If you take your coffee as seriously as I do then you will be devastated by the news that we may be facing a coffee shortage this year. Reports are predicting that a global coffee shortage could see the price of our lattes  increasing as well the closure of some Melbourne cafes. People will simply not be able to afford their daily cups of coffee any more.

Giuseppe Lavazza, vice president of global coffee supplier Lavazza, said there were signs that coffee-producing nations would not be able to meet global demand for the product in the future.

“There is the problem of a possible shortage,” he told 774 ABC Melbourne’s Jon Faine.

Lavazza has said that there are many issue that affect the price of coffee beans but certainly climate change is the main one. In fact it has been affecting coffee production for some time.

“Last year we had drought in Brazil, for example, this year we had El Nino in Indonesia,” he said.

Mr Lavazza said his company was expecting the strong US dollar and increasing global demand to lead to “high volatility in coffee prices”.

“Long-term the world will need much more coffee because international coffee consumption is growing,” he said.

Not everyone thinks the coffee shortage will be a bad thing.  Michael Sergi, who has owned several cafes and now runs a coffee van near the Arts Centre on St Kilda Road, believes that a long-term increase in the price of coffee would drive many Melbourne cafes out of business.

“It’s hard enough with the pricing that we have now to maintain a business,” he said.

Mr Sergi said cafes closing down could be the “silver lining” of the predicted coffee shortages.

“As harsh as it sounds it would be a good thing to see some of the cafes go because some of them are really dodgy and they’re taking business away from the really good places,” he said.