Starbucks Fears Climate Change Could Harm World's Coffee Supply

Starbucks lovers, beware. It looks like your precious coffee could be on the endangered list thanks to climate change.

"What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road - if conditions continue as they are - is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean," said Starbucks Sustainability Director Jim Hanna in a phone interview with the Guardian.

In addition to Central America's farmers already feeling the effects of global warming on their crops, Hanna told the Guardian of his plans to visit Washington to speak to members of Congress at a Union of Concerned Scientists event to speak about climate change and coffee.

The move comes after rumors circulated this week that Starbucks might be considering juice bars. Though there's no formal confirmation of switching from coffee to juice, this could symbolize the coffee chain's attempt to secure its future business in the face of unpredictable weather, by varying its offerings and looking beyond coffee.

The Starbucks website addresses climate change, writing, "In addition to increased erosion and infestation by pests, coffee farmers are reporting shifts in rainfall and harvest patterns that are hurting their communities and shrinking the available usable land in coffee regions around the world.

This isn't the first time a commodity has been threatened by global warming. Earlier this month, a report came out by the International Center For Tropical Agriculture warning chocolate could become a luxury item if farmers don't adapt to rising temperatures in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where a majority of the world's cocoa is grown.

Just this past week, peanut butter brands announced price hikes up to 40% thanks to the worst peanut harvest in 30 years from severe weather. Other products reportedly affected by climate change include French wine and Italian pasta.

Comments

[GSR]

12:48 AM on 10/27/2011

"Could your Starbucks Frappachino be endangered?"
When the hell will Americans learn that coffee is consumed from small cups or tumblers. Is never filtered or instant, is sometimes flavoured with small amonts of milk and sugar only and is never made in joints called Starbucks.

[amedel]

01:42 PM on 10/17/2011

It just hit me - the climate change and pestilences information and it's connection to bible prophecy. Luke 21:11 " and there will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another PESTILENCES and food shortages, and there, and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs "

[GSR]

12:12 AM on 10/28/2011

Can I hit you too?

[fromthechrysalis]

01:36 PM on 10/17/2011

Another thing while I'm on a rant-roll, why is it that coffee prices are rising up up up at Starbucks et al. ($4 to $5 per cup) and yet I can go to the grocery store and buy a $6 bag of gourmet Starbucks roast which will make 40 or 50 cups? Something's fishy in Denmark and it aint their Ludafisk Lattes. It's Howard Schultz trying to convince everyone to pay $10 per cup!

[canuckhoser]

01:55 PM on 10/18/2011

Speculators. Wallstreet has been redefining the definition of "market forces"...

Wheat or coffee. Anything to manipulate the supply and demand chain for their own benefit. It's going to take regulation with teeth to actually make the market free. The crookery on Wallstreet has no bounds, hedging, index funds and speculation have now replaced supply and demand. Instead of paying for fair wages, that money is now going into wallstreet pockets while they artificially inflate the value of commodities.

The level of corruption is astounding. And the right defends them like they are infallible and that this is really capitalism. Everything they know is wrong, simply because they don't know anything

[fromthechrysalis]

03:02 PM on 10/18/2011

The irony is that Reagan crushed the food speculators that were creating all the shortages of the late 70's. It's an inconvenient truth to the Laissez Faire crowd that followed that their idol wasn't as Free-Market as they paint him. Right wing nutjobs... can't live with em and can't shoot em, its a conundrum.

[canuckhoser]

02:04 PM on 10/18/2011

And being a starbucks addict, I have never seen a bag of coffee for 6$ that can make 40-50 cups.

If that is the case, it really is about starbucks licensing their brand for lo-grade coffee. I can buy 2lbs for a little over 20$ at some proxies unground. Go to a local fair trade or organic shop and it's between 14-20 per lb. So their prices aren't out of tune with what is happening in the market. But it's the "market" that is completely out of touch with supply.

4-5$ is reflexive of just coffee. It's staffing to make specialty coffees and providing a higher wage and benefits. A regular cup of joe is still at 2$. I don't find this unreasonable considering they offer quite a different brand. Atmosphere, higher end locales, benefits, higher wages.

I can't believe I'm defending bucks here. But they aren't outrageously priced as some suggest, you aren't going to get a quality cappuccino for 2$ elsewhere unless they are a small overhead operation....

The starbucks meme is quite silly. They have other business practices that are far more egregious than their relatively modest price of coffee they seriously don't have much control over which is determined by the crooks on wallstreet...

