Coffee is the third most consumed beverage in the world. Nevertheless, all coffee-producing countries are producing less and less coffee, particularly Arabica, which accounts for more than half of global production. This is compounded by the strong demand for the product, driven by its widespread consumption; in fact, many countries have rediscovered this beverage. Consider China, traditionally known as a tea-consuming country, which now views the black beverage as a worthy “snack companion” to its traditional national drink.
On the other hand, the decline in production capacity is also due to other issues, starting with increasingly adverse climatic conditions affecting producing countries.
Coffee production has been decimated by extreme weather events that affected producing countries in recent months. The main phenomenon that has caused the greatest damage to crops is “La Niña,” a meteorological phenomenon that cools the Pacific Ocean off South America and pushes warmer water toward Asia. During this phenomenon, South America generally experiences greater drought, with winter temperatures that are drier and warmer than normal.
In addition to harming 2021 production, according to some studies this phenomenon will also affect next year, continuing to create difficulties for all coffee producers. Producing coffee today is increasingly difficult; in addition to frost in Brazil, heavy rains in Colombia, and problems caused by COVID, the war in Ethiopia and the continued spread of the fungus known as “leaf rust,” which is destroying several crops in every country where coffee is produced, must also be taken into account.
What is the coffee industry doing to respond to these challenges? First of all, it has seemed useful to raise the price of coffee, which should help address this production crisis. In the field, researchers are experimenting with cultivating new botanical varieties that are more resistant to adverse climatic conditions and capable of producing higher yields than the original Arabica varieties. We hope these tests are successful, avoiding the risk of running out of coffee by 2050.
