One of Norway’s leading coffee experts, Herman Friele, uses the body’s most important organ when he smells his way to the right coffee blend (Photo: Kaffehuset Friele)

Did you know that Norwegians drink second-most coffee in the world, only beaten by the Finns? About 40,000 tons are imported yearly, which is equivalent to 9.5 kilos (21 pounds) per capita. Sweden is the largest supplier of roasted coffee, while the main imports of green coffee comes from Brazil.

Coffee is considered Norway‘s national drink, and it has a special position in the society.  Around 1850, coffee became a beverage for common people, and since then people has been categorized as coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers.

If you divide 9.5 kilos of coffee at the recommended amount of coffee per liter of water and the number of days in a year, Norwegians on average are drinking 0.4 liter of coffee daily. According to Norwegian Coffee Information, an average coffee drinker is enjoying 5 cups a day.

Roasted Coffee from Sweden

Sweden is one of the main suppliers of coffee to Norway. This is because the Norwegians increasingly choose roasted coffee rather than green coffee. The roasting often takes place in other countries than where the coffee is grown, and as much as 53 percent of the roasted coffee comes from the neighboring country to the east. In addition to Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and Brazil are the largest exporters of roasted coffee to Norway with about 80 percent of the total market.

The imported green coffee comes from countries most people associate with coffee, as Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. Brazil accounts for near 50 percent of the supplies.

Norwegians got to know decaffeinated coffee through American media. After the millennium, imports have increased, but the proportion of caffeine-free imports accounts for only about 0.5 percent.

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Text by: Thor Lanesskog, ThorNews

Source: Statistics Norway, International Coffee Organization

Categories: Beverage, Culinary Surprises