Why is your cup of coffee so expensive? Because of a tiny bark beetle!

Figure 1. A family of the coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei (adults and pupae) and their coffee bean.Sometimes an insect pest attacking crops in places as far away as Indonesia or Ethiopia can be very important to us here in Florida. One such insect is the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei Ferrari (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), a tiny (1.5 mm) bark beetle that originated in the highlands of central Africa. It would probably remain one of the many inconspicuous little beetles in the tropics, if not for the choice of its host: seeds of several Coffea species. This 3-page fact sheet was written by Jiri Hulcr, and published by the UF Department of School of Forest Resources and Conservation, October 2013.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr382

Evaluating Certified Coffee Programs (WEC306/UW351)

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among consumers to buy products that follow strict standards in their production process and that also are healthy and safe. In the case of coffee, people in the United States are not only interested in the quality and origin of coffee, but many are also concerned about the social, economic, and environmental aspects of coffee production. Coffee is taking the lead in developing standards to address these concerns. This 6-page fact sheet explains the certification process and describe the various certification programs and what they mean. Written by Gloria M. Lentijo and Mark Hostetler, and published by the UF Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, February 2011.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw351