Coffee is under threat, thanks to climate change
Chai has long been the face of the beverage industry in India. But, coffee is here to change it. According to research by Mintel, India is among the world’s fastest-growing markets for packaged coffee. It ranks third after Indonesia and Turkey.
Especially, since the millennial culture has embraced coffee. Whether it is the popularization of the colossal American coffee giant, Starbucks or the hipster cafes turning up in almost every corner of the street.
Just like chai, having a cup of coffee has become a sacred routine. And, some people can’t get through the day without a cup of coffee.
Well, we have some bad news for you.
Thanks to climate change, coffee might just be going extinct.
According to a recent study, more than 60% of the world’s wild coffee species are at risk due to deforestation, human encroachment and disease which is followed by more droughts and new pathogens.
Arabica, Cafe Marron and Robusta are among the wild coffee species that may face extinction. And, the other species may suffer from the same fate. As storing coffee varieties in botanical gardens is a lost cause, as coffee species readily fertilise each other, thus contaminating the resource you’re trying to conserve. Therefore, the sustainability of coffee mostly depends on the conservation of these species.
These coffee beans are headed towards their doom without any plans mapped out to save them.