All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S04E01.Coffee.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[Gregg Wallace] Coffee.

Every year, we grind our
way through more than 200

million kilos of the stuff.

Together, we get through
55 million cups a day.

Tonight, we are going to
reveal the astonishing process

that turns green beans--

Into instant coffee.

Quenching our first
is clearly a big job.

This enormous factory is
almost half a mile across.

I'm Gregg Wallace.

I love this stuff.

And I'm chilling out,
discovering the secrets

of freeze drying coffee--

It's, like, part adventurous
and part very scary.

- -and finding out how they get
that freshly brewed aroma--

I recognize that.

- -in every cup.

It does seem strange.

You have to take the smell
out and put it back in again.

[sighs] I'm Cherry Healey.

So this is my brain.

I'm going cold
turkey on caffeine--

I'm so sleepy.

It's half past 8:00.

- -and exploring the future
of the coffee plant.

It's not good
news, I'm afraid.

In many cases, we've seen
arabica dying in Ethiopia.

[Gregg] And historian Ruth
Goodman goes back in time --

Ugh! That's foul.

[Gregg] --and lifts
the lid on the world's

first instant coffee.

It looks rather
like axle grease.

Tonight, we spill
the beans on how

this factory makes 175,000
jars of instant coffee

every 24 hours.

Cheers!

Welcome to "Inside the Factory."

[theme music]

[music playing]

This is the Nestle
factory in South Derbyshire.

890 people work here, making
instant coffee and coffee pods.

Tonight, we're
following the production

of freeze-dried instant coffee.

It all starts with a
delivery of coffee beans.

Overseeing this morning's
shipment is Robbie Hickinson.

Robbie, thank you very
much for showing me around.

It's no problem.

So this is where
it all starts, right?

[Robie]
This is green bean reception.

How many beans on that truck?

27 tons of
arabicas from Brazil.

If that's arabica, how
many types are there?

Two-- robustas and arabicas.

And we have to use both sorts.

One gives it the body.

And the other one gives
it the fruitiness.

But right now, we've
got to unload 27 tons

of these from South America.

[music playing]

The truck is connected up.

And unloading begins.

The countdown from beans
to jars starts now.

It'll take two hours for this
lot to pour into the factory.

[beeping]

When you say "green beans,"
I think about my dinner.

Can I have a look?

They are not green.

They are gray.

Next, you're going to be telling
me they're not really beans.

- Not really, no.
- They're not, are they?

- No.
- [laughing]

Not really.

It's what we call them.

What they actually are, they're
the seed of a coffee cherry.

[latin music]

[Gregg] And guess what.

They're not even cherries.

The bright red fruit
of the coffee plant

looks like a cherry when it's
ripe and ready for harvesting.

Inside each fruit are two seeds.

These are the
green coffee beans.

So how many tons
will come through

here in the course of a day?

Between 25 and 100 tons
a day, 450 tons a week.

[Gregg] That's five deliveries
of beans from all over the world

arriving here every day.

27 tons of this unloading.

What exactly are
you pouring into?

Well, we have a receiving
hopper that's got a mesh

that takes out any big things.

Then to go through
a cleaner where

we take out smaller cartons.

[Gregg] Do you get
much debris in there?

We get quite a bit, yeah.

Anything unusual?

We've had iguana.

We had a live iguana.

And that ended up
at Twycross Zoo.

We've had flip-flops,
bullets, knives, money.

[Gregg] [laughing]

No gold, though.

[Gregg] This morning's delivery
has been sieved and cleaned

to remove any odd additions.

Thankfully, no iguanas today.

The average coffee bean weighs
less than a fifth of a gram.

So they're easily blown
around the factory

using compressed air.

Our beans have made
their way to the roasting area,

where Robbie's waiting for
me under 15-meter high silos.

They are ginormous--
absolutely ginormous.

How much does each silo weigh?

[Robbie] 27 tons.

And how many silos?

Eight.

[Gregg] That's over
200 tons of beans.

[Robbie] That's right,
about 216 tons.

Normal production, how
long would that last you?

Two to three days.

You're kidding me.

No, no.

Roast a lot of coffee.

How many jars of coffee
are we going to make today?

175,000 jars.

