EDITOR’S NOTE

RISE FROM THE ASHES

WHAT IF the world had no coffee supply? What would we do? Would we see a gradual decline and rations handed out per country? Would we turn to science labs to cultivate coffee cell cultures to avoid extinction? Or, God forbid, would we accept fate and turn to tea?

I remember listening to a presentation at the 2013 Global Coffee Report Symposium when coffee reporter Maja Wallengren suggested that the world would indeed run out of coffee and that we would end up with a major supply shortage if we continued to rely on Brazil to meet rising demand. “How absurd,” I remember thinking, “surely a world without coffee is a world long after I leave this earth”. But how wrong I was. Fast forward eight years, and one devastating weather event in July saw severe frost decimate the world’s largest producer of coffee, and left us questioning who is our back-up country to stand up and fill the supply gap?

As it turns out, it was only a question of when, not if, this scenario would play out, and Wallengren returns to share her encounter of Brazil’s devastation (see page 22).

Perhaps Mother Nature should claim some responsibility. Over the past year, she’s fired warning shots about the rising urgency of climate change in the form of severe droughts, rising temperatures, and adverse weather events. What’s even more devastating, is the contribution of humaninduced climate change from carbon emissions and deforestation. With 20 per cent of the Brazilian Amazon destroyed thanks to the continuation of illegal gold mining, timber contraband and arson, Brazil’s trees are witnessing another degree of burning. In our report on the impact of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group report (see page 32), Dr Aaron Davis of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew explains that if droughts continue to become more frequent and severe in producing countries, not just Brazil, the rising global coffee price will be impacted beyond the current surge, and so will the supply chain.

Already logistics and transportation are feeling the pinch thanks to the global pandemic. World Coffee Research COE Jennifer ‘Vern’ Long says this part of the supply chain, a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), will need to be considered when adapting to climate change, with rising sea levels affecting port infrastructure and the ability to move products like coffee.

Our industry’s sustainable future is the responsibility of the entire value change. We can commit to further reduction of GHG emissions, plant more trees, invest in the development of new hybrids, and not leave our issues for future generations to contend with. It’s our problem, our planet, and time really is, running out.

Sarah Baker

Editor, Global Coffee Report

PUBLISHER Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au EDITOR Sarah Baker sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au ASSISTANT EDITOR Ethan Miller ethan.miller@primecreative.com.au JOURNALIST Shanna Wong shanna.wong@primecreative.com.au DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Blake Storey blake.storey@primecreative.com.au DESIGN Madeline McCarty, Kerry Pert BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING ACCOUNT MANAGER Courtney Walker courtney.walker@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS Ben Griffiths ben.griffiths@primecreative.com.au PHOTOGRAPHY Julian Madrid, Maja Wallengren CONTRIBUTOR Maja Wallengren, Jaroslaw Adamowski, Denis Seudieu HEAD OFFICE Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia p: +61 3 9690 8766 f: +61 3 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.gcrmag.com SUBSCRIPTIONS +61 3 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

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