Slaves working in a coffee drying yard, in a photograph by George Leuzinger (1813-1892) from 1870.
You may have noticed that coffee consumption is widespread in Brazil. It’s no coincidence that we refer to breakfast as “café da manhã” or to afternoon coffee as “café da tarde.” But have you ever wondered about the origins of coffee consumption and production in Brazil?
The origin of coffee in Brazil dates back to the 18th century. The first coffee seedlings were planted around 1720 in the province of Pará. The person who brought the first coffee seeds to Brazil was Francisco de Melo Palheta, after a trip to French Guiana.
Coffee has been consumed since ancient times, when the inhabitants of Ethiopia, in Africa, first came to know the plant. Subsequently, Persians and Arabs came into contact with this habit of consumption, and coffee began to be cultivated in various parts of the world. Some sectors of European society possibly started drinking coffee after the 17th century, a habit that quickly spread across the continent.
This increase in coffee consumption in Europe and later in the USA partly explains the growth of coffee production in Brazil from the early 19th century. The first large coffee plantations emerged in Baixada Fluminense and the Paraíba Valley, in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
The soil and climate of the region favored coffee production, which was aimed at meeting the consumer market in Europe and the USA. Enslaved Africans formed the workforce for cultivating, harvesting, and processing the coffee. Transportation to the port of Rio de Janeiro, from where it was initially exported, was done on muleback.
Starting in 1837, coffee became the main export product of the Brazilian Empire. The great profits from coffee exports enriched the large landowners, the so-called “coffee barons,” and financially supported the Brazilian Empire.
Slaves working in a coffee drying yard, in a photograph by George Leuzinger (1813-1892) from 1870.
A process of modernization in society was also made possible thanks to the profits gained from the export of coffee. Railroads were constructed to transport coffee more quickly from the farms to the ports, especially the Port of Santos in São Paulo.
With the coffee revenues, it was also possible to urbanize the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, as well as some towns in the interior of São Paulo, such as Campinas. The interior of the province of São Paulo, in the area known at the time as the “Paulista West,” became the site for the expansion of coffee production after the decline of the plantations in the Paraíba Valley. The existence of the so-called “terra roxa,” a very fertile soil, ensured increased production in this region.
Coffee production relied heavily on slave labor. The slave trade between Africa and Brazil intensified, despite England’s efforts to stop it. On the other hand, the revenues from the production and commercialization of coffee allowed for a diversification of the urban economy in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, giving rise to new social groups such as workers and the so-called middle class.
Coffee remained the main commodity of the Brazilian economy until the first half of the 20th century, when increased industrialization replaced it as the principal economic force.
Did you realize how much history is behind a simple cup of coffee?
