Coffee, with a local flavour.

Switzerland is world-famous for chocolate and cheese, yet its relationship with coffee may come as a surprise: According to a recent Tages-Anzeiger daily newspaper report, three-quarters of the global coffee trade flows through this tiny Alpine nation.

As with oil and other commodities, most of the coffee isn't physically imported. Rather, traders steer 75 per cent of the global trade flow through Switzerland.

The country established itself as a major centre of the global commodities market after World War II, and expanded its role further during a boom in the 1960s. The country's infrastructure around Lake Geneva was ideal, financial services were within immediate reach, and traders had easy access to diplomatic representation, legal security and tax benefits. Nor could Switzerland's neutrality during the Cold War be overlooked.

Each is still an important factor today. And, "among other things, we do not have to provide value added tax [VAT] accounts," said Renaud de Kerchove of the ECOM Agro-industrial commodity trading company in Pully. "In the EU it would be otherwise, even if the tax is refunded. That means a lot of work for nothing."

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Switzerland's geographic location is also part of its attraction. "In the morning I can telephone with Asia, during the day with Africa, and in the afternoon with Latin America," explained Starbucks buyer Stephan Erard, in Lausanne.

Players in this coffee trading market fall into two categories. There are the independent powerhouse dealers like Volcafe and Bernhard Rothfos Intercafe that have their global purchasing headquarters in Switzerland, and then there are the firms that purchase coffee for their parent companies. Some of the big names include Taloca, purchasing for Kraft Foods, and Decotrade, purchasing for Sara Lee.

Starbucks' global purchasing centre is in Lausanne. Here, quality control is conducted similarly to a wine tasting where the liquid is swished--not swallowed--then spit back out. And sometimes up to 600 times per day for testers like Laurence Pawelczyk. If just one of six samples isn't as tasty as it should be, the coffee will get shipped back to the seller.

Not only do the quality controllers' taste buds need to be satisfied. The beans must be visually convincing as well. Typically, a sample of green coffee beans is selected, roasted for 10-12 minutes, and if the appearance doesn't conform to established standards for each variety of beans back it goes.