抄録
Before the Great Depression, the coffee industry was a major industry that drove Brazil’s domestic economic development and significantly contributed to the development of other sectors. Several factors have been identified as driving the coffee industry’s development. Recent studies have highlighted the actor’s role, which has previously been overlooked, using the commodity chain approach. However, the role of intermediaries has not been sufficiently examined. This study examined the role of comissários, using the global commodity chain approach. Comissários have been positioned as agencies that supply coffee to the market, but their role has been underestimated. This study reveals the importance of coffee processing by comissários, using records from the Bolsa Oficial de Café held by Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo, transaction records of comissários, and magazines held by the Museu do Café. By processing the produced coffee to meet the market’s needs, comissários have been able to commercialize Santos coffee. Furthermore, this study argues that the Santos market before the Great Depression was built on a mutual dependency between buyers and producers, contrary to the claim that coffee commodity chains were buyer-driven.
