Starting with a cup of coffee, the filmmakers retrace the chain of events that leads to our daily enjoyment of this delicious beverage. They take us on a journey from Ethiopian plantations, via coffee bean processing plants, all the way to factory warehouses. We follow the transformation of the coffee bean as it makes its way to world markets - onto the shelves of supermarkets, into the mouths of tasting experts, the paper cups of Starbucks. The film is an unsettling testimony to the way in which the prospering world market creates unfavorable conditions for those it depends on.