[Gregg] That's enough to supply
all of Manchester for a month.

So what we're doing
now, we're going to weigh

out a batch of 420 kilos.

So what do we do, just
open one of those hoppers

and drag down some beans?

[Robbie] No, we'll take
from five different silos--

[Gregg] Ooh--

- -because it's
a five-bean blend.

And each silo's got
a different bean in it?

It's got a different
grade of bean.

[Gregg] Every bean that
enters the factory is given

a grade according to quality.

Our instant coffee needs
five different beans.

They fall from the silos
into this giant hopper,

which weighs out 420 kilos.

Should we have a cup
of tea before we go?

Or do we get sacked if
we have a cup of tea?

The beans are blown 11 meters
up to the top of the room

to be prepared for roasting.

If heated too quickly,
compounds in the beans

will burn and ruin the flavor.

So they're pre-warmed to 60
degrees C. After 10 minutes,

they drop down a floor
into the roaster.

They're moving around.

That's like a washing machine.

That reminds me of when I
used to go to the laundrette

when I was a kid with my mum.

You don't come out
very clean in here.

You've got this stream of
air coming in at the bottom

of the roaster.

And because of the
shape of the roaster,

the beans move up
in the air stream

and then drop back to the
bottom and keep rotating.

Why do you need
to move them around?

It gives us a more uniform
color, more even roast.

[Gregg] Our coffee will
be a medium roast.

It's popular with consumers
and works with or without milk.

How long are they in there for?

[Robbie] 10 minutes.

I can feel that
extraordinary heat from here.

- [Robbie] Yes.
- Wonderful.

Right, they are now brown.

They've gone from that
gray color to something

I would recognize
as a coffee bean.

That's brown.

It's a roast coffee, yeah.

What happens to
them after 10 minutes?

We drop them into the cooler.

Because they come out
of here red hot, right?

Red hot.

Let's go and have
a look, shall we?

OK.

[Gregg] The beans drop out
of the roaster

and down another floor

using only the force of gravity.

It's another washing machine.

[Robbie] This is the cooler.

So it comes down into
that at 230 degrees.

Yeah.

And that's moving
around because of air,

the same as the one above.

Exactly the same.

And what temperature do
you want to get it down to?

40 degrees.

Why do you have to cool it?

Well, if you discharge
it when it's still hot,

you've got the chance
of exothermic reaction

in the silos.

What?

Exothermic reactions, where
the self-heating of the beans,

they keep on roasting.

Ah.

In the end, you could
end up with a fire

if they get too hot.

Ah, when you take
something out of the oven,

people don't realize,
it's still going to cook.

It still keeps cooking.

Residual heat.

Yeah.

[Gregg] And now what's going
to happen to them when they

get to the right temperature?

They go to grinding.

[Gregg] Right, that's
what I want to see.

I'm following the beans
to the grinding department

just next door, where
I'm meeting process

specialist, Katie Perry.

Katie, I'm Gregg.

What are you now doing
with the roasted beans?

So the roasted beans
are fed into this grinder.

And within the grinder,
we have layers of rollers.

So as we move down the
grinder, the rollers

are getting closer together
to grind the bean into a finer

and finer particle.

So these are the roast beans.

Now that, finally,
looks like a coffee bean.

Wah!

That'll wake you
up in the morning.

So this is a sample
partway through our grinder.

The smell's getting stronger.

But that-- yeah, that's
becoming a coarse dust,

a dust with crispy bits in it.

Yeah.

And then our final sample.

This shows you our final grind.

So this is the fine particles
of the coffee beans.

And how long does it take?

This grinder will
take about 1,500

kilos of beans every hour.

Crying out loud.

Can I watch the
next stage please?

Yes, follow me.

[Gregg] Roasted and ground--

we're well on the way to putting
coffee in somebody's cup.

[whirring, clanking]

[beeping]

[Gregg] In the two hours and
38 minutes since our beans

arrived, my coffee's
been ground and sent

to a high-security
area of the factory.

Where are we?

What is this?

So here, Gregg, we're
in our extraction area.

But this is our top-secret area.

So we can't actually show
you any of the technology

that we have just
behind the camera.

But we'll be able to
explain it to you.

[Gregg] As soon as
coffee beans are ground,

they release that strong coffee
aroma we all know and love.

