The business reporter is from Brazil.
Image source, Getty ImagesOne billion people around the world drink coffee every day.
Many coffee lovers don't know that they drink a brew made from Brazilian beans.
The boss of Ipanema Coffees says that Brazilian beans are known for their body and sweetness.
Our coffee is used as a base in many coffee blends.
Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer. More than one third of all global supplies will be accounted for by it in 2020. Vietnam has 18% of supplies.
70% of Brazil's coffee plants are arabica species. Most of the rest are used for coffee.
The problem for Brazil, and world coffee supplies in general, is that last year the country's annual crop plummeted by almost a quarter due to a lack of rain in its main coffee growing region.
Since this time last year, there has been a reduction in coffee bean supplies and a doubling of wholesale prices.
Brazil's largest coffee producers are trying to alleviate any future falls in production by using technology to help them grow and process the best crop.
New Tech Economy explores how technological innovation will shape the new economy.
Okuyama says it is now investing at least 10% of its revenue in technology. Coffee plantations cover 2,718 acres and are based in Minas Gerais.
The staff uses a computer app made by Syngenta.
The tool gives the farm workers a visual analysis of the farm, or plantation, on a tablets or laptops.
They can apply pest-control to a specific area, rather than applying it to the entire farm.
The idea is that this approach is quicker and more friendly to the environment.
Bruno Hiroiti is the coffee beans manager at Okuyama.
We have invested in technologies for the coffee drying process, where we can monitor the temperature, which is defined by the type of coffee we are drying.
Coffee beans are dried in drum heaters in order to prevent them from getting spoiled while they are being roasted. It's important to get the temperature and timing right in order to avoid wasting beans and energy.
Ipanema Coffees, which has 4,300 hectares of plantations, has gone down the tech route in recent years.
A huge investment has been made on semi-automated irrigation, where the system measures the water deficit and weather conditions to give us recommendations for each area.
He says that the investments are helping the firm. Global temperature increases are one of the climate issues we have.
The irrigation system has made us more productive.
Ipanema is one of the users of Cropwise Protector and has tracker on all of its tractor to measure productivity. The firm's agricultural coordinators says that it helps them monitor agricultural pests.
It allows us to manage the problem and make more assertive decisions, as we can monitor the indicators that give us the location and intensity of a particular problem in each area.
Ipanema uses automated selection machines which only pick the ripe ones, which are yellow and red.
The industrial director says that the machine is set by programming the colors. The beans that are not the color we defined will be expelled by a compressed air jet once we put them in the conveyor belt.
Brazil's coffee producers can't increase their productivity just by buying more land according to a Syngenta marketing manager.
Producers need to improve their production process because we are reaching the limit of areas.
The technology is dependent on having trained staff. It's pointless to have a tool if we don't have a team prepared for it.
He says that many of Ipanema's employees go to college for training.
Coffee producers in Brazil don't all use the same technology.
While it has been adopted by the big players in industry, such as Ipanema and Okuyama, the multitude of small producers that produce 34% of the country's crop are lagging behind
The hope is that the roll out of 5G will improve internet connections in rural areas.
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