I was today years old when I discovered that a) Vietnam is the 2nd largest coffee producer in the world and b) the reason for its success is mostly due to massive GDR investment there, as a response to the 1977 coffee crisis and the risks it posed for the regime. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Ge...

East German coffee crisis - Wikipedia

Not so bright though for coffee drinkers www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How the world’s smelliest fruit is making coffee more expensive

A

Among so many amazing details, this is the best bit of the story:

Planting the seeds of capitalism.