To make sure it doesn't
disappear into thin air,

it's collected using a
clever scientific process.

Nitrogen gas is pumped
through the ground coffee,

capturing the aroma
as it passes through.

The vapor is stored
in a tank for later.

While the ground coffee gets
brewed up in a super-sized

cafetiére called a pod.

I reckon, out of this,
we could get five cups.

Yeah.

How many do you get
out of your enormous one?

So each extraction
pod that we have would

give us 250,000 cups of coffee.

Crying out loud.

Where are we going to get
the biscuits for that?

[laughs]

Now, if I make a cafetiére,
I'm left with bits.

Yes.

All right, now, some
people throw them in the bin.

Other people throw
them in the garden.

What do you do with tons
and tons of coffee bits?

So all those coffee
bits that are left over

are called our spent
coffee grounds.

We keep them, squeeze all
the water out of them,

and then burn them in our
boilers to power the factory.

Those coffee grounds produce the
same amount of energy as coal.

So if I stored up
all my leftover coffee,

I could put it in my log burner?

Absolutely.

Would it really work?

Yeah.

You have extracted the aroma.

Yes.

I know what you do with
the bits that are left over.

What do you now do
with the liquid?

So this liquid would go
to evaporation process.

Brilliant. Show me.

So far, we've made coffee
as I would at home.

But this is where things change.

Next, this liquid has to be
transformed into dry granules.

[chuckles] Right.

Where have you poured the
enormous pot of coffee?

So all that coffee extract
is now in our evaporator.

[Gregg] An evaporator?

[Katie] Yes.

[Gregg] That looks like it's
going to the floor above.

How high is that?

So this evaporator actually
goes up all six floors of

the building that we're in now.

[Gregg] Get out of here.

Really?

No way!

The whole building?

[Katie] The whole building.

[Gregg] How much
coffee is above me?

[Katie] So at the moment, you
have about 1 million cups

of coffee above you.

If one of those
bursts, you and I

would melt like sugar cubes.

Every hour, 30,000
liters of coffee

travels through heated
pipes inside the tower.

Warmed to 70
degrees C, the water

evaporates and is siphoned off.

So you are reducing your
coffee in the same way

that I would produce
a stock at home.

Absolutely.

I'd have it in a pot.

And the more I
heated it, you would

reduce the amount of liquid.

But you would
concentrate the flavor.

Yes.

That's a stock or a sauce.

That's what you're doing
with the coffee, am I right?

Absolutely.

[Gregg] The liquid
is reduced by 50%,

creating a thick coffee extract.

If you didn't concentrate
it, would that mean, at home,

I would need loads and loads
of spoonfuls of coffee?

Would I end up bringing
home a jar as big as me?

Well, not quite.

If we didn't remove
the water from it,

then we wouldn't be
able to freeze dry it.

Oh.

Oh, OK.

I just thought it'd
be much weaker.

[laughing]

8 hours and 23
minutes in, and we

have a 25-meter-high
tower full of hot, highly

concentrated coffee.

Now, that would give you a kick.

The average cup of instant
coffee contains 100 milligrams

of caffeine, helping us
to get up and get out

of the house in the morning.

My mate, Cherry, has been
having a go at giving it up.

[Cherry] I love my
morning coffee.

But for the next five
days, I've agreed

to go cold turkey as part
of a scientific experiment.

Before I give up, I want
to understand what caffeine

does to my body and brain.

So I'm heading to the
University of Bristol

to meet Professor Peter
Rodgers and a pineapple.

Peter, are we having
a '70s drinks party?

No, no.

This is to show you how
caffeine works on your brain.

Caffeine is a psychoactive
drug in coffee,

tea, Cola, and other things.

Caffeine is a drug?

Yes, well, it has
psychostimulant effects.

So this is my brain?

Well, no, actually,
this represents

a cell in your brain.

And these are receptors.

They're called
adenosine receptors.

OK.

A molecule called adenosine
attaches itself to those cells.

[Cherry] Adenosine
makes us feel sleepy.

And what caffeine
can do is attach itself

to the adenosine receptor.

It fits on the
receptor like this.

So what happens then
when adenosine comes along?

