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TRADING IN AN EMERGING MARKET: E. JOHNSTON & CO AND THE BRAZILIAN COFFEE TRADE 1840-1880

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2019

Carlos Gabriel Guimarães
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal Fluminense Niteróia
Robert Greenhill
Affiliation:
University of Liverpoolb

Abstract

The article analyses the development of the coffee export business of the British company Edward Johnston & Co. in the years 1840-1880. Established in 1842 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the firm's senior partner was the English merchant Edward Johnston. The departure of partners and the crisis of 1847 made Edward Johnston reorganise the firm in Brazil. In the 1850s, the company established itself as a family business based in Liverpool and then in London in the 1860s. The expansion of the coffee market in the United States made Edward Johnston create a network of firms which consolidated the company as a major exporter of Brazilian coffee by the late 1870s.

Resumen

RESUMEN

El artículo analiza el desarrollo del negocio de exportación de café de la empresa británica Edward Johnston & Co. en los años de 1840 a 1880. Organizada en 1842 en la ciudad de Río de Janeiro, la firma comercial tenía como principal socio al comerciante inglés Edward Johnston. La salida de los socios y la crisis de 1847 hicieron que Edward Johnston reorganizara la firma en Brasil. En los años 1850, la compañía se estableció como una empresa familiar basada en Liverpool y después en Londres en la década de 1860. La expansión del mercado de café en los Estados Unidos hizo a Edward Johnston crear nuevas firmas y esta red comercial consolidó la firma como una gran exportadora del café brasileño en fines de la década de 1870.

Type
Articles/Artículos
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2019

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Footnotes

a

Departamento de História, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. cgg@uol.com.br

b

Honorary Research Fellow, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK robertgreenhill122@btinternet.com

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