Fond of good coffee? Expect to pay more as demand grows

Shortage expected within 3 to 5 years.

You may recall our chairman’s seasonal message warned of the impending reduced availability of higher quality coffees.  This has been reiterated recently in an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph.
 
In an interview with Jeffrey Young, managing director of Allegra Group, reporter Lauren Davidson surmised that within three to five years we could be heading for a crisis as supplies of high-quality coffee dry up.
 
Mr Young told the Telegraph that “the rising tide of quality that has been keeping this industry alive” could be unsustainable, “this thirst for high-quality coffee means that production is not keeping up with demand at a global scale so stocks have been declining”.  He added that “Coffee prices, in real terms, haven’t gone up in years, so it is becoming less worthy of farmers’ time to grow coffee”.
 
British consumption of coffee has burgeoned in recent years.  The number of coffee shops surpassed 20,000 in 2015, boosting sales by 10% to £7.9 billion.
 
To read the full article please click here.