Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s stories.

Mon, 25 Jul

• Nestlé launches Nescafé Gold Cappuccino ice cream in Malaysia. The frozen dessert is made with real coffee and includes Nestlé’s patented “soft coating” technology, which the company says helps to balance coffee flavour, creaminess, and sweetness.

• Bean Voyage to host first-ever Wxmen-POWERed Coffee Summit in Costa Rica. The summit will help to connect smallholder women coffee producers with international buyers, and will include panel discussions, seminars, cuppings, and a screening of the Mas Que un Café (Stronger than Coffee) documentary. The event will take place in San José from 11 to 12 August 2022.

• Starbucks Thailand to open 90 stores by end of 2024. Store expansion is a result of positive sales growth during the first half of 2022. Starbucks currently operates some 444 stores in the country.

• Food and beverage solutions company ofi completes acquisition of Canada’s Club Coffee. The acquisition of the roasting and packaging solutions company was first announced in late April 2022, and is valued at CA $150 million (US $117 million).

• Costa Rica’s Britt Café & Bakery expands operations across Latin America. With the opening of its largest-ever store in Santiago de Chile Airport, the coffee-to-go chain will open another 14 stores across the region.

• Tims China partners with convenience store chain Easy Joy on RTD coffee line. The two companies will manufacture and distribute co-branded RTD coffee beverages across more than 27,800 Easy Joy stores in China. The products will launch later this year, and will include latte and mocha flavours.

Tue, 26 Jul

• Gala Capital Partners acquires Dunn Brothers Coffee. The private equity firm seeks to bolster growth of the US coffee chain following on from the closure of 19 locations in under four years.

• Saudi Coffee Company signs agreement with Culinary Arts Commission to develop national coffee industry. Both will co-operate on a number of initiatives to protect the heritage of Saudi coffee culture, including developing a media library and organising tour guides of coffee farms. The agreement will also support coffee events held in the country, as well as boosting local coffee production.

• Nestlé opens new US $340 million Nescafé factory in Mexico. The new Veracruz instant coffee production facility will process some 670,000 60kg bags per year – mostly Brazilian robusta, along with small volumes of Mexican robusta.

• Top-scoring natural Gesha receives US $72.20/lb at 2022 Cup of Excellence El Salvador auction. Curve Specialty Coffee Roastery purchased 264.6lbs of the coffee from El Conacaste – totalling more than US $19,077. Overall, all 27 coffees received more than US $244,162, with an average price of US $12.93/lb.

• New Chinese chain BeStar Coffee raises millions to fund expansion plans. BeStar plans to open a total of 500 locations in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai over the next three years. The chain also wants to establish a coffee education facility.

• Coca-Cola’s 2022 Q2 coffee beverage category revenue increases by 15%. Revenue growth was largely driven by the reopening of Costa Coffee stores in the UK, as well as the coffee chain’s continued expansion in other markets. Coca-Cola acquired Costa in 2019.

Wed, 27 Jul

• National Coffee Association hosts webinar on the office coffee market. The Office Coffee Service: Where Do We Go From Here? webinar explored the opportunities and trends for office coffee suppliers, including remote and hybrid work settings.

• World Coffee Alliance hosts second episode of three-part virtual series on digital identity in the coffee supply chain. The webinar explored the role of big data in the coffee supply chain and how it can be used to mitigate climate change. Speakers included Executive Director of the International Coffee Organisation, Vanusia Nogueira, and Senior Research Leader of Crops and Global Change at Royal Botanic Gardens, Dr. Aaron Davis.

• Registration opens for 2022 Finnish AeroPress Championship. There will be three semi-final rounds held in Helsinki, Lappeenranta, and Tampere, with the finals taking place in Lahti on 10 September 2022. The winner will represent Finland in the World AeroPress Championship in Vancouver BC from 1 to 3 December 2022.

• The Azkoyen Group completes acquisition of coffee machine manufacturer Ascaso. The automatic vending machine company acquired Ascaso for €17 million (US $17.2 million). Azkoyen says the purchase of the coffee machine brand will allow it to expand its coffee solutions in several international markets.

• Keurig Dr Pepper partners with BLK & Bold Coffee on new K-Cup range. The black-owned Iowa roaster works with more than a dozen non-profits which support at-risk youth in urban communities. As part of the BLK & Bold K-Cup launch, Keurig will donate sales proceeds to the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity.

• Turkish roasting equipment manufacturer Garanti to launch new 6kg-capacity roaster. The Focha drum roaster will include custom colour and branding options. The company received the 2022 Best New Product Award in the Roasting Equipment & Tools category at World of Coffee Milan.

