The UN General Assembly approved a resolution in New York to designate October 1st as International Coffee Day. Dozens of countries, including Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, are said to have co-authored the document.
The resolution specifically notes that the coffee production and processing chain serves a number of Sustainable Development Goals: combating hunger, reducing extreme poverty, empowering women, and supporting decent work and economic growth.
FAO Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Xu Dunyuy, simply explained the meaning of this decision: coffee is not just a drink, it is a part of global trade "from grain to cup," a source of livelihood for millions of farms, a bridge connecting rural communities with global markets.
Interest in coffee is also growing every year. It is noted that over the past decade, per capita consumption worldwide has increased by an average of 1.2 percent annually, and the industry brings income to almost 25 million farmers. In addition, at each stage of the value chain - production, processing, logistics, roasting, service - new jobs will appear.
The scale of the industry is enormous: it is noted that the global coffee industry generates more than $200 billion in revenue annually. Coffee remains one of the most actively traded products in the world: in 2024, global production exceeded 11 million tons, of which about 8 million tons of coffee beans were exported to international markets. In the same year, the cost of production was estimated at about $25 billion, and the volume of exports - at about $34 billion.
According to the results of 2024, Brazil and Vietnam were cited as the largest exporters, while the European Union and the USA were the largest importers.
In short, the purpose of this UN decision is not just to "celebrate" - to show more of the work behind coffee, rural communities, fair value chains, and sustainable production. That is, behind a cup of morning coffee lies an entire economy and the lives of millions of families - this truth has now been officially recognized at the international level.
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