Starbucks is buying two new research farms that will test everything from drones to microbes in an effort to make coffee more resilient to climate change, which has already limited availability and driven up prices.
A farm in Costa Rica will look at solutions, including how technology can help growers. In Guatemala – a key supply region – Starbucks will replicate the challenges faced by the small farms that make up 97% of the supply chain. Both locations will also study new coffee varieties as climate change shifts where the crop can thrive.
Strengthening the coffee industry’s climate resilience has taken on new urgency this year as extreme drought in Brazil sent prices for Starbucks’ beloved arabica beans to their highest level since 2011 in September. Rising temperatures lead to problems such as droughts and coffee leaf rust, a disease caused by a fungus, which compromise the availability, quality and taste of coffee, while endangering farmers’ livelihoods.
