10 Foods Becoming Massively More Expensive Due to Climate Change

A drought in Mexico has shrunk the yield of red jalapeno, the chilli pepper used in the production of the much-loved Sriracha. The shortage has been going on for three years and it has resulted in the sauce disappearing from the shelves of American supermarkets. The demand-supply issue has also raised the prices of Sriracha available on eBay ($70) and Amazon ($124). 

Huy Fong, the company that makes it, said that limited supply continues to affect production of their sources and they don’t know when it will increase.

Whether you brew your own or go to Starbucks for your daily hit, you will be affected in the coming years as coffee gets more expensive. Global production of coffee is threatened by crop failures, a study says. As a result, 120 million small farmers that depend on coffee for their livelihoods will struggle to survive.

Rising temperatures are leading to unfriendly conditions to grow coffee, and weather hazards such as heatwaves, frosts, floods, and droughts are threatening the crop. “With climate change projections showing a continued rise in temperatures in the tropics is likely, we suggest that coffee production can expect ongoing systemic shocks in response to spatially compounding climate hazards,” the report states.

Another research relayed that the area suitable for production of coffee could get halved by 2100 due to climate change. The taste, flavor, and prices will definitely be affected, too.

There’s more bad news on the caffeine front: the climate event El Niño is predicted to be strong this year and it will raise the prices of coffee, chocolate, and sugar. El Niño is a natural weather pattern that increases the surface temperature of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It’s a very complicated weather event that affects billions around the world—it brings heatwaves and droughts to Asia and Central America, while floods to South America, south of the U.S., and the Horn of Africa.

Sugar prices have reached a 11-year high this year. In India, the second largest producer of sugar, severe rainfalls in the state of Maharashtra dropped yields by 20%. Europe’s drought also contributed to the problem. If the upward trend continues, you’re soon going to pay more for your candies and beverages.

In 2021, Brazil, the world’s top sugar producer, suffered from frosts that damaged not just sugar crops but also coffee, and drove up prices globally. Weather events will continue to impact sugarcane production, and El Niño is seen as another threat in Thailand and India as it makes conditions drier for water-intensive sugarcane.

Did you know that saffron is the most expensive spice in the world? A pound of saffron costs $5,000. It is a labor-intensive crop that requires hand plucking and separating, and it is sensitive to temperature. In India’s Kashmir, saffron production has shrunk due to unseasonal rainfall or snowfall and farmers are experimenting with indoor saffron farming. In Spain, too, yield is plummeting.

Iran is the biggest producer of this “red gold”, but decline in production in other countries will mean a price hike in the coming years.

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You’re going to have to pay more for a sweet treat. A deficit in the main ingredient of cocoa is making the costs rise. Meanwhile, the cost of ingredients like sugar are also reaching new heights. So, chocolate is already 14% more expensive and it’s likely to climb up.

Ghana and Ivory Coast are responsible for 65% of the world’s cocoa, but the farmers receive a negligible amount for their efforts. Moreover, the low-income countries are vulnerable to climate change and the dry conditions are making it unsuitable to grow cocoa. 

Ghana, the second largest producer of cocoa, is facing droughts and unseasonal rainfall, which ruins the crop. The Dominican Republic is also suffering from consistent droughts and hurricanes, reducing output year on year.

The demand for chocolate is leading to afforestation as more farmers cut down trees to grow cocoa—Ivory Coast has lost 80% of its forest cover in the last five decades. Ironically, lack of rainfall is causing crop failure.

What’s another crop susceptible to temperamental climate? Grapes. Drought-affected Europe is dealing with lower quality grapes and lower yield. California is devastated by wildfires repeatedly that worry winemakers because the smoke may result in an ashy flavor. There are erratic rainfall, frosts, and hailstorms that are also destroying vines. 

These weather factors also change the taste of the wines and vintners are trying to adapt to this unpredictability. Vineyards are experimenting with different varieties of grapes to combat climate change—a trend seen in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, France, and Italy.

Along with the climate whiplash, supply-chain issues for glass bottles and corks are also inflating the cost of wines.

Global food crisis is a terrifying nightmare. Right now, Pakistan is facing a major wheat crisis with people fighting over cereal. The Horn of Africa is suffering unseen horrors of hunger due to drought, inflation in food prices, and supply issues. Just in Somalia, around 6.5 million people are facing catastrophic food insecurity.  

Russia’s war on Ukraine heightened an already exacerbated food crisis around the world—both countries provided the world a quarter of global wheat in 2019, but the war stopped exports. In India last year, wheat production went down drastically due to heatwaves, so the expectation to fill the gaps left by the war became futile. In the U.S. and Europe, too, climate variations caused a drop in production, rising food prices around the world.

As per a new research, if the worst case scenario of extreme weather events affecting China and the U.S. (two big wheat producers) in the same year came true, it will stress the global food supply tremendously and send food prices soaring.

Your favorite tomato-based sauces aren’t spared either. California’s Central Valley produces a majority of the tomatoes that are used in ketchup, salsa, and pizza sauces you buy at supermarkets. But last year, the yield wasn’t as much as expected and the price of tomatoes soared due to drought. This year, too, farmers aren’t hopeful about the yields after record rains and they are expecting to see a shortage in some inventories, along with increased prices of items.

Olives aren’t resilient to heatwaves and drought either. With the Mediterranean reeling from heat shocks, the production has gone down and prices of olive oil have risen, it’s almost $6,000 per metric ton. Spain is the world’s top producer of olive oil, but the continued drought has cut its yield by half. If the region doesn’t get good rainfall this year, the prices will continue to climb.

Ocean acidification and warming waters are wiping out shellfish. Marine heatwaves are becoming increasingly common and they are threatening sealife, including fish, algae, and corals. Fish are moving to colder waters to adapt to the warming conditions and it is threatening fisheries everywhere. Populations near China and Japan have shrunk up to 35% according to one report.

In Texas, thousands of dead fish washed up on the shores in June due to low oxygen levels that may have been made worse by warming oceans. A similar fish kill event also occurred in Thailand. Pacific salmon numbers in California have shockingly fallen. In Maine, clams are declining. Fish stocks in Sudan’s Nile are dwindling. Billions of Alaska’s snow crabs have disappeared from the Bering Sea due to shrinking ice (snow crabs thrive in cold waters).

These trends are being observed all over the world. Some fish are becoming abundant in regions they weren’t before, and other species are losing their habitats—rivers and seas are all impacted. Overfishing, pollution, and coastal construction are also contributing to the problem.

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