UF Scientists Study How To Bring You ‘Climate-Smart Coffee’

Crave that cup of coffee in the morning? Globally, consumers drink more than 2.2 billion cups daily. Someone grows all that joe: More than 100 million farmers worldwide produce coffee.

Coffee beans consumed across the globe come from two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora, also known as Robusta (or Conilon) coffee. Historically, coffee drinkers prefer Arabica beans for their specific flavor and aroma, said Felipe Ferrao, a University of Florida research assistant scientist in horticultural sciences.

But by 2050, about 80 percent of Arabica production is predicted to decrease because of climate change. So, Ferrao and colleagues from France (RD2 Vision) and Brazil (Incaper Institution) are investigating to see if they can find alternative coffee cultivars.

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