Coffee lovers beware: Climate change is threatening supplies of high-quality beans, with one coffee house hunting for the perfect bean to withstand warmer conditions.
Tokyo's Key Coffee Inc. is testing 35 varieties of Arabica trees in Indonesia in collaboration with World Coffee Research of Oregon and the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute. About half of the varieties planted two years ago may be suitable to grow in the highlands of Sulawesi, where the company runs its own farm.
"The threat from climate change is real on our farm," Masataka Nakano, deputy general manager of the roaster's marketing division, said in an interview in Tokyo. "As the difference between the rainy and dry seasons is becoming unclear, and the amount of rain is getting unstable, our crops are vulnerable to damage."