Hurricanes and the coffee bean

Here in the United Kingdom we have come to expect our summers to be hot if not sunny but spare a thought for the Caribbean, which has been devastated by some of the strongest and most deadly hurricanes as the hurricane season strikes the region once again. With all the stories of destruction of property and the wrecked communities, one aspect that has sadly not been reported widely is the devastation wrought on the areas coffee plantations by storm after storm.
The island of Puerto Rico’s economy is bound closely to growing and selling coffee beans and over the last few years there had been a renaissance in the cultivation of the crop. The storms can, however, leave the plantations in complete devastation.

The international community each hurricane season rebuilds the areas basic infrastructure but coffee plantations take longer and cost more to fully recover from the hurricanes. In the short term the lack of supply will probably mean that prices and quality of beans will rise and the quality of the crop will suffer accordingly.