Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/60649
Growing concern Is climate change what, if anything, can be done? BY PAN DEMETRAKAKES threatening the future of Arabica coffee? And if so, Coffee farmers are already saying that increasingly warm weather is forcing them to retreat further up mountains to plant their Arabica. Photo courtesy of the Rainforest Alliance A (or thought to be in danger) of running out. Is it time to add specialty coffee to the list? On the face of it, there seems to be little cause for concern. t different times throughout world history, various commodities like wheat, coal and oil have been in danger Global coffee production, while fluctuating somewhat, has risen overall since 2000, reaching 132.4 million bags in the 2011/12 growing season, according to the International Coffee Organization. This is an 8 percent increase over 2009, and 18 percent over 2000. On the other hand, when it comes to specialty coffee, there Streisand of plants: a diva." It requires warm days and cool nights, heavy rain that alternates with dry spells, and above all (so to speak), an elevation of at least 5,400 feet. These requirements leave high-quality Arabica production vulnerable to climate variation. And over the long term, some observers fear, that is exactly what will happen. If it isn't already. "The fact that climate change is looming as a major global threat to Arabica supply and to the quality of that supply is the major reason I think that, now, everybody should be concerned, are some warning signs. Coffee crops have fallen in countries that have become centers of premium coffee production, like Colombia (down 32 percent in the last five seasons), Guatemala (down 13 percent) and Kenya (down 9 percent). Various short-term conditions, such as political turmoil in Kenya and mudslides in Colombia, have been tabbed as factors in these declines. But some observers think a longer-term, and far more ominous, trend is playing out. Coffee professionals should be "very concerned, Schilling, executive director of World Coffee Research, an organization set up through Texas A&M University to study issues in coffee sustainability. "Demand is increasing steadily and production is just not keeping up. That alone is something to be concerned about." The supply problem is magnified for the highest-quality " says Tim Schilling says. "This is not going to go away tomorrow or even in 10 years from now. depends on subtle flavor interactions that can be disrupted by changes in growing conditions, even if the overall output stays mostly the same. "Higher quality Arabicas are especially vulnerable, The problem is compounded because the quality of coffee " Schilling says. "That's because as temperature increases (and it IS increasing), the metabolism of the plant also increases, and the filling of the coffee cherry goes faster, which reduces the ability of the plant to assemble all the volatile and storage compounds in their best configuration to yield the best flavor characteristics. " " Arabica coffee because of the conditions under which it must be grown. The Arabica coffee plant is notoriously sensitive to growing conditions; one coffee writer called it "the Barbra 16 | April 2012 • www.specialty-coffee.com CONCERNED FARMERS Such conditions are already taking place in regions across the world that supply high-quality specialty coffee. Players in the supply chain who deal directly with growers report that they're beginning to express concern. "