Celebrating the Labor of the Coffee Industry

​20 million+ families in 50 countries work directly in the production of coffee. Around 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihoods. When you consider seasonal labor, children and other family members, plus related jobs like the truck driver or port worker — whose work during part of the year depends on earnings that come from processing, transporting and shipping the coffee — the figure quickly multiplies.

Add to this the significant number of people who rely on coffee contributing to a part of their salary, whether from roasting coffee, serving coffee in cafes or restaurants, working at a factory which manufactures coffee equipment, disposable cups for coffee or other industry-related activities, and you will find that  millions more people depend on coffee for at least a part of their salary throughout the world.

Over 500 billion cups of coffee are consumed every year. Each cup will directly or indirectly affect between 600 million and 800 million people worldwide or equivalent to at least 10 percent of the world’s population. The importance of coffee, and the labor involved to produce it cannot be overstated. Coffee is a world economic and cultural force that brings us together. Share a cup with a friend, and celebrate the hard work and human innovation that crosses all political, religious and cultural boundaries to bring us our favorite cup of joe.