26 September, 2025

Climate change isn’t just about melting ice caps or distant temperature targets. It’s quietly affecting the foods and products we have every day as heat, drought, and erratic weather become the new normal.  

Arabica coffee beans, for instance, require cool, stable conditions, but new research shows that even with shade-growing strategies, suitable land for Arabica could shrink sharply as warming intensifies. South Korea has already released emergency cabbage reserves after record heatwaves hit Napa cabbage crops, while scientists warn that West Africa, which is home to 60% of the world’s cocoa, faces falling yields as rising temperatures pile on stress. European researchers have found that hops are losing the compounds that give beer its aroma, while Mediterranean droughts have halved olive oil production in places like Spain, sending prices soaring. 

Corporate climate disclosures, often tucked away in annual reports, reveal just how seriously businesses are taking these risks. Starbucks has flagged shrinking coffee lands, Mondelez highlights cocoa vulnerabilities, and AB InBev is mapping the threats to barley and hops. These aren’t abstract warnings: they show companies, if not yet fully grappling, are at least recognising the possibility of higher costs and tighter supply as the climate crisis bites. 

And as these pressures mount, replacements are emerging. From lab-grown cocoa to coffee brewed from fermented rice and soy, innovators are experimenting with ingredients that might once have seemed unthinkable. Even if the idea of starting the day with a steaming cup of rice and soy-bean (not) coffee sends shivers down the spines of the Good Business coffee aficionados, these substitutes may soon shift from novelty to necessity.

By Budd Nicholson