Thu, 28 Jul

• UK coffee and tea brand Bettys & Taylors reports record sales in 2021. The company claims increasing demand for single-serve coffee bags helped it to achieve £250 million (US $302 million) in sales last year.

• New dual-burr hand grinder launches on Indiegogo. The MOMENTUM grinder includes two burr sets, which the company says reduces clogging and improves particle size distribution. The device also includes a built-in sifter.

• Scottish barista wins 2022 Starbucks UK National Barista Championships. The competition involves identifying different Starbucks blends and roast profiles, as well as taking part in a latte art throwdown. Fraser Gold will represent the UK in the final stages of the Starbucks EMEA Barista Championships.

• Anacafé and Alliance for Coffee Excellence host second edition of One of a Kind Guatemala auction. The highest-scoring coffee received the highest bid of US $10.30/lb. La Boheme Café purchased 496.04lbs of the coffee, totalling more than US $5,109. Total bids at the auction amounted to more than US $45,320.

• Nespresso’s 2022 half-year sales reach CHF 3.2 billion (US $3.3 billion). Nestlé’s total coffee sales increased in the high single-digit rates during the first half of 2022.

Fri, 29 Jul

• UK government to extend outdoor dining licences for hospitality businesses. The licensing was set to expire in September 2022, so the extension will make it easier for coffee shops to serve food and beverages on pavements and pedestrianised roads. The extension will be made permanent by spring 2023.

• Caribou Coffee appoints new Chief Franchise Officer to support international expansion strategy. Matthew Walls joins the US drive-thru chain to oversee both domestic and international franchise growth. Caribou Coffee launched its US franchise programme in October 2021.

• Coffee and food-to-go chain LEON to launch self-serve kiosks in UK. The kiosks were initially trialled in five stores earlier this year, and will be available in some 68 petrol forecourt stations across the UK in the near future.

• De’Longhi to sponsor TV programming on UK’s Channel 4. Weather on 4 will be sponsored by De’Longhi until July 2023. This will be the coffee machine manufacturer’s first TV sponsorship.

• AFPak launches new coffee capsule packaging machine. The new machine can fill and seal up to 120 coffee capsules per minute, which the company says makes it one of the most efficient machines on the market.

• Nguyen Coffee Supply launches 100% robusta RTD cold brew. The robusta-based Classic Black Cold Brew is the first of its kind in the US. Nguyen will release more RTD coffee products later this year.

Here are a few news stories from previous weeks that you might find interesting. Take a look.

• Mon, 18 Jul – Onyx Coffee Lab partners with artist Propaganda to launch RTD cold brew. Terraform cold brew is made with a washed micro lot from Hambela Estate in Ethiopia. This is the second collaboration between the Arkansas roaster and the LA spoken word poet and activist.

• Mon, 18 Jul – Starbucks to close more US stores over “personal safety” concerns. The company is already closing 16 stores in the US over claims of health and safety violations, but CEO Howard Schultz says “many more” stores will also close. Starbucks workers involved in unionisation efforts claim the store closures are acts of retaliation.

• Mon, 18 Jul – LEON exits Irish market amid “challenging trading conditions”. The company closed its three Dublin locations, but says it will continue to expand operations in the UK.

• Tue, 19 Jul – New consumer report finds 70% of US drive-thru customers demand more automation. The Presto Pulse of the Industry study found that consumers are increasingly dissatisfied with drive-thru wait times and service, including for drive-thru coffee chains. The majority of survey respondents stated they would be most comfortable using AI voice assistants to place orders if service time could be reduced.

• Wed, 20 Jul – Superfood latte brand Blume raises CA $2 million (US $1.6 million) to expand in US market. The Vancouver BC company will also use funding to host community building events and scale its national team.

• Thu, 21 Jul – Finnish packaging company Huhtamäki reports strong growth in first half of 2022. The company (which manufactures coffee cups) stated net sales increased 31% to €2.2 million (US $2.25 million).

• Fri, 22 Jul – Costa Coffee franchisee Scoffs Group appoints new COO. Paul Turner joins the largest of the coffee chain’s Individual Franchise Partners in a newly established role. In the new COO position, Turner will oversee recruitment expansion, development of internal procedures, and optimisation of operations.

• Fri, 22 Jul – Rwanda’s National Agricultural Export Development Board to replace ageing coffee trees. As part of a three-month project, more than 3 million old coffee trees will be replaced in the country. The project was first launched in the Huye district, but will be implemented across Rwanda over the coming months.

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