Vor Jahren angekündigt. Jetzt eingetreten. Cover: Ingo H. Klett für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2012
Coffee becomes an issue for you
A headline that is now outdated. What Dr. Steffen Schwarz from Mannheim, green coffee trader and connoisseur of the scene, predicted years ago, has now come true. Even then, he credibly argued that against the background of the ever-increasing number of coffee drinkers on this planet, coffee as a luxury food would tend to become scarce, especially in times of climatic changes and corresponding pest infestation.
As the initiator of what is probably the most important coffee school in Europe – the Coffee Consulate in Mannheim – Schwarz is now considered the 'pope' of his guild. As a management consultant, he is also responsible for the coffee division of WEBER Packaging GmbH, which recognized the relevance of the second largest world trade market for its customers in the food sector years ago.
New market participants
As one of these new major players in the world trade market, Schwarz made up the Indian market with around 50 million new frahling enthusiasts. Which, incidentally, is only a fraction of their total population.
Dr. Steffen Schwarz: "There, a severe drought that has lasted for three years has led to massive crop losses of Canephora coffees". In India, too, the figures are clear: "The fact that the drought affects the Canephora species in particular has to do with the fact that Canephora is a pure flat-root plant and therefore cannot absorb water from deeper layers of the soil. Similar market influencing factors can be heard, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale, from the British Isles: Gerhard Pennekamp, Managing Director of DECO LEISURE GmbH from Wesel, Germany, is organising the roll-out of hundreds of company-owned shops for Starbucks, which are currently being overrun with frequency: The British discover coffee.
Brazil must import coffee
Because Brazil – the world's largest coffee grower – has also been suffering from a drought for months, the Arabica species, which is in great demand worldwide, is now mainly exported from there. For the first time in its history, Brazil must now import green coffee from Vietnam just to cover its own needs.
The Handelsblatt reads that from February to May the Brazilian government under President Michel Temer approved the import of 1 million sacks (60 kilograms each) of the Robusta variety from Vietnam. Source is the portal "Folha de Säo Paula".
This is also quoted by the national statistics authority with regard to the development of prices: coffee prices have risen by no less than 14.9 percent in twelve months.
Especially the state of Espírito Santo suffers from the consequences: There, production of the Robusta variety fell by as many as eight million sacks in 2016, around 30 percent less than in the previous year. The aim is now to import 250,000 sacks of Robusta per month. Brazil recently produced around 56 million sacks per year.