Coffee Prices On The Boil As Natural Disasters Decimate Crops

Europe's coffee lovers are bracing themselves for higher prices as natural disasters hit the world's top two coffee-producing countries, Garfield Myrie reported for Euronews.

As one of the world's largest coffee-drinking regions, Europe's coffee lovers will find price hikes particularly hard to swallow.

Droughts in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, and severe typhoons in Vietnam, the second-largest, have significantly disrupted global coffee supply chains, driving up production costs that are bubbling their way through to consumers.

As one of the world's largest coffee-drinking regions, Europe's coffee lovers will find price hikes particularly hard to swallow.

Europeans consume approximately 3.2 million metric tons of coffee a year, accounting for almost 33% of the world's total coffee consumption, according to the German consumer data company Statista.

Brazil, responsible for around 40% of the world's coffee production, has been grappling with one of its worst droughts in decades.

The dry conditions have severely affected its arabica coffee-growing regions and reduced yields. The 2023-2024 crop cycle has already seen a steep drop in production, with some estimates suggesting output could fall by as much as one-fifth (20%).

The impact is being felt most acutely in Minas Gerais, Brazil's largest coffee-producing state and the home of the high-quality arabica bean, which has experienced months of below-average rainfall.