You depend on your morning cup of coffee to get things started at the beginning of the day. Two or three more cups keep you going as you make your way through the 9-to-5. Meanwhile, growers around the world are carefully cultivating their beans with full knowledge of how much you depend on them. Rounding out the picture is an army of roasters, distributors, retailers and companies such as Galaxie Coffee who make sure consumers get their daily fix.

We say all of this to introduce you to the idea that changes occur within the coffee industry all the time – changes you probably are not aware of because they do not directly affect what you put in your cup every morning. Nevertheless, there are some big changes on the way that you may begin to feel within the next couple of years. Those changes are directly related to Arabica coffee production and perceived climate change.

Whether you believe climate change is a reality or not, there are enough people in positions of power convinced it is a reality. They are armed with a new round of data that suggests some of the most productive tropical regions producing Arabica coffee right now could be damaged by climate change in the future. They say the data suggests a local temperature increase of just a degree or two would make it impossible to continue coffee production at current levels. The solution? Move coffee production to cooler areas.

Higher Wholesale and Retail Prices

Arabica coffee is the preferred coffee worldwide. It accounts for 70% of all coffee production and is second only to oil in terms of its importance as a global commodity. The problem for growers is that Arabica is especially sensitive to temperature. If temperatures get too high for sustained periods, the resulting beans will not have the same mild and inviting flavor that consumers have come to expect. Throw in a lack of adequate rainfall and a crop could be unmarketable altogether.

Whether climate change researchers are right or wrong will not change much in terms of perception. Most of the world already accepts climate change as a scientific fact, leading both governments and businesses to make preemptive changes now. We expect some of the world’s coffee producers to begin looking in earnest for new areas of production not likely to be as sensitive to climate change as others. This could lead to a loss of production and an increase in prices at both the wholesale and retail levels.

How soon we start seeing price increases depends on how soon producers start looking for new locations. It could be as early as a few years from now; it might not start happening for several decades. However, it probably will happen one way or the other.

Here at Galaxie Coffee, we will continue to serve our customers with the best office coffee products regardless of what happens. We are committed to your complete satisfaction with every single cup.