- Origin & Cultivation
What a coffee brand can do to combat climate change.
Hamburg, early July. 93 degrees in the shade. It’s humid, the city is sweating from every pore, I escape to the Elbe river. Which doesn’t bring much relief, it’s low tide, the wind is dead. Is this summer? Or already climate change?
Kristin Oldenburg
“I can't listen to this anymore.”
Is organic farming the solution?
“Oh please, I can’t hear it anymore,” a friend comments on me thinking out loud. True, unfortunately. Climate change, which was the hot topic just two or three years ago, has been pushed aside by economic crises, wars, and the inevitable summer slump nonsense (I’m just saying “killer catfish”). Incidentally, more and more climate protection measures are being overturned or postponed politically. Is sustainability now only something for crazy eco-dreamers and do-gooders?
Doing nothing is not an option.
Even if the frustration is sometimes great for committed organic consumers like us, giving up is not an option. That’s why we’re writing this blog post: We want to show you that making a conscious decision to buy organic fair trade coffee such as Mount Hagen really does make a difference. Sounds naive? It’s not. Let’s take a step back to explain: It all starts with the coffee plant.
Arabica, the most sensitive of all coffees.
Only two of the 124 coffee varieties worldwide are of real economic importance: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are generally more interesting, not only for Mount Hagen, because they are more complex, aromatic, and multifaceted in taste. However, they are also more sensitive to heat and weather or temperature fluctuations.
Robusta – the name says it all –reacts much more calmly to such phenomena. It is grown below 2300 ft altitude, so it can withstand heat much better than Arabica.
It is not difficult to imagine that global warming is having an impact on coffee cultivation. Unfortunately, it is much worse than one might think.
Climate change – coffee shortage?
A study* published in 2022 by the Geography of Food research group at the University of Applied Sciences in Wädenswil, Switzerland, predicts that the area suitable for growing Arabica coffee will shrink by up to 60% by 2050. According to the scientists, Brazil, the largest producer of Arabica coffee, will probably be hit the hardest: Here, up to 97% (!) of the cultivation area could no longer be suitable by 2050. Which would be a disaster. Especially since this does not only apply to Brazil, of course. And the effects continue along the entire value chain – think of the small farmers, their loss of income, migration, etc.
But even now, in 2025, the sharp rise in coffee prices shows how crop failures in Brazil and other countries are having an impact, coupled with a sharp increase in demand. You can find more background information on this here on our blog: “A bitter pill to swallow: Coffee prices.”
As always, there is no single solution. Breeding more heat-resistant, climate-resilient varieties is definitely part of the solution. But organic or Demeter farming probably offers the greatest leverage for mitigating this catastrophe.
Because:
- Agroforestry – the integration of shade trees and mixed crops – protects the soil from erosion, reduces water consumption, promotes biodiversity, and mitigates temperature extremes.
- No chemicals: The use of organic fertilizers and natural pest control methods protects the environment – but requires more work.
- Fairtrade certifications ensure fair prices for farmers and enable investment in sustainable cultivation.
- Protection of water resources: Sustainable water use is essential to reduce vulnerability to droughts (“Saving water with coffee?”).
By the way: We’ve been doing all this. For over 30 years.
Mount Hagen is a pioneer in sustainable coffee cultivation.
In the mid-1980s, we were still ridiculed when we insisted on organic farming. When chemicals were (and still are) absolutely taboo. The term “crazy organic-people” was still one of the nicer ones (“The crazy organic-people”). But current developments prove us right.
Climate change is probably one of the biggest challenges facing the entire coffee industry. We have proven that coffee grown using sustainable methods, with respect for the environment and people, with ideas, innovations, and attitude, can have a future – a very tasty one. You just have to want it.
And that’s where coffee fans come in. Your conscious decision to choose an organic, fair trade coffee like Mount Hagen can make a difference every day, cup by cup – and even bring about a change in thinking across the entire coffee industry.
Source:
*www.mdr.de/wissen/klima/klima-update-hundertzehn-goodbye-arabica-klimawandel-kaffee-anbau100.html
