The East German coffee crisis was a shortage of coffee in the late 1970s in East Germany caused by a poor harvest and unstable commodity prices, severely limiting the government's ability to buy coffee on the world markets. As a consequence, the East German government increased its engagement in Africa and Asia, exporting weapons and equipment to coffee-producing nations. Situation In 1977, East Germany experienced difficulties meeting domestic demand for coffee, a commodity that had to be purchased using , i.e. freely convertible Western currencies that were in short supply in Eastern Bloc countries. The coffee crisis indirectly led to changes in the world market for coffee. The coffee crisis led to a reorientation of East German foreign policy as well as considerable belt-tightening. In particular, the East German government engaged in barter with Third World countries, exporting weapons and trucks in exchange for coffee and energy. Background In the Soviet occupation zone, much like the rest of Europe after World War II, coffee was a scarce good. The first coffee imported into East Germany came from the Soviet Union. When these imports stopped in 1954, this led to the first mass shortages and intensified efforts to acquire foreign currency with which to purchase coffee. Beginning in 1957, roasted coffee was produced under the brand name . Beginning in the 1960s, East Germany was able to reliably provide basic necessities, but luxury and exotic products remained scarce. This led to increased demand for the available luxury goods, such as confections, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, and coffee ( annually per capita) in the 1970s. By the 1970s, coffee was one of the most important items in an East German household budget, although gifts from friends and relatives in the West met about 20 percent of the country's coffee needs. East German citizens spent an average of 3.3 billion East German marks for coffee per year, an amount comparable to expenditures on furniture and twice the amount spent on shoes. Coffee crisis of 1977 The coffee crisis began in 1976. The price of coffee rose dramatically after a failed harvest in Brazil, forcing the East German government to spend approximately 700 million West German marks on coffee (approximately US$300 million, equivalent to $ billion today), nearly five times the expected DM 150 million per year. The Socialist Unity Party (SED) leadership restricted the importation of food and luxury goods, while trying to gather