zum Zmorge”. But which coffee do the Swiss like best?

It’s the classic café crème. At least this is what is most often ordered in restaurants and cafes. Café-Crème was developed in Switzerland.

Switzerland earns more than 4.5 billion francs from coffee every year. Two billion of this goes to the catering industry. What many people do not know: 70 to 80 percent of the world trade in green coffee passes through Switzerland. Coffee has become Switzerland’s most important export, ahead of chocolate and cheese. Switzerland is one of the five largest coffee exporters alongside Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam and Germany.

The coffee processed in Switzerland is largely sold to our neighboring countries France and Germany. The US, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and Austria are also major buyers of Swiss coffee. In 2019, 83,819 tons of coffee were exported abroad.

Before the coffee is exported, it must first be imported into Switzerland. Coffee is delivered to Switzerland from various producing countries via various sea routes. The majority comes from South America, about 68 million bags of 60 kg.

Because coffee is one of the staple foods in Switzerland, there is an emergency stock, also called a mandatory stock, which currently contains approximately 13,500 tons of green coffee.

We’ll continue with the coffee in a moment, but first a short commercial break:

And now back to the story…

The stimulating drink is very popular in Switzerland. According to figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Swiss drink almost two cups of coffee per day, or 538 cups per year.

Together with our German-speaking neighbors Austria and Germany, we have a high coffee consumption compared to other European countries. Denmark, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina also consume a significant amount of coffee. However, coffee does not seem to be particularly popular in Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Belarus and Slovakia.

The Scandinavian countries are definitely among the biggest coffee drinkers in Europe. However, Luxembourg is the big surprise: the country has become addicted to coffee.

For 200 milliliters of coffee you need about twelve grams of coffee. One kilogram corresponds to approximately 83 cups of coffee. Luxembourg has an annual coffee consumption of twelve million kilograms. That’s the equivalent of 996,000,000 cups of coffee. Accordingly, the country consumes 1,556 cups of coffee per capita annually, which amounts to almost 4 cups per day.

The figures should be read with caution as per capita consumption was calculated based on the number of inhabitants in the country. This also includes children who most likely do not yet drink coffee.

A traditional espresso in Italy, a rich cup of Ethiopian coffee or the creamy milk coffee in a coffee chain – the love for coffee seems universal. The International Coffee Organization surveyed 65 countries about their coffee consumption.

The figures are calculated in coffee bags of 60 kg. Approximately 5,000 cups of coffee can be extracted from a 60 kg coffee bag.

For the particularly curious coffee nerds, here is the global comparison with all 65 countries surveyed:

As you know, Switzerland is an expensive country. You also see this with coffee. According to figures from Numbeo, a cappuccino in Switzerland costs an average of CHF 4.83. This puts Switzerland in third place worldwide. In Denmark and Qatar a cappuccino is even more expensive.

The cheapest cappuccino is available in Algeria for an average of 0.56 francs. Drinking cheap cappuccino is also possible in Tunisia, Syria and Kosovo. Here is the world map for an overview: