Kona coffee growers in Hawaii are now eligible for settlements in a 2019 class action lawsuit; Digital Coffee Future will host a series of webinars on the intersection of climate change and technology; Canadian chain Tim Horton’s has announced significant investment into the digital guest experience; UK press outlets cover the staying power of coffee consumption shifts.
Read MoreUS coffee roasters have seen significant cost increases in their operations due to shipping and transport logistics; Demetria, an Israeli-Colombian food-tech startup, closed a seed funding round after emerging from “stealth”; Hurricanes devastated more than 200,000 hectares of crops in Central America last year; a new coffee trend is sweeping TikTok.
Read MoreWorld Coffee Research announces its next five year strategy will prioritize origin diversity; researchers at the the University of Reading, the Andean Information Network, and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru explore the similarities between Bolivia and Peru’s coffee and coca trades; 12 of the 16 winning lots in the recent ACE Private Collection auction with Hawaii’s Isla Custom Coffees featured controlled yeast fermentation in processing.
Read MoreThe Alliance for Coffee Excellence announced a partnership with scientific traceability company, Oritain, to build a database of coffee origin “fingerprints”; a new study explores the relationship between coffee leaf rust and a co-evolved hyperparasite; the International Coffee Organization’s Coffee Development Report 2020 finds the that the value of annual coffee exports has more than quadrupled from 1991 to 2018.
Read MoreRabobank Group, a lender known for financing agricultural traders, joined other commodity lenders in reducing its activity following a difficult year; the Hivos 2020 Coffee Barometer suggests there is little evidence coffee companies’ voluntary sustainability efforts have made an impact; Sucafina has announced a number of growth initiatives, including the acquisition of a Costa Coffee green supplier, Complete Coffee Limited; Seven Miles Coffee Roasters has launched a new telemetry system.
Read More“Worlds Apart” tells the stories of the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and the World Brewers Cup, two competitions that take vastly different approaches to growing the specialty coffee community. Along the way, co-host Kimberly Yer leads us through stories of unlikely inspiration, the value of setting expectations, the push and pull of subjectivity and objectivity, and the shape of things to come through interviews with Dave Jameson, Cheryl Lee Su Yin, Nick Cho, Chad Wang, and Kristina Jackson.
Read More“Turn It On” tells the stories of the World Coffee Roasting Championship and the Cezve/Ibrik Championships, two competitions with incredibly close-knit communities at their heart. Along the way, co-hosts Anna Oleksak and Sara Al-Ali lead us through stories about navigating subjectivity, all kinds of development, and the lengths we go to for coffee (and love) through interviews with Trish Rothgeb, Sylvia Gutierrez, Lee Yiming, Yuan Jingyi, Sergey Blinnikov, and Turgay Yildizli.
Read MoreAlthough estimates of damage to coffee-growing regions have been slow to arrive due their impact on vital infrastructure, Hurricanes Eta and Iota's sustained winds, flash floods, and mudslides have impacted what was expected to be a fruitful harvest for Central America's coffee-growing communities; the Deputy Chief Executive of Ghana's Cocoa Board has called for cocoa farmers to expand and develop the coffee sector by growing and processing coffee.
Read More“But I Need It!” continues the story of the World Barista Championships from where we left off in Episode 03, nearly halfway through the competition’s journey, to today. Along the way, co-host Rouki Delrue leads us through stories of evolutionary meetings, competitors who played in the grey areas of the rules, wildcards, and the drive to “bring the trophy” through interviews with Carl Sara, Federico Bolanos, María Esther López-Thome, Martin Shabaya, Innocent Niyongabo, and Annet Nyakaisiki.
Read More“We Were the Punks” traces the early days of the World Barista Championships from a rag-tag group of volunteers looking to raise specialty coffee awareness to a powerful, monetizable stage grappling with questions of scale and professionalism. Along the way, co-host Sonja Bjork Grant leads us through stories of spit buckets, snakeskin boots, backstage woes, intensifying competition preparation, and devastating debriefs through interviews with Tone Elian Liavaag, Emma Markland-Webster, Simi Benzadon, Paul Basset, and Heather Perry.
Read MoreIn this week’s episode, Recap explores the recent Communiqué from the International Coffee Organization: Where did it come from? What does it mean? Widely reported as the first time that major private sector actors across the value chain came together to agree to jointly implement solutions to the economic unsustainability of coffee production, the Communiqué and corresponding Annex outlines an ambitious ten-year plan across four areas of action and seven technical workstreams.
Read More“Paint a Picture” traces the history and evolution of the World Latte Art Championship through the medium itself, from early etchings to the innovative realistic pours that grace the competition’s stage today. Along the way, co-host Rie Moustakis leads us through stories about the role of the rules, the value of art, and family dynamics through interviews with Carl Sara, Daniel Acosta Busch, and Um Paul.
Read More“It’s a YES!!” traces the history and evolution of the World Cup Tasters Championship through stories about rule-breakers, phone calls home mid-competition, and backstage ballet. Co-hosted by Gloria Pedroza, this episode features interviews with Alf Kramer, Kim Staalman, José Joaquín Ordoñez, and Chloe King.
Read MoreMarket research and polls continue to try and illuminate the shifting conditions caused by COVID-19: Bloomberg rounds up a variety of market research indicating that the number of coffee shops in the US is set to decline for the first time in the US since 2011, while a recent report from the US National Coffee Association shows that while the pandemic has changed where Americans drink their coffee, there’s a strong desire to return to coffee shops.
Read MoreThree long-term initiatives were announced on International Coffee Day, including the ICO’s “Coffee’s Next Generation,” the IWCA’s “Empowered Voices,” and the launch of the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity; Indonesia’s coffee producers are asking for help with financing as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the demand for coffee; Australian-based Breville Group has acquired the US-based grinder maker, Baratza; a recent feature in Asia Times explores how women entrepreneurs in the Gulf are overcoming the additional hurdles of the pandemic.
Read MoreAmid the rise in protectionist trade policies, the International Coffee Organization shared results of a quantitative analysis of trade interventions between 2009 and 2019; coffee berry borer has been discovered on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua’i for the first time; coverage from the UK’s popular press of Neguse Gemeda Mude’s top-scoring lot from the first-ever Ethiopian Cup of Excellence unfortunately focused solely on the per cup price as served by London’s Queens of Mayfair; also recently released: two long-form accounts of challenges facing coffee’s complex value-generating ecosystem and the impacts they’ll have on coffee farmers.
Read MoreThe steady growth of the C market price over the past two months could be destabilized by an increase in coffee supply across International Commodity Exchange warehouses; Qima Coffee announces the discovery of a new genetic group of Arabica, Yemenia; three NGOs have proposed a plan to alleviate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the African coffee sector; Flash Coffee Thailand appears to be thriving despite the difficult operating conditions of the pandemic.
Read MoreThis week, we focus on the strong increase in at-home consumption of specialty coffee. Tracing the trend across earnings reports for large corporations, our own COVID-19 community impact surveys, and recent media coverage of the at-home category growth, we explore some of the ways in which specialty coffee companies have been making coffee easier for consumers to access and enjoy on their journey to learn and adapt to the ongoing pandemic.
Read MoreArabica coffee futures rose as the Brazilian real strengthened against the US dollar; one of Beirut’s first specialty coffee shops is seeking support rebuild following the devastating explosion last week; the recent El Salvador Cup of Excellence Auction set a new price per pound record; a recent survey from Hanns R. Neumann Stifung suggests the effects of climate change might be more difficult to manage for smallholders.
Read MoreWorld Coffee Events and the Specialty Coffee Association have announced the cancellation of the 2020 World Coffee Championship events; more than 100 scientists published a signed statement to reassure the public that reusable containers are still safe to use; Xinhua reports that Volcano Coffee, a Ugandan start-up, is using coffee kiosks to drive domestic consumption.
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