/end rant

[fromthechrysalis]

02:57 PM on 10/18/2011

also, you should check out Starbucks Gossip or other blogger sites where the baristas can venti all day long about their boss. You would be surprised to hear why he really raises prices since this coffee shortage is really mostly just bullsh*t

[fromthechrysalis]

01:31 PM on 10/17/2011

I've spent a lifetime bashing Reagan, usually for crimes he committed that noboby even remembers. But I also give him the props he deserves, usually for things he did that nobody even remembers. Like his handling of food shortages for instance. When Reagan took office America had suffered through a number of food shortages, including peanut butter, milk, OJ, bread... it sucked! Reagan tore a page out of the commie playbook and heavily regulated and subsidized farmers. He told em where to grow, what to grow, when to grow it, he told them how much they could sell it for and he bought if from them and sold it back to the markets at fixed prices.

Weather changes all the time, over millions of years it changes. Reagan would have just taken control of the coffee production there would be no shortage of any food on his watch. It's really a lack of leadership we are facing....

[leighalittletyke]

01:13 PM on 10/17/2011

I love my grande mocha soy latte, but let's be frank, it's a want not a need. They're pretty expensive so it's a treat to go out and have one but I can live without it. It's unfortunate for the company but come on people, quit being so dramatic. It's just a cup of coffee. Wake up earlier and go for a run if you need a morning boost.

[jsfnps]

12:27 PM on 10/17/2011

Please all get real! I just returned from Brazil and according to the folks there the coffee bean crop was outstanding this year. Before I listen to any coffee house I would prefer to listen to the growers.

[jmslotnick]

01:10 PM on 10/17/2011

Anything to raise prices and get more money from the unbeknownst public. We get no breaks from anybody anymore.

[killatan662]

01:21 PM on 10/17/2011

Let's not forget Brazilian farmers have a grade A education so they definately know what they're talking about.

[sithdude01]

12:25 PM on 10/17/2011

Climate change. What a joke! Global warming (if that's what your thinking) has already been PROVEN a LIE and FALSE! If anything were in global COOLING. HOWEVER, that doesn't matter. The Earth is in a cycle. for example 1 century warm, 1 century cool. anyone left that still believes in Global warming is a sheep buying into lies from the government and government hired scientists. look for yourself. Even IF all our cars were polluting the air is wouldn't be near enough to cause global warming. and lightning cleans our air anyway. why? because nature friggen rocks and for the most part (asside from nuclear waste and oil) can take care of itself! we just have to be responsible!

[Coz McRae]

12:59 PM on 10/17/2011

So why are the glaciers melting? That's one thing you could see with your own eyes. I visited a glacier in Alaska and the end of the glacier today is hundreds of feet from where it used to be.
Global warming is real. The only dispute can be over whether it's caused by human actions, and even on that I think a vast majority of scientists are in agreement.
And it's not cars that are the problem. If you'd read up on the matter, you would learn pollution from industrial sources is greater than greenhouse gases emitted from motor vehicles.
If--as you say--some people are buying lies from the government, I say you're buying lies from the oil and energy industries.

[sithdude01]

01:12 PM on 10/17/2011

that's one glacier. and that what glaciers do, they move. but the actual ice caps in the north pole and antarctic have actually grown! fact. and I don't listen to the oil or energy industries, that would be foolish because they, like politicians, lie. haven't you heard about the emails found from the global warming scientists? or the very well put argument from anti-global warming scientists? why is it that they are silenced? why silence someone unless they are a threat? why would they be threat? unless maybe they exposing the truth for what it is.

[angalmarketing2]

12:20 PM on 10/17/2011

Sooooo, they are considering juice bars when the possible climate changes they are looking at are 30-50 years down the road. Brilliant marketing concept; why don't you change to a donut chain and compete with Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.

[JScott]

11:08 AM on 10/17/2011

Well quit building luxury condo resorts in Hawaii and expand coffee and cacao acreage there, Jeez it's not rocket science.

[Craig916]

10:55 AM on 10/17/2011

(falling to my knees dramatically screaming) Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......

[Randi Grogan]

10:28 AM on 10/17/2011

Whatever the cost I will have my Starbucks fix! There are very few things in my life that are a must, Starbucks is on that list. Coffee in general has been going up recently, but those who need that first cup in the morning will pay whatever price it is. As many who won't give up smoking, coffee people will endure whatever it takes or costs as the smoker will pay absurd prices for a substance that can kill you, last I read coffee is an antioxidant and in moderation is a good thing. What the heck, I will not do away with my coffee.

[ReadTheStory]

10:52 AM on 10/17/2011

Really? Children in Somolia are starving to death, and you won't be able to get by without your coffee?

