Let's start with the obvious: the difficulties faced by a corporation during times of crisis are never as important as those faced by human beings. It may be bad news, for example, that profit at GiantGlobal Corp. plummets because war has come to the nation that provides a key ingredient in its popular Product X soft drink. But that is never, ever as important as the real suffering of real people in the war zone.

But business is business. And sometimes it is necessary for a company to turn away from the true horrors of war and disease and ask that most callous of questions: what does this mean for the bottom line?

Here's a look at how the four major crises that have dominated headlines in 2014 have affected companies in the food and beverage industry.

The war in Gaza

SodaStream, the manufacturer of the popular make-at-home soda machine, was once the darling of investors. As the Israeli startup added customers and flavors, its share price soared. But this year, things got difficult.

The company announced in January that it had hired actress Scarlett Johansson as the face of the brand. That drew an enormous amount of press attention to the company. Suddenly the world became aware of something that, although not secret, had not garnered much attention: SodaStream operates a factory in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. Oxfam, the global confederation of 17 nonprofit agencies, complained to Johansson, who was an Oxfam "ambassador." 

Johansson resigned from Oxfam, and a media-feeding frenzy began. Then in July, when Israel invaded Gaza, the cry for a boycott of SodaStream in Europe gained momentum. By early September, SodaStream's shares had fallen 32.7% from the start of the year. SodaStream began considering an exit from the West Bank.

The rise of ISIS

Last year, it's safe to say that not many people had heard of ISIS. But the death-cult-with-an-army has swept across Syria and Iraq in recent months, slaughtering innocents and building a reputation for levels of brutality that the world hasn't seen in quite some time.

Some companies with ties to the food industry have been caught in the middle for the same unusual reason: they share a name with the terror group. 

ISIS, the mobile wallet accepted by Jamba Juice, Coca-Cola vending machines and dozens of grocery chains, responded to the problem by rebranding as Softcard. Meanwhile, they Egyptian organic food company known as iSiS, as well as dozens of other companies with some variation of "ISIS" in their names, have opted not to change names .... yet.

The spread of Ebola 

When the killer virus first appeared in Africa in March, it did so in places disconnected from the global economy. That's why the disease -- which could be addressed fairly easily if it spreads to places with modern healthcare systems -- has proven so dangerous in places like Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

No cases have yet been detected in the Ivory Coast. But the chocolate industry is terrified that one will be soon. The west of the Ivory Coast is the center of that nation's cocoa production. And that region sits just across the Cavally River from Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Ivory Coast produces more than a third of the world's cocoa supply. The harvest is set to begin in October. Usually at this time of year, the country is full of researchers conducting a "pod count," which traders and chocolate producers use to estimate the size of the upcoming harvest. But this year, most companies have stayed away. Most ominously, the world's largest producer of chocolate, Barry Callebaut, canceled its annual managers meeting there.

The incursion in Ukraine 

America and her allies have so far declined to call Russia's actions in the Ukraine an "invasion," and instead use more diplomatic phrases such as "incursion" or "aggression." But whatever it's called, the crisis in Eastern Europe is now months old and growing more tense.

Europe and the United States have imposed sanctions on Russia. And Russia has responded with sanctions of her own against the food and beverage industry.

The entire Ukraine crisis, in fact, has begun to play out in strange ways across the industry. Companies with operations in Eastern Europe are under siege. Cargill, for example, has seen one of its factories fall into the hands of separatist militias. Closing McDonald's have become a sort of punching bag for Russian anger. Global companies such as AB-InBev find themselves caught between displays of nationalist pride and counter-nationalist fury, and companies that invested in Eastern Europe when the Iron Curtain fell are reporting the first in what may be many quarters of declining revenue.