It can't attach
itself to the ones

that are occupied by caffeine.

Oh, I see.

So they take up the seats?

Yes.

Which means you're less tired?

It does.

[Katie] But the alertness
created by caffeine

isn't permanent.

The body is, in a
sense, very clever.

When it's exposed regularly
to caffeine, it adapts.

So the receptors
become more sensitive.

Or there are more of them.

What the body's trying to
do is function normally--

Oh.

- -despite the
caffeine being around.

The more you have,
the more you need.

Yes, as a typical thing
that happens with drugs.

You become tolerant.

The other effect is that if
you now stop taking the drug,

you're going to feel pretty bad.

What you get is what's called
a drug-opposite effect.

So in other words, rather
than being more alert,

you're now actually sleepy
and fatigued and tired.

So that's a big downside.

[Katie] With Peter's
warnings ringing in my ears,

I nervously embark
on the experiment.

It's day one.

I'm allowed caffeine today.

I'm savoring every last drop.

So it's day two.

It's a non-caffeine day.

I got a nice cup of mint tea.

Look at that, ay.

I'm monitoring my blood
pressure, tracking my activity,

and recording my mood.

Day three.

I feel rubbish today.

Really can't be
bothered with anything.

[sniffs]

[sighs]

After five days,
I've recaffeinated.

And I'm ready to
face my test results.

OK, woo hoo.

So, Cherry, how
did you find it?

Not good.

- Really?
- Really, really bad.

OK, well, that's caffeine
cold turkey for you.

Some people even describe it
like having flu-like symptoms.

What I want to know
is do the numbers

reflect the drama of the week.

So these first results are
from the alertness ratings

you made.

On the Monday,
you're less than 40

on this scan in
terms of alertness.

[Katie] Yes.

When you're withdrawn
from caffeine on Tuesday,

Wednesday, and Thursday--

[Katie] Ooh.

- -you're even less alert.

I'm knackered.

I want to get back into bed.

Normally really full
of beans, literally.

I can't be the caffeine.

Without caffeine, more adenosine
jumped onto my receptors,

reducing my alertness.

Now, headache is another
symptom of caffeine withdrawal.

Thursday, boom,
there it was right--

right in the middle.

And now I've got the headache--
the caffeine headache.

I've taken a couple
of painkillers.

It doesn't work.

So what caffeine
normally does is restrict

blood flow to the brain.

But then when you
withdraw caffeine,

you get an increase above normal
of blood flow to the brain.

And actually, oddly
enough, that's

what gives you the headache.

[Katie] But it's
not all bad news.

Results show I slept
earlier and for longer

on non-caffeine days.

I'm so sleepy.

It's half past 8:00.

Am I not better just kicking
the habit completely?

Well, you could do that.

Or you could keep it in reserve.

So rather than using it as
I do now, which is just to get

through the day, using it as
a backup for when I really,

really need that extra kick.

Yes.

And there's also some
potentially good news.

There is evidence of a
link between a lower risk

of Parkinson's disease,
type 2 diabetes,

dementia, even
depression amongst

people who drink more coffee.

[Katie] These health benefits
have not yet been proven.

And you shouldn't change your
coffee habits on this basis.

But I'll certainly be
more canny about how I

consume caffeine in the future.

[Gregg] At the factory, our
hot, concentrated coffee

is being pumped to the
freezing department,

where the liquid will become
solid coffee granules.

In charge is Mike Dale.

Mike.

Gregg, pleased to meet you.

Now what?

This is where we
pre-chill our coffee before

it goes into the cold room.

And these heat exchanges here
are the same as you would

find in an ice cream factory.

I love coffee ice cream.

Am I able to taste that?

Of course, if you wish.

[Gregg] At minus 6 degrees C,
it's more like syrup

than ice cream.

Agh!

Well, you said ice cream.

That is just strong and bitter.

- Yes.
- You're a nice fellow.

But I'm going to find it hard
to trust you from now on.

[laughter]

The coffee's now
the correct texture

to head into the freezer.

What temperature is the freezer?

- [Mike] The freezer's between
- 40 and -50 degrees.

Are people allowed in there?

Oh, yes.

- Could I go in there?
- We can.

But we need to dress
for the occasion.

[dramatic music]

This doesn't feel
anywhere near cold enough.

This isn't -40.

This is actually
our pre-cool room.

So what we have is a
freezing belt here.

And that is what we
freeze the coffee on.

[Gregg] The syrupy coffee is
poured onto this conveyor belt

and disappears into the freezer.

We are going to follow it in.

What we need to do
is cover our face.

And I would recommend
removing your glasses.

Will they freeze?

They will freeze
in there, yes.

[chuckles] OK.

It's, like, part adventurous
and part very scary.

Are you ready?

[music playing]

[Gregg] This is the coldest
place I've ever been.

The temperature is lower
than at the North Pole.

And the noise is deafening.

As the liquid coffee travels
along the conveyor belt,

it's blasted with chilly
air from above and below.

It takes just 2
minutes to solidify,

turning it into a solid
8-millimeter-thick sheet

of frozen coffee.

This feeds into a
chipper, which smashes

it into icy granules, each just
2 to 3 millimeters in size.

Whoa!

That is frightening.

That is painful.

That's not like
anything on Earth.

And this is the result.
You have frozen coffee.

That's off the
belt. That is just

before it goes into
the breaker and then

into the chipper and grinder.

You know what?

I think of myself as possibly
a bit silly because you

hear the term "freeze dried."

But you don't ever really
consider what that means.

And at the moment,
we're only freezing.

We're not drying yet.

That's the next step.

[Gregg] In the last 8
hours and 37 minutes,

green beans have
been transformed

into frozen granules.

Despite all these
mind-blowing processes,

instant coffee is a
convenient and quick way

of getting a brew in your mug.

But when and why
was it invented?

[historic music]

Traditionally, making a
cup of coffee takes time.

And if you have the time,
well, that's all good.

[boom, horses whinny]

But historically, there
have been places where

it wasn't safe to brew up.

On the fields of the American
Civil War in the 1860s,

soldiers needed a quicker,
more convenient caffeine hit.

So the Union Army tested a new
coffee essence, which was beans

roasted and ground mixed
with milk and sugar,

and the whole lot condensed
down into something that

looks rather like axle grease.

We follow the original
recipe so I can try it.

Soldiers would just add
boiling water to make

a sort of instant coffee.

Ugh.

And it wasn't just Americans
who relied on coffee.

It was also a popular choice
for us tea-drinking Brits.

Our version of instant coffee
was a liquid called Camp,

invented in 1876 and
packed off in kit

bags in the First World War.

[boom]

Historian Taff Gillingham wants
to show me the authentic trench

coffee experience.

Hi, Taff.

Hi, nice to see you.

Take me through
the gates of hell.

- Come on.
- Certainly, follow me.

It's not actually that bad.

- You reckon?
- Yeah.

OK, let's see.

Or at least not if you were
living in conditions like this.

Ugh!

Oh, God, that's foul!

Sorry, that was a bit of a
shocker how nasty that was.

[laughs]

It's not really coffee at all.

That's the trick.

It's mostly chicory
with sugar mixed

up into a sort of cordial, which
you then added hot water to.

And it's just a small
glass bottle that seals up.

A small bottle like
that could be put

in one of the fellow's packs.

And they drank a lot of it.

I mean, this bottle
was actually dug

up on the Somme battlefield.

[Ruth] But things
were about to change.

When the Americans joined
the Great War in 1917,

they brought with them George
Washington instant coffee,

named after its
recent inventor rather

than the first president.

Here we have George
Washington brand.

OK.

So for a start,
it's proper coffee

with proper caffeine in it.

Well, that's going to
make a difference hopefully.

So it was made
by basically making

coffee and then
evaporating the water

off and tinning the powder.

Oh, well, let's try this then,
see if it tastes any better.

Let's try some.

Yeah.

You'd know it was coffee.

It's not great coffee.

But you'd know it was coffee.

Oh, absolutely.

And what do the American
soldiers think of it?

It became so popular that
they even nicknamed it.

They called it a cup of George.

[Ruth] By the time the Second
World War came around,

American brands like
Nescafé and Maxwell

House had refined instant
coffee manufacturing techniques.

Sachets of this new,
improved coffee powder

were put in all the ration
packs of the GI Joes

and became so synonymous
with American soldiers

that the name changed from a
cup of George to a cup of Joe.

