In the 1980s, a thirst for caffeine caused an unusual global collaboration.

Coffee-loving East Germans were left without after a crop failure in the world’s biggest exporter of the drink, Brazil.

So the East Germans hatched a scheme, linking up with fellow communist state Vietnam to create a mass of coffee plantations.

The man behind the plan, Siegfried Kaulfuß, tells Michael Rossi about the scale and success of the endeavour.

(Photo: Siegfried Kaulfuß with Vietnamese coffee farmers. Credit: Siegfried Kaulfuß)