Major convenience store chains' huge distribution networks for coffee are supported by procurement from trading companies, but these primarily consist of commodity coffee.
Not only in convenience stores, but also in the regular coffee, instant coffee, and canned coffee sold in supermarkets, as well as much of the coffee served in cafes and coffee shops, all are commodity coffee.
Currently, the price of commodity coffee is determined by the New York Mercantile Exchange and, for some Robusta varieties, the London Mercantile Exchange.
Coffee originally arrived in Yemen from Ethiopia in the 15th century and was consumed throughout the Arab world.
In the 17th century, the Dutch and Portuguese began cultivating it in their colonies in South America and Indonesia.
In the 18th century, these colonies were transformed into large-scale plantations, and large quantities of coffee were exported using slave labor.
In the late 19th century, the development of railroads and steamships made mass exports to Europe and America possible, and the habit of drinking coffee spread to the general public.
Eventually, coffee exchanges were established in New York, Hamburg, and London.
New York subsequently played a central role.
Coffee became a global commodity alongside oil and wheat, and began to be traded on the futures market.
The product is called a commodity in English, and its price is determined on the commodity exchange, so it is called commodity coffee.
However, just like stocks, foreign exchange, and virtual currency, futures trading prices fluctuate due to social conditions and the increase in speculators.
With the abolition of colonies and slavery, former colonies, as coffee-producing countries, began to have a say in coffee prices, and in 1962, an agreement called the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) was established to stabilize coffee bean prices.
However, in 1989, the United States refused to accept the agreement, claiming that "this agreement means that American citizens are paying unfairly high prices for coffee," and eventually withdrew from the agreement. This agreement collapsed, and coffee bean prices plummeted.
When supply of a product is low relative to demand, the price rises, and when supply is high, the price falls.
The agreement to stabilize prices meant that productive countries would curb production and not allow prices to fall, but by increasing production, supply increased and prices fell.
In this way, coffee beans, like gasoline, fluctuate with international situations and affect our cost of living.
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