Hurricane Sandy Hurts Coffee Farms in Cuba

One more to add to the list of Sandy's destruction: coffee

More Articles by Marcy Franklin

Oct 30, 2012 @ 10:14 AM

The damage from Hurricane (now superstorm) Sandy streches far and wide, from its original start in the Caribbean to its path of destruction in the Northeast. Now, reports say that Sandy has damaged a large number of Cuba's coffee crops, badly hurting the agricultural industry.

Reuters and Food World News report that about 1,300 tonnes (one tonne equals 525 cups of coffee) were ruined because of the storm. The real problem is that coffee production estimates from Cuba were already much lower than normal; experts predicted 5,300 tonnes for the year, far below last year's 7,100 tonnes produced. After Sandy, that number may be below 4,000 tonnes.

The most damage was in the Sierra Maestra Mountains, where more than 90 percent of the country's coffee is grown. This just adds to the worldwide problem of lower coffee yields — better savor that cup of coffee in your hands.