Coffee (Coffea) is the main sort of the Rubiaceae family with over 500 types and 6000 species.
Coffee has 60 different species of which 10 are cultivated. The two main varieties of coffee (representing almost the entire market) are:
1. Coffea arabica (from Ethiopia) and more commonly called arabica. Since the early 2000s, arabica account for more than 60% of world production and almost all the South American production,
2. Coffea canephora var. Robusta is the main variety of the species Coffea canephora. It comes from West and Central Africa and represents about 40% of world production.
Two other species of much lower quality are subject to a restricted trading:
1. Coffea liberica, or "Coffee of Liberia"
2. Coffea excelsa, or "Coffee of Chad".
Both varieties are grown in some African countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Benin) and Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam). Production remains negligible.
Coffee is among beverages known as "stimulating", as well as tea. It is also considered a luxury, to the extent that its consumption is mainly concentrated in industrialized countries.