Weather Affects Coffee, Chocolate, Grain

Coffee prices spiked following reduced output in South America and Asia because of poor growing conditions. Stateside, however, Hurricane Beryl’s welcome rains decreased the price of corn and soybeans, reports Bloomberg.

Futures for arabica coffee, the preferred coffee species for specialty products, increased following reports that Brazil’s harvest deteriorated after a prolonged drought, according to the report. Production in Vietnam and Indonesia was similarly hampered.

The bleak coffee production landscape caused Giuseppe Lavazza, chair of coffee brand Lavazza, to issue a warning, according to a report from Financial Times. He said that the price of coffee in the U.K. could rise by another 10 percent by next year, after already increasing by roughly 15 percent this year.

“Coffee prices are not going to go down, [they’re] going to stay very high,” he said at a recent event. “The coffee supply chain is dramatically under pressure.” Additionally, he attributed the poor harvests in key coffee-producing areas like Vietnam and Indonesia to climate change.

The Bloomberg report warned that, although many of the largest chocolate makers have been shielded from unfavorable weather and plant disease that destroyed West African cocoa harvests, prices will soon rise as these makers will be forced to replenish supplies at the higher ingredient cost.

Although Hurricane Beryl brought rain to parts of the U.S. that needed it, in China, combination excessive heat, drought, flooding, and typhoons have pressured crop harvests, especially for wheat, soy, rice, and corn, according to the report. The country’s climate center said that extreme weather events will become more commonplace because of climate change. Full Story (Subscription Required)