[dirtyturtle23]

11:01 AM on 10/17/2011

Nice, has any one even looked into how Starbucks treats the workers in their subsidiary host countries; where their coffee is produced. Charging you and arm and a leg while they pay the actual farmers next to nothing and leave the country high and dry in search of profit(Ethiopia) if the company is asked to pay a decent wage. Lets take a minute to just let that sink in as soooo many people have to have their fix, is it even ethical. I used to drink their apple cider because their coffee tastes like doody, but after going to Ethiopia and hearing the people speak of how they were treated a boycott of their cider seemed very appropriate. Now I get local cider and heat it my self without all the sugar and whipped cream is much less calories and infinitely cheaper. If you want good coffee that is pricey and trendy try Neiman Marcus, at least when you drink it in their cafe, you wont get b**** written on your cup.

[Coz McRae]

01:03 PM on 10/17/2011

If you are concerned that coffee growers and pickers don't earn an a decent living, you should be buying fair trade coffee. "Fair trade" is a program that ensures that the little guys who do the actual coffee farming get their fair share of what you're paying for your coffee.
If you don't see fair trade coffee in your local stores, check out the Internet.
Now you can have your coffee and your good conscience, too!

[jmslotnick]

10:06 AM on 10/17/2011

It already has. Coffee prices are through the roof and I have cut back my coffee consumption, which was not that big to begin with. I drink maybe a cup every other day. As far as Starbucks is concerned their prices were way too high even before the current prices hikes. I refuse to pay $12.00 for a pound of their regular everyday coffee and up to $19.00 for a specialty brand of theirs when I can get a 3 lb. can of Columbian Coffee at Costco for $15.00 and it is far better than Starbucks.

[skevwe]

11:01 AM on 10/17/2011

Thank you!!! Also, I too think Starbucks coffee can be very bitter at times, let alone the price of it. I think there are way better tasting coffees out there as well.

[dil123]

04:18 PM on 10/17/2011

Frankly, I stick to old fashioned Maxwell House. I only get Starbucks one time a month. Carmel Frappachino in the summer, Carmel Macciato in the winter.

[Get My Grift]

09:49 AM on 10/17/2011

Wait - how did an article from The Onion get this site?

[ohiomark]

08:54 AM on 10/17/2011

Hurry Libs, raise taxes and increase regulations on everything we do so we can keep the cost of the liberal lattes down.

Soft tyranny goes better with coffee.

[Benbo]

09:29 AM on 10/17/2011

That strawman makes...no sense what-so-ever.

[ReadTheStory]

10:52 AM on 10/17/2011

Excuse me? What does drinking coffee have to do with being conservative or liberal?

[derrickhoyle]

06:37 PM on 10/18/2011

I guess if you pour it yourself at a gas station you're conservative and if a barista serves you you're a liberal.

[rolor]

08:45 AM on 10/17/2011

If a big corporation is worried about the impact of climate change on their business, does that mean right wingers will believe it's real or will they think it a liberal plot to take everyone's guns away and convert them to Marxists?

[ScapeGoat]

09:48 AM on 10/17/2011

NO! the US Military and other Militaries around the world believe in global Warming and are making plans accordingly, Insurance Companies believe in Global Warming because they keep track of trends that cause them to pay out on policies.

If the right wing-nuts don't believe the Military and don't believe the Insurance Companies, what makes you think they will believe Starbucks!

Faved!!! Already fanned!

[morris111]

09:56 AM on 10/17/2011

Climate change IS real and natural. It's been in a constant state of change since the beginning of the Earth's formation. We can no more stop it or change it any more than we could stop a hurrican or redirect a tornado.

You been living under a rock??? Liberals DO want to get rid of guns and turn the US into a Marxist utopia.

[rolor]

04:45 PM on 10/17/2011

I'm glad you at least acknowledge the existence of Climate Change but if it were natural, then why aren't the skys blackened with volcano ash like the last time CO2 levels spiked? Are you saying that the Industrial Revolution was an act of God?

I imagine your resignation in the face of such an overwhelmingly complex problem serves to fuel your delusionary belief that your guns not only protect you from this problem but that those who are actually trying to do something about it, and who own guns themselves are trying to take them away from you in order to institute a system of government which has already proven itself a failure the world over. I'm sure you actually believe your conclusions and it doesn't matter how reality might contradict them, you will merely further entrench yourself within that comfortable womb of yours if anyone tries to convince you otherwise. That's okay though, ignorance can be forgiven, as long as you don't allow your fears to overwhelm you so much that you make others suffer as a consequence.