Following the bean
History, culture, and consequences of coffee
Coffee is often perceived as a simple commodity of everyday Viennese life — whether as an essential morning energiser or a calming pastime beverage. It is easy to forget that this kitchen staple is not only a product for human consumption.
Powerful caffeine
The Coffea genus originates in the tropical environments of Yemen and Ethiopia and thrives in warm, humid climates. It is a flowering plant and part of the Rubiaceae family, producing over 125 species of coffee plants. Growing primarily around the equator in what is colloquially referred to as the world’s “Coffee Belt,” the plant has been a staple crop of farmers for generations, primarily due to the plant's unique caffeine property.
In many Coffea species, caffeine, due to its slightly toxic effect and bitter taste, acts as a natural pesticide against herbivores or disease-containing bacteria. At the same time, it also contains several stimulating properties beneficial to the plant. One of caffeine's most intriguing effects not only improves the ability of a plant to attract pollinators, but also influences the pollinator's memory, encouraging them to return to the same plant.
These evolutionary protective and reproductive mechanisms also caught human’s attention. This ability to use a natural substance to influence and manipulate the human body intrigued the world. Though some feared that the caffeine would negatively harm the body, many others found the medicinal properties very helpful. For instance, many Sufi Muslims in 15th century Yemen would drink coffee in order to stay awake for nightly prayers, and many early physicians would also prescribe coffee for a variety of health conditions.
The business of the exotic
Increased international trade in subsequent centuries turned coffee into a cornerstone of European culture, with Vienna's own coffee culture benefiting significantly from this economic boom. However, while the Western world would continue to profit from this booming industry, it would also play an active part in what would be decades-long periods of colonisation, oppression, and exploitation. During the 1815 Congress of Vienna (Vienna, 1815: First International Condemnation of the Slave Trade), Austria was one of eight signatories agreeing to the eventual abolition of the international slave trade, but the immediate impact would prove insignificant. This allowed many countries such as Brazil, which to this day is the largest producer of coffee in the world, to continue slavery into the late 19th century.
Yet exploitation occurred not only as physical oppression. As the coffee industry was embraced by the West, companies repeatedly used images and stereotypes of non-Western European faces to sell their products. Popular images on brand labels used racist depictions of Africans and Turks to market coffee's exotic origins, with one the most infamous instances being Vienna's own Julius Meinl. Many of these images also romanticized the realities of the labour, disguising beneath imagery of proud, hardworking farmers.
An overflowing demand
In the late 1940s, Fairtrade International (formerly known as Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO)) developed a system to promote greater transparency, fairness and environmental responsibility in response to growing awareness of poor working conditions in coffee farming.
With the world’s population now exceeding 8 billion, the desire for coffee products continues to soar. In 2024, Austria consumed an estimated 48.3 thousand tons of coffee worth nearly 1.06 billion euros (see the European Coffee Report 2024/2025). In addition to a growing market, coffee also faces new threats of habitat destruction and disease vulnerability due to climate change (compare 'A Systematic Review on the Impacts of Climate Change on Coffee Agrosystems' by Bilen, C. et al., 2022). Today, many still work to fight against the systems within the coffee industry and enact positive changes, tackling issues from workers’ rights and wages to the impact of climate change.
Traces of this activism can also be found in Vienna. Projects such as Mein Julius, a critical art and protest project from 2007 (see Die Presse), which advocates for radical changes to many Austrian brands, bringing the issues of colonisation and racism into focus. The story of the bean thus continues...
Written by
Eva Kiser, Astghik Aslanyan, Klara Maaß and Ekaterina B. (Central European University)