Florida-Grown Coffee Gets Its First Serious Field Test

A new study from University of Florida researchers floats the idea that Florida-grown coffee could someday become a viable specialty crop.

The study, titled “First assessment of agronomical performance of Coffea arabica in the southern US conditions” and published in Crop Science, evaluated the performance of four arabica cultivars grown in small test plots. 

According to the research team, the four arabica cultivars produced promising early yields and some favorable physical and chemical traits, while also revealing the climate, soil, labor and management hurdles facing any future Florida coffee industry.

“Our fundamental hypothesis is that coffee can be successfully cultivated under subtropical conditions of South Florida, provided that the appropriate management practices are implemented,” the authors wrote. 

Notably, the study’s funding statement lists Severin Hacker, the Duolingo co-founder who is also behind the coffee venture Above Ground Coffee. The authors, including corresponding author Felipe Ferrão, declared no conflicts of interest.

Testing Florida Arabica

The trial plots were at the university’s Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC) in Homestead, about 30 miles south of Miami. Researchers germinated 48 arabica plants in 2022 and transplanted them to TREC in May 2023. Fruit first set in 2024, but the trees were not yet mature enough to generate representative data, so the study’s yield, quality and economic analysis came from the 2025 harvest. 

Typica, among the most historically important arabica varieties, was included for cup quality despite typically modest yields. The study also tested three less common cultivars chosen for traits such as disease tolerance and yield: Fronton, Limani and Obatã.

Results

The study shows results that were encouraging but uneven. Average fresh cherry yield exceeded 3 kilograms per plant across all four arabica cultivars. Several Fronton plants produced about 5 kilograms of fresh cherries, while one Obatã plant exceeded 6 kilograms. Yet yield variation was high, pointing to the need for better management and more years of growth and data.

The researchers also measured green coffee and quality-related traits, with mixed results. The Florida-grown coffees produced green coffee with bean sizes and acidity levels generally in line with arabica grown elsewhere. 

The weaker point was sugar development in the fruit. The coffee cherries averaged about 10 Brix, a measure of soluble sugars, compared with the 16 to 20 Brix often reported. The authors suggested several possible reasons, including South Florida’s warm nights, rocky alkaline soils, uneven rainfall, nutrient challenges and the young age of the plants.

Climate is Changing the Coffee Lands

While novel for its specific South Florida focus, the study is the latest example of research into arabica growth against the backdrop of climate change. 

A major 2022 study projected that the world’s highest-suitability coffee-growing areas could decline by more than 50% by 2050, echoing earlier research that warned of broad losses in coffee-growing suitability by midcentury.

Beyond exploring the viability of new climate-resilient coffee cultivars or even new species, other recent research has approached the changing coffee lands through the lens of geography. 

A 2025 Costa Rica study showed that low-elevation arabica hybrids grown under shade showed promise in the country’s Caribbean lowlands. A 2024 study from Brazil explored using high-elevation robusta in place of arabica in existing coffee lands. 

The new Florida study does not propose immediate commercial viability or scalability, although it includes a preliminary economic modeling section. The paper describes farm-to-table and agrotourism models as the most promising near-term path to commercialization of Florida-grown coffee.

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