November 17, 2023

Coffee News Recap, 17 Nov: Three 2023 World Coffee Championships take place in Taipei, 2023 Coffee of the Year winners announced at SIC & other stories

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Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week.

Here are this week’s coffee news stories.

Mon, 13 Nov

Tue, 14 Nov

  • Coffee Circle Foundation opens submissions for its Coffee Vision Fund I. Every year, the German roaster invests some €4 million (US $4.3 million) in coffee-producing communities around the world. The €500,000 (US $543,072) initiative is open to international applicants who want to run projects related to water, sanitation, and hygiene, education, sustainability, fair supply chains, and climate resilience.

Wed, 15 Nov

  • European Coffee Awards 2023 announces shortlist. Candidates in various categories include Costa Coffee, Espresso House, Coffee Lab, Blank Street Coffee, Five Elephant, Origin Coffee Roasters, and WatchHouse. The awards ceremony will take place at the European Coffee Symposium on 28 November.
  • Cotti Coffee opens first Hong Kong store. The Chinese coffee chain operates more than 6,200 outlets, but the Sheung Wan store is its first in Hong Kong. At launch, it offered customers limited-time discounts and says this will become a regular Monday offering.
  • Caravela Coffee unveils new sourcing strategy. The company’s new “One Caravela” strategy aims to transform operations at its seven export and four import offices to facilitate greater collaboration and co-creation. It’s also investing in the upskilling of its global teams to enable greater autonomy, imagination, and self-management.

Thu, 16 Nov

  • High Density 2023 takes place online. The theme of this year’s conference was “Not Just Origin”, highlighting how the coffee industry needs to recognise the differences between producing countries. It featured a full-day speaker programme including Mikael Jasin, Morgan Eckroth, Mario Fernández, Lucia Solis, and Karl Wienhold.
  • MTPak Coffee launches 2023 Packaging Design Awards. The awards aim to celebrate the artistry of specialty coffee packaging. Specialty coffee roasters of all sizes are encouraged to submit their designs, with the winning design receiving US $5,000 cash or US $15,000 in MTPak Coffee packaging credit.
  • Equator Coffees launches new Holiday Blend range. The Certified Organic blend contains coffees from Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia. The company will donate 5% of sales from the blend and related merchandise to Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Desarrollo de Concepción Huista in Guatemala.
  • Thousands of Starbucks workers hold strike across the US. Nationwide walkouts took place on the company’s annual Red Cup Day, when the chain hands out free limited-edition reusable red cups to promote the holiday season. As part of the strikes, workers are calling on the company to turn off mobile ordering on high-volume promotion days, improve staffing and scheduling issues, and take part in more reasonable bargaining with the union.
  • Catalyst Trade announces closure. The Portland, Oregon coffee company says lack of financing, interest rate hikes, and steep Ethiopian coffee price hikes are some of the factors that have forced it to cease trading. It will host a liquidation sale in coming weeks.

Fri, 17 Nov

  • Pret A Manger opens first store in Spain. The UK café chain says the Barcelona store is the first of 70 Spanish and Portuguese cafés in development by Ibersol Group, its local franchise partner. The company currently operates more than 660 stores globally.

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

Coffee news photo credits: Specialty Coffee Association, World Coffee Events

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Want to keep up with current affairs in the coffee industry? Check out last week’s coffee news stories and make sure to read the latest Coffee Intelligence News & Opinion piece on David Beckham’s Nespresso brand ambassador role.

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