Monday morning shakes: Is there a looming coffee shortage?
We’ve read several reports about the coffee shortage caused by the drought in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of coffee.
News that Brazil’s coffee production in 2015 may hit a 50-year low has already pushed coffee prices to a 3-year high. This year the price of arabica beans has risen 70 percent.
Let’s assume this shortage isn’t some foul plot by speculators to manipulate coffee prices. The drought will affect coffee production in years to come, and climate change is only going to make the situation worse.
Isn’t the Philippines a coffee producer? How much coffee do we produce? Some years ago we heard that our coffee production couldn’t even meet the local demand, and the Philippines had to import coffee from Vietnam. (Vietnamese coffee growers plant robusta beans. Kapeng barako is liberica.) Has local coffee production increased?
In the late 19th century, blight destroyed coffee crops all over the world, making the Philippines, particularly Lipa, Batangas, the only source of coffee on the planet. Lipa got spectacularly rich.
The thought that our four or five cups of coffee a day may be endangered is enough to give us the shakes.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 13th, 2014 at 08:59
Phew, I thought I was the only one whose daily intake of coffee averages 5 cups. Relieved. And yes, the above news is alarming.
October 13th, 2014 at 12:50
Hindeeeeeeeeeeee!!!(Sabay higop ng tsaa pagkatapos kumain ng malapot na bulalo). I’ve been trying to regulate my coffee intake. I’m having sleeping problems. I sleep better when I drink less coffee. I used to have very high tolerance for coffee. Does coffee tolerance lessen as we age(Aging – another problem. Hindeeeeeeeeeee!)?
October 13th, 2014 at 17:12
chronicler: But doesn’t coffee contain antioxidants which are supposed to have anti-aging properties?
Lots of people have trouble sleeping these days. Might be the humidity.
No way to ward off aging, though, and in our observation cosmetic surgery makes it even more obvious.
October 13th, 2014 at 17:39
It could be the humidity or since I am getting old, my sleeping pattern is in the process of reprogramming itself. I saw on BBC that Cambridge would start having classes around 10 am after studies have proven that teenagers are biologically programmed to sleep very late and wake up late in the morning. Adults are programmed to wake up very early and sleep early. Cambridge says they are doing this to enhance their students’ academic performance.
Wait, I sleep very late and have difficulty waking up early. I’m still a teenager!