With the U.S being the biggest coffee buyer in the world, USA Today reports a farming initiative brewing in California could increase U.S. production of coffee.
Frinj Coffee, established in 2017 to allow California farmers to diversify their farm portfolios, now manages 70 coffee farms in the state, surpassing over 100,000 coffee trees planted in central and southern California, MSN reported.
"We are using the same resources that we would to grow avocados, but now the farmers gain more, you gain a better cup of coffee and now it doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles to get to you," Frinj Coffee founder Jay Ruskey told USA TODAY. "So there are quite a few elements coming together here."
Mraz has sold all the coffee he has brought to the market since 2019, the article stated.
"By considering this extremely rare pour, the coffee connoisseur enjoys an unparalleled complex cup of coffee and does their part to promote local, regenerative agriculture and a fair trade," Ruskey told USA Today.
Brazil produces approximately 40% of the world's coffee supply, USA Today reported. With the production of Frinj Coffee, the goal is to distribute coffee to the world and make California a coffee growing innovation center, the company's website states.
"We're trying to make it so our producers make some of the finest tasting coffees in the world, like the wine industry," Ruskey said. "We can’t play in the commodity market, we have to be the best in the world."
According to USA Today, Americans are the sixth biggest coffee consumers in the world and the world's biggest coffee importers, buying 27.7 million bags between October 2020 and September 2021.
As initiatives like Frinj Coffee expand California farming, researchers at the University of Florida have also begun exploring growth opportunities for their state.
While results are possible, USA Today reports further research may be needed to determine whether the state's climate will allow coffee to grow in a way that does not negatively impact taste.