Although today most of the population of Bayt al-Faqih work in the weaving or jewelry industries, the city was historically known as the source of coffee exported through the port of Mocha.

In particular, the cartographer Carsten Niebuhr used the town as a base for a series of long reconnaissances into the desert to gather information for his map of Yemen, which was widely used until the twentieth century.

As shown on the map, Beit el-Fakih (sic) is the central crossing point of the routes connecting Loheia (Al Luḩayyah), Saná (Sanaa) and Mochha (Mocha).

As described by Thorkild Hansen in his historical recounting of the expedition ...coffee dealers from the Hejaz, Egypt, Syria, Turkey and Morocco, indeed even from Persia and India, came to visit Beit el-Fakih to buy; yet it was far from being a wealthy town.

There were only a few stone-built houses; the majority of the population lived in straw huts built in random confusion in the narrow dusty street, where the camels of the coffee traders passed by[5]14°30′58″N 43°19′28″E / 14.51611°N 43.32444°E / 14.51611; 43.32444