So as well as thanking the
Americans for supporting us

in two world wars,
it seems that we

also owe them gratitude
for the mass production

of instant coffee.

[clinking, whirring]

[music playing]

[Gregg] In Derbyshire, we've
now got coffee granules.

But they're still frozen.

It's time to put the dry into
this freeze-dried coffee.

The granules emerge from the
freezer in shallow trays.

Each one holds 15 kilos,

enough for 75 jars.

They head into an
airlock and are

fed into a gigantic
vacuum chamber, where all

the air has been sucked out.

This extreme
low-pressure environment

is the same as sending our
coffee 60 miles into space.

Please explain to me why it
needs to be at that pressure?

OK, the reason it's
at that pressure,

we need to go from
a solid, which

is the ice, which we formed
in the cold room, to a vapor.

Now, we need to do
that so rapidly that we

don't go back to a water phase.

Otherwise you will end up with
concentrated liquid again.

[Gregg] The dryer is
heated up, which melts

the ice within the granules.

But in the vacuum, the ice
turns immediately into a gas

without going through
a liquid phase.

It's a process
called sublimation.

So the water is coming
out of our icy coffee--

That's correct.

- -in vapor--

Yes.

- -leaving behind the
frozen dried coffee bits?

At that point, it's
no longer frozen.

It's just a dry coffee bit.

[Gregg] It takes three
hours for the coffee

to travel through the dryer.

Right, so what is
happening to it right now?

We empty the trays.

It just rotates the tray
around, gives it at knock.

And all that coffee
will fall down.

And that goes into
a big bag below.

Now, that's the sort of
technology I can understand.

Good.

[Gregg] I like the
way the two hammers

come over and hit the tray.

[chuckles] If I was going
to be a machine in here,

I'd be that one.

Come on in .

Here it goes.

Boing!

11 hours and 37 minutes
ago, we had green beans.

Now we've got freeze-dried
instant coffee.

The granules fall down a
chute into the room below.

Once the bag is
full of coffee, it's

transferred to the
filling area, where Dawn

Thompson is waiting for me.

Dawn, can I come up?

Come on up.

Right.

Now, Dawn, we are just about
to put coffee in the jars,

aren't we?

So what we're going
to do now, shortly--

Don't call me "Shorty."

[laughs] We're going to
release this bag of coffee.

OK, would you like
to do this next step?

[Gregg] How much
coffee is in this bag?

450 kilos.

Half a ton?

How many jars does that make?

Around 2,250 jars of coffee.

And so all the
technical stuff I've seen,

all the space-age stuff,
I'm going to empty

it now by pulling the string?

Yeah, the cord.

- Is that right?
- Yes.

[Gregg] It's coming.

Ah!

We've got granules.

But they don't smell
like the coffee I know.

That's because the aroma
we stored earlier still

needs to be put back in.

This is the last
part of the process,

where we actually put the in-jar
aroma back in before filling.

- "In-jar" aroma?
- In-jar aroma.

Why you do that?

Just so that we get that
powerful smell when it--

Yeah, so when you
open that jar of coffee,

you get that nice coffee smell.

Do you just spray it on
on the top of the jars?

Or--

It gets sprayed
onto the coffee

going into the filling room.

[Gregg] The granules get a good
blast of that familiar coffee

aroma on their way down.

So can you take me and show
me what happens to this now?

Of course, it'd
be my pleasure.

Go on, you go first.

Thank you, Dawn.

Coffee is grown in over 50
countries around the world.

And more than 125
million people rely

on it for their livelihood.

But the future of the coffee
plant could be at risk.

Cherry's at Kew Gardens,
home to the world's

largest botanical collection,
to meet Dr. Aaron Davis.

He's just returned from
a fact-finding mission

to one of the world's largest
coffee-producing countries,

Ethiopia.

Hi, Aaron.
Lovely to meet you.

Very nice to meet you, Cherry.

So is this the coffee plant?

Yes, this is arabica coffee.

OK.

It's arabica coffee
that we love to drink.

[Cherry] What have you
discovered about what's

going on with the
plant at the moment?

What we wanted
to understand is

how climate change
is going to affect

coffee across this century.

