By Harley Tamplin From Metro.co.uk

The Caribbean is known for its beautiful sandy beaches, lined with palm trees where the region’s most famous export grows.

But your emergency supply of coconut water is about to get even more precious – because there is currently a shortage of the tropical fruit in the area.

It has come at the worst possible time, because the global demand for coconuts is as high as ever.

Starbucks wants coconut milk for its lattes and coconut water has seemingly come out of nowhere to become a popular drink.

Compton Paul, who coordinates a regional coconut programme at the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Trinidad, told Bloomberg: ‘It’s fair to say that at this pace, the Caribbean is running out of coconuts.’

So why is there a shortage?

In theory, farmers should be cashing in on the growing demand for coconuts.
But instead, production is dropping – due to poor farming weather such as storms and droughts and lethal yellowing, a disease spread by insects.

IMAGES:

Even Rihanna is a fan of coconut water these days, but the drink could be affected by a drop in production (Picture: Rex/Getty)

Demand for coconut water has gone way up (Picture: Getty)

For more on this story go to: http://metro.co.uk/2016/09/11/dont-panic-but-there-is-a-massive-coconut-shortage-in-the-caribbean-6121185/#ixzz4K5xeklT1