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The World’s Top Coffee Exporter Considers Importing Coffee

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Coffee beans are displayed at a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The Seattle-based coffee chain is expanding in Cambodia to tap the nation's rapid GDP growth. The share of the company's Asian revenue has roughly doubled in past two years to 15 percent. — Coffee beans are displayed at a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. The Seattle-based coffee chain is expanding in Cambodia to tap the nation's rapid GDP growth. The share of the company's Asian revenue has roughly doubled in past two years to 15 percent.
Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg

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By Fabiana Batista and Rachel Gamarski

April 5, 2017 at 10:00 AM UTC

Updated on

April 5, 2017 at 1:27 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Brazilians have had to endure a lot of late, between the recession, the impeachment and the never-ending stream of national scandals.

But importing coffee beans? In Brazil, the commodity king of the world?