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Extreme weather conditions in Brazil could reduce arabica harvests this year, while El Niño threatens to reduce robusta supplies in Indonesia.
Producers are considering new methods of cultivation on other lands as the planet warms, and the global thirst for coffee seems never to be quenched. In fact, it is growing steadily, with consumption dynamics set to double in the last three decades.
Amid the liquid deficit, Starbucks plans to open a coffee shop in China every nine hours to reach 9,000 outlets across the country by 2025, while other global brands such as Costa Coffee and Tim Hortons compete to attract the growing number of Chinese consumers.
All this translates into a growing market for coffee beans, with global consumption expected to double to 6 billion cups of coffee per day by 2050. A study by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment suggests that we will need 25% more coffee by 2030.
But whether the industry can meet this growing demand is in doubt as the threat of climate change impoverishes coffee-growing land and drives up prices for consumers as a commodity that may soon become a more expensive luxury product.
