Climate change is a threat to coffee production in the medium and long term, Andrea Illy, chairman and CEO of Italian coffee company Illy, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday.



"Coffee is one of the crops which is severely affected by climate change, which is a threat both in terms of too high temperature in some regions when it is produced, (and) a threat in terms of water security – either droughts or excessive rains – in certain other regions," Illy said.

"(The) problem is that apparently, most of the land suitable for Arabica production which is the best and most, let's say, most cultivated, will be reduced by 50 percent from now to 2050 as a consequence of climate change," Illy went on to add.

Illy went on to explain that while climate change looks set to impact production, consumption was still growing.

"We predict that we will need twice as much as coffee at least – more probably three times as much – by the end of the century, with less than 50 percent of the land available. I think we have a problem we need to fix."