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The story
Against the backdrop of soaring coffee bean prices and the “2050 problem” — the concern that climate change will shrink the land suitable for growing coffee in the future — companies have been rolling out alternative drinks aimed at capturing a coffee-like taste, one after another. The idea is to drum up demand with affordably priced products while also preparing for a future in which coffee beans become harder to source. On the thread, posters brought up existing substitutes like dandelion coffee, brown rice coffee, and coffee made from civet cat or elephant droppings, speculated that Japan might eventually become suitable for growing coffee itself, and pointed out that the weak yen has driven up prices for everything from coffee beans to orange juice — the discussion ranged from the merits of alternative coffee to climate change and currency exchange rates.
As a new development in the soft drink market this year, alternative (substitute) coffee drinks have been announced one after another.
With coffee bean prices soaring and doubts growing over the sustainability of coffee bean production, the aim is twofold: to drum up demand with affordably priced products that still deliver a coffee-like taste, and to prepare for a future in which cost and sourcing issues make it harder to build product lineups around actual coffee beans.
Behind this lies the “coffee 2050 problem” — a warning that even as global coffee consumption rises, the land suitable for growing coffee may shrink due to the effects of climate change.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Apparently rice-based alternative coffee already exists as a product — sold as brown rice coffee / brown rice decaf.
Never tried it myself though.
By 2050 rice will be so precious that burning it to make coffee will get you arrested.
Do these people have zero pride as human beings?
By that logic, civet cat poop coffee (kopi luwak) isn't any different.
It's not that simple just because the temperature zone shifts. Insects, soil, drainage, nutrient balance with other plants — all of that gets thrown off too.
"Suitable zones" for civilization shift too, but building one up from scratch takes massive resources and decades.
Isn't it selling at a high price because we won the bidding war? If we'd lost, we'd simply have empty shelves.
Is there any bottled coffee that's actually good? I looked for one for a while but gave up — couldn't find any.
Hills Bros' Major got reclassified as a 'coffee beverage' too.
https://cdn.askul.co.jp/img/product/3L3/EN99673_3L3.jpg
The aroma and richness just vanished lol
"Contents renewed" too (wink wink)
No chance — labor costs and everything else here are still too high.
Mandarin oranges are in trouble for a different reason too — farmers are starting to switch over to avocados.
There IS coffee made from civet cat poop (kopi luwak).
Pretty sure a civet isn't actually a cat though.
Apparently that stuff is addictive too.
Acesulfame K tastes disgustingly bad so you can spot it instantly — please just stop using it. Apparently about 10% of people carry a gene that makes them taste it as awful, and I must be one of them, because it's bad enough to make me want to kill someone.
That's probably dandelion coffee (´・ω・`)
https://image.rakuten.co.jp/healthylife/cabinet/s/tanpopo/tanpopo-2.jpg
Requested by a woman at the office, I bet…
Coffee can barely be grown in Okinawa as it is — no way it'll work on the mainland.
Alright, let's grow it on Iwo Jima then. Though right now it's off-limits to civilians and is a JMSDF base.
But the climate's been so messed up these past few years that Honshu might turn subtropical eventually.
Margarine as a 'butter-like' thing.
Imitation crab as a 'crab-like' thing.
Eggplant unaju as an 'eel-like' thing (eggplant grilled and served eel-style, a mock-unagi dish).
Even margarine is a processed product made from vegetable oil, but with this artificial coffee I have no idea what it's even made from. Is it 100% chemically synthesized?
The vanilla flavor in ice cream is made from petroleum, you know.
Regular coffee is 98-99% water anyway though.
For some reason, coffee bean prices are only surging in Japan.
Well, China's coffee bubble is over too.
Background and key points on this topic
The “coffee 2050 problem” is a long-standing industry warning that climate change will drastically shrink the land suitable for growing Arabica and other coffee varieties in the future, pointing to a long-term risk in sourcing raw materials. The recent rise in coffee bean prices discussed in the thread, by contrast, is driven mainly by short-term factors like the weak yen and swings in international markets — it’s worth treating that as a separate issue from the “2050 problem” described in the article, since the two are different in nature. Also, alternative coffees aren’t limited to novelties made from elephant or civet cat droppings; caffeine-free options like dandelion coffee and brown rice coffee have long been sold commercially as everyday beverages. So this latest round of moves by various companies is less about new technology and more an attempt to push existing alternatives into the mainstream.
*This article is composed from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “A wave of alternative coffee drinks — products offering a coffee-like taste aim to ‘stimulate demand,’ against the backdrop of the world’s ‘coffee 2050 problem’.”
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