Revolution brewing? Switzerland declares coffee not ‘essential’, internet disagrees

Coffee. The liquid will to get out of bed, and the fuel that drives the working world. Switzerland stockpiles tons of the black gold for emergencies, but not for much longer, after officials deemed it not “essential for life.”

Neutral through two world wars, Switzerland is apparently run by doomsday preppers. Supplies of food, medicine, and fuel are stockpiled inside to sustain the country through wars, natural disasters, and epidemics, including 13,500 tons of coffee.

However, the Swiss government wants to end its bean-hoarding by 2022.

“The Federal Office for National Economic Supply has concluded coffee...is not essential for life,” the government recently said. “Coffee has almost no calories and subsequently does not contribute, from the physiological perspective, to safeguarding nutrition.”

15 companies keep the coffee stockpile topped up, including food giant Nestlé. 12 of these companies oppose the government’s decision, Reuters reported, because the stockpiling system insures them against shocks to the supply chain.

The argument on Twitter was more personal.

The Swiss consume an average of 9kg of coffee per person per year, double the 4.5kg the average American puts down. However, enraged Swiss bean addicts need not rise up against their government just yet. The final decision on the fate of the country’s coffee stockpiles will be made in November.

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