Behind a cup of coffee: international market structure and competitiveness

Purpose This study aims to analyse the structure and the competitiveness of the international coffee market. Design/methodology/approach To describe the international market structure, this study uses Herfindahl–Hirschman index, net export index (NEI), and to measure export competitiveness revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA). Finally, survival function analyses were developed using the Kaplan–Meier product-limit estimator to characterize the stability and duration of the competitiveness in the international coffee market. Findings The results reveal that the imports and exports market structure are unconcentrated. NEI shows that several countries are stable in their commercial characteristics (imports, exports and re-exports), nevertheless, NEI also revealed countries transitioning through the commercial characteristics, that the international coffee market structure presents dynamic commercial characteristics. The result for (RSCA shows that Uganda, Ethiopia, Honduras, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Indonesia had the highest values and also resulted in better survival rates along with Italy, India, Mexico and Switzerland. The stability of RSCA indices is investigated by regression analysis, showing a tendency to increase expertise in coffee exports from 2015. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive and recent analysis of the international coffee market structure and competitiveness, contributing to the analysis of the international market of the product.