Hurricane Recovery Underway
Work is underway to restore Puerto Rico’s coffee crop
Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria’s ripped away most of Puerto Rico’s coffee trees in September 2017. Now there’s a concerted effort to revive the nation’s industry and help the nation’s recovery efforts.
The Starbucks Foundation and the Fonalledas Foundation, the company’s licensing partner in Puerto Rico, are teaming with World Coffee Research to create a sustainable future for this country’s coffee farmers. Starbucks Foundation is donating two million disease-resilient seeds and the organizations are working to enhance coffee production across the island.
“We have an opportunity and a responsibility to be part of creating a future for coffee farmers in Puerto Rico,” said Michelle Burns, Starbucks’ senior vice president for Global Coffee & Tea. “Providing seeds may sound simple, but that’s what gets directly to the farmer. It’s the purest example of our ability to have a direct impact.”
World Coffee Research determined 80 percent of the island’s coffee trees – an estimated 18 million – with destroyed by winds and flooding.