And it's not good
news, I'm afraid.

In many cases, we've
seen arabica dying

in Ethiopia through drought.

- Completely?
- Completely.

And I'm talking about hundreds,
even thousands of hectares.

[Cherry] It's time to wake
up and smell the coffee.

Rising temperatures and droughts
are causing harvests to fail.

Aaron's expedition data is being
mapped by his colleague, Justin

Mote, in order to predict
which coffee-growing areas are

at risk.

Hi, Justin.

So what does that map show us?

Yeah, so this is
basically a spatial model.

So the green areas
represent where

good climate, good conditions
for coffee growth are.

And we can look at
the present day.

But we can also project
this towards the future.

Why does it keep moving?

[Justin] Temperatures
are increasing.

But also, rainfall patterns
are changing, as well.

So the only places that coffee
will enjoy will be higher up,

higher elevations.

[Cherry] This data
is helping coffee

farmers plan for the future.

Would you say that people
are responding to this?

What we're actually
seeing now is

farmers going to some altitudes
we've never seen before.

There's only so
high you can go.

Eventually, yeah,
we'll go off the top

if we carry on with these
temperature increases.

And actually, coffee will
be the last of our problems.

It certainly will be.

Yeah.

These hotter, drier conditions
will have an impact on coffee

worldwide.

So the search is
on to find a more

resilient species of the plant.

Aaron is delving
into Kew's archives

to see if solutions
for the future

can be found in the
records of the past.

This place is amazing.

What's in here?

This is Kew's herbarium,
home to around seven million

dried plant specimens.

How is looking through these
old specimens going to help

you solve the future of coffee?

Within these specimens,
there is lots of information,

and information which you
cannot find anywhere else.

Let me give you an example.

We have a coffee here
from East Africa.

We know this is a
dry area, collected

almost exactly 100 years ago.

And it says here, the beans
are harvested from both wild

and cultivated bushes--

Yes.

- -and fetch a high price
on the European markets.

So it was sold in Europe?

Yet, we know almost
nothing about this coffee.

If that coffee plant
can cope with conditions

where there isn't a lot of
water and it tastes amazing--

Yes.

- -then there's your answer.

That's the moonshot.
That's the dream.

[chuckles] We've actually
managed to acquire a sample.

We have some roasted that
we can go and try now.

That's very, very exciting.

Let's go and have a very
exclusive cup of coffee.

OK.

[inspiring music]

- Cheers.
- Cheers.

To coffee's future.

What is that funny taste?

You're right.
It's...

- What is it?
- ...eucalyptus-ey.

I don't think this coffee
is the ultimate solution.

But with 125 known species
recorded in the archive,

Aaron remains hopeful.

So what is the dream?

What would you absolutely
love to discover?

What we'd really
love to discover

is a climatically
tolerant coffee

that tastes as good or perhaps
even better than arabica.

Are you looking
for magic beans?

- We are.
- Good luck.

- Thank you.
- [clink]

[music playing]

[Gregg] Back in the factory,
we've prepared the coffee.

Now we need to get
the jars ready.

I love this stuff.

I'm an absolute
sucker for this stuff.

I could watch this all day long.

What is happening?

[Dawn] So the four
clamp arms come in,

sweep it lovingly onto
the conveyor belt.

[Gregg] So very much the
same as if I have to carry

three pints back from the bar.

If I've got two, I've
got one in each hand.

But if I have three, I've
got them squeezed together.

That's what that's doing.

[Dawn] Let's try coming forward
and see how far you can get.

It must break some.

No, very rarely, because
it's such a light pressure.

It carries the jars across.

[Gregg] 300 jars a minute
shuffle along the conveyor

and are gently
encouraged into position.

Oh, they all get a
bit bunched up here.

This is what's
called the combiner.

So as they come off the bed,
they're bunched together.

You deliberately
create this curve--

Yes.

- -so the batches of jars
catch up with each other.

Yes.

Come on, jars.

Come on.

[giggling] Come on, little jars.

How are they moving
into single file?

I can understand the
jars on the inside line.

But the ones on
the outside, they

look like they're actually
trying to push their way

into the dinner queue.

How does that happen?

They just can't
wait to be filled.

However, the belt speeds
are different to the ones

on the corner.

