With the staggering rise in the price of unroasted green coffee, unsurprisingly, there has been a corresponding increase in thefts of green coffee across the globe. We talk you through why the price is spiking here but below are just some of the stories we have read this year about the shocking increasing thefts of coffee around the world.
Lorry thefts for Green Coffee Spikes
Brazilian gang steals almost quarter of a million dollars worth of coffee
Earlier this year, in the Minas Gerais state in Brazil armed men took 500 bags of coffee from a local farm worth around $230,000 (£180,000).
Uganda Mobilise Army
In response to escalating coffee thefts threatening Uganda's key export, President Yoweri Museveni has announced plans to deploy the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) to protect coffee farmers as they try to stop thieves from harvesting their crops prematurely. He emphasized that harvesting immature coffee adversely affects its quality and Uganda's reputation in the global market.
"Farmers work tirelessly to grow this valuable crop, only to have it stolen under cover of darkness" he said, adding that such actions deny farmers the rightful benefits of their hard work.
The president emphasised the importance of the coffee sector as one of Uganda's main sources of foreign exchange, and warned that allowing thieves to undermine it would have far-reaching consequences for the economy.
While some farmers welcome the military's involvement, many have already been taking matters into their own hands and protecting their land with force.
How are growers and importers trying to combat this?
Some importers are choosing to increase their costs by installing GPS trackers into their bags while others are increasing their security throughout from farm level to booking of importers. With the price of coffee not looking to decrease any time soon, these sort of stories are only going to rise at the same rate.
