With consumers drinking more coffee than ever before, it should be a great time to be a grower. However, the price of arabica beans — the higher quality, milder-tasting of the two main coffee beans — is trading just above $1 a pound on New York’s ICE, well under half the value it was just five years ago because of a flood of beans from the leading producer, Brazil.
Many growers around the world are having to abandon their farms or turn to illicit crops such as coca. This, in turn, is casting doubt over the future sustainability of supplies — and could, ultimately, prove costly for consumers.
Why are growers struggling at a time when the price of a cup of coffee seems to be rising?