So they'll basically push
themselves into single file.

With different belt speeds?

Yeah.

[Gregg] Now in an
orderly queue, the jars

glide to the next machine.

Something is
getting hold of them

and twisting and
making them straight.

- Yeah.
- Why?

Because as we go
into the orientater,

we don't want them twisted--

The what?

The orientater.

What's an orientater?

[Cherry] The jars are
coming into the machine.

They're not really in
the correct format,

to the back to front.

But you're going to
fill them up with coffee

and stick a lid on them, right?

Why does it matter
if they're not

all exactly the same way round?

You have to make
sure the label gets put

on the right way on the jar.

[Gregg] It looks like
the end of the line

might be a cliffhanger.

They're going over the edge.

It's like a Big Dipper.

I just imagine them all at the
funfair going, [fake screaming]

[laughing]

So are we finally going to
put coffee in them, though?

- Finally.
- Come on, show me.

Brilliant factory.

[fair music, kids squealing]

[beeping]

12 hours and 42 minutes into
the production process, coffee

meets jar.

It's a nice sight,
isn't it, actually.

Lovely.
Look at that.

This machine fills
280 jars a minute.

It'll take more than 11
hours to get through today's

batch of 175,000.

The caps are on.

But hang on.

Where's the gold seal?

As you can see, when
we open this jar up,

it doesn't have the
seal across the top

that you see when you
open a jar of coffee.

The seal is actually in here.

[Gregg] So the seal is
already in the lid.

[Dawn] That's correct, yes.

[Gregg] And that machine
does what to the lid?

[Dawn] It actually seals the
membrane to the top of the jar.

Through the lid?

[Dawn] Through the lid.

[Gregg] The plates
above the jars work

like upside-down hot plates.

They heat the foil to 80 degrees
C, hot enough to melt the glue,

releasing the foil
down onto the glass

without melting the lid itself.

That's remarkable.

That's one of the
most mysterious things

I've ever seen in a factory.

I recognize that.

That is a beautiful
roasted coffee smell.

It does seem strange you
have to take the smell

out and put it back in again.

Clever.

So thank you.

So through all the amazing
processes in this factory,

this has been the most fun.

- Come here.
- I'm glad.

Thank you very much.

My pleasure.

Now it's time for
the final steps.

The labels are put on the jars.

And they're wrapped
in groups of six.

A shipping label is blown on.

And they're sent up a spiral
conveyor for one last joyride.

Then robots begin an
elaborate stacking routine.

They arrange the jars with some
at right angles to the others

and squeeze them
together to form a layer,

making sure the gap's in a
different place each time.

This strange pattern is
mathematically calculated

to give the 1.4-meter-high
stack stability

and strength and to reduce
the chance of breakages.

Finally, they're
wrapped in cellophane.

13 hours and 22 minutes
ago, I saw green beans

arriving at the factory.

They've been roasted,
ground, concentrated, frozen,

and sent into space.

Now transformed into
freeze-dried coffee granules,

they're ready to
leave the factory.

Waving them off is
Clive Whitebrooke.

That's it.

It's my coffee being
loaded on the truck, Clive.

It is the final pallet.

Though, it's 48, which
is about, approximately,

40,000 jars, so which is
about 4.4 million servings.

On that lorry is 4 and
1/2 million cups of coffee.

Yes.

How many lorries
leave here every day?

Approximately six.

Wow, quite a phenomenal
process, isn't it?

It is.

For something so
relatively simple.

Yeah, and that's what
we all take for granted.

Full to the brim.

That's it.

And that's ready to go, right?

It is.

It's been quite a
journey, you know?

From bean to jar.

It's been absolutely amazing.

From the factory, the jars
head to supermarket shelves

in the UK, Europe, and almost
every corner of the world,

including coffee-producing
countries Peru and Ecuador.

I drink instant coffee.

And if you'd have asked
me how it was made,

I think I would have come
up with roasting the beans

and grinding them.

But never in my
wildest dreams would I

have ever imagined sheets of
coffee frozen to -50 degrees,

or then being dried out
in machines that look

like Victorian steam engines.

Hours and hours of
complicated scientific

process so that you and I
can make a cup of coffee

in seconds.

[music playing]