Switzerland Decides to Keep Emergency Coffee Stockpile After Public Outcry

Switzerland has decided to keep its emergency three-month stockpile of coffee after public outcry.

In April, the Swiss government announced it would scrap its emergency stores of coffee beans because it considered the item to be “nonessential.” The public emphatically disagreed and, on Monday, the Swiss government announced it would not proceed with its controversial plan, according to Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

The average Swiss person drinks three cups of coffee per day, making the country one of the beverage’s biggest consumers.

But when the government announced their plan to phase out coffee stockpiling by 2022, the public gave a resounding response. “Truly, the fall of the West proceeds faster than I’d ever anticipated,” one Twitter user wrote back in April.

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Coffee beans are part of the land-locked country’s emergency plans to continue feeding the public in the event of a catastrophe. Switzerland has stockpiles of sugar, rice, oil and animal feed to last the country three months if they were suddenly unable to trade. The plan requires producers of these goods to store large quantities of emergency reserves. The tactic was put in place between the two world wars, according to Bloomberg.

Lobby groups of coffee manufacturers and traders tried to convince the government that a war in the Middle East or problems with the coffee plant could limit Swiss access. The economy minister decided the rollback of provisions was probably not worth battling coffee’s vocal supporters.

However, the safety of the emergency coffee beans is not a hundred percent secure as this is not a final decision and an evaluation is still ongoing.

The Swiss government is expected to reach their final conclusions in early 2020.