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, 23 Oct

• Pret A Manger and Dallas International announce joint venture to accelerate expansion in the US. The UK coffee and food-to-go chain says there is significant growth potential in the US market. Dallas International will exclusively operate 50 existing Pret locations in three US states, and will also have the exclusive rights to open new cafés in these markets.

• New NCA study finds US consumers spent US $301 million on coffee every day in 2022. Conducted by Technomic on behalf of the association, the study found that US consumers spent nearly US $110 billion on coffee and related products last year – equating to 8% of the total value of the country’s entire food service industry.

• ONA Coffee and Customs Den collaborate on limited-edition sneakers. The Australian specialty coffee roaster says the shoes are inspired by “the magic of Raspberry Candy” – one of its most popular blends. Each hand painted pair takes up to 10 hours to produce, and only 30 pairs of the sneakers will be released.

• New research finds coffee and tea drinkers are less likely to be frail in their 70s. A study of more than 12,000 participants over 20 years found that drinking coffee or tea in midlife can make you stronger as you age. Researchers say further studies are needed to establish which chemical compounds are responsible.

• ABC Fund invests US $847,000 in Ugandan coffee supplier. JKCC General Supplies specialises in sourcing high-quality coffee from more than 3,700 smallholder producers across Uganda.

• Juan Valdez opens first outlet in Egypt. The Colombian coffee chain’s Giza café is the first of 60 planned in the country as part of its Middle East and North Africa expansion strategy.

• Keurig Dr Pepper to invest a further US $100 million in South Carolina coffee manufacturing facility. The company, which has now invested a total of US $480 million in the facility, expects to create 250 new jobs by 2027.

• Veneziano Coffee Roasters opens new location at Melbourne Airport in Australia. The local roaster says its new coffee shop will showcase the best of Melbourne’s coffee culture to the 9.2 million travellers passing through terminal 1 every year.

Tue, 24 Oct

• This year’s Green Coffee Summit to take place online on 5 & 6 December. The third edition of the free summit will feature presentations, lectures, and panel discussions which provide reliable and actionable knowledge about specialty coffee markets to producers, traders, and green coffee buyers.

• FII Institute announces Saudi Coffee Company as official coffee partner at Future Investment Initiative 2023. The state-owned company showcased its JAZEAN brand at the event, which took place from 24 to 26 October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• IDH seeks partner to support development of low-carbon emission coffee supply chain in Vietnam. The organisation says the partner will need to help upgrade its existing carbon calculation tool and methodology, as well as to develop strategies to commercialise lower carbon emission coffee to its customers.

• Vietnam on course for record coffee exports in 2023. The country’s Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry predicts exports to reach 1.7 million tonnes this year, and is encouraging producers to focus on improving quality to continue growth.

• Gen Z is fuelling the at-home coffee sector in the US. Newsweek says Gen Z and millennials are invested in improving their home brewing setups – including posting them on social media platforms like TikTok.

• Irish rugby legend Keith Earls to focus on coffee roasting business post-retirement. The 36-year-old announced his retirement from professional rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup. He will now focus on Eleven14 Coffee Roasters, a Limerick specialty coffee roaster co-founded with former teammate Damien Varley.

• Indigenous Suruí producers in Brazil grow specialty coffee following reclamation of native land. The Paiter Suruí people are using their extensive knowledge of agroforestry to produce specialty coffee in Rondônia state. The community is also receiving training and access to infrastructure from local farm 3 Corações.

• Costa Coffee helps to drive Coca-Cola’s coffee business sales by 6% in Q3 2023. The company says Costa Coffee performed strongly in the UK and China – helping it to achieve 8% growth in net revenue overall.

• Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards sustainability roundtable to take place at the United Nations in New York on 16 November. The theme of the discussion is “How to protect the future of coffee”, and will focus on how global agricultural practices impact climate change, biodiversity, human health, carbon sequestration, and the sustainability of farmers.

Wed, 25 Oct

• SCA announces board of directors for 2024-25. New board members were promoted to their positions without an election as the number of candidates this year was equal to the number of open seats. The new board of directors are:
  • Giovanni Fucili, Sales Director EMEA for Simonelli Group S.p.A.
  • Jiyoon Han, co-owner of Bean & Bean Coffee and Q grader
  • Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, president and CEO of JNP Coffee
  • Rob Stephen, Managing Director of Covoya Specialty Coffee

• Dalla Corte unveils new Zero Plus espresso machine. The machine features the Digital Flow Regulator, which allows baristas to fully customise flow rate using digital touch screens. The new library also enable users to store multiple flow profiling recipes.

• Cup of Excellence changes competition rules for first time in 24 years ahead of 2023 CoE Brazil. The non-profit says the changes will foster fair competition and “redefine” how the industry discovers and markets exceptional coffees. Each participating country can choose to feature three distinct categories, which will be cupped and scored separately:
  • Dry process (naturals)
  • Wet process (including washed, honey, pulped naturals, and semi-washed)
  • Experimentals (including wet & dry processes with special treatments)

• Starbucks China adapts to domestic market with new Intenso Collection. The premium coffee range contains double the amount of espresso and is served in a smaller 259ml cup.

• American woman awarded US $3 million in lawsuit settlement after being severely burned by coffee at Dunkin’ drive-thru. The 70-year-old woman’s lawyer said the burns, caused by a hot cup of coffee, resulted in over US $200,000 in medical bills. Dunkin’ franchisee Golden Donuts, LLC agreed to the settlement to compensate the woman for her injuries.

• Union says former Flash Coffee Singapore employees won’t receive owed salaries in the near term following liquidation. Administrators placed Flash Coffee under provisional liquidation earlier this month as a result of liabilities. The Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union has told affected parties that liquidation will delay the payment of outstanding salaries.

• Neumann Kaffee Gruppe joins ILO Child Labor Platform. The ILO project will bring together a coalition of governments, companies, and stakeholders to tackle the root causes of child labour, which has increased for the first time in 20 years according to official data.

• Analysis shows coffee shop workers are among the jobs with the highest LGB+ representation in England and Wales. A study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that coffee shop staff, theme park attendants, and entertainment presenters are among the occupations in England and Wales with the highest proportion of employees identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other minority sexual orientations.

• Almost 90% of exhibitor booths sold out for SIGEP 2024. The 45th edition of the event, which will take place from 20 to 24 January, is set to include more than 1,200 brands over 129,000 sq m floor space.

• Coffee By Design voluntarily recognises worker unionisation. According to the Portland Press Herald, the coffee chain’s founder told employees that the company recognises their union, Local 327, and will negotiate a new contract while working with the Laborers’ Union.

• La Marzocco ranks first in Italy’s Best Workplaces for Blue Collar 2023. The company was recognised by Great Place to Work Italia as an example of an excellent work environment, as well as for its focus on staff wellbeing in its production department.

Thu, 26 Oct

• Speaker applications open for PRF Guatemala on 7 & 8 March 2024. PRF will return to the Anacafé and Guatemalan Coffees venue in Guatemala City for the first time since 2019. Over 4,000 attendees are expected to take part in lectures, workshops, cuppings, and competitions. Prospective speakers can apply to showcase their knowledge and expertise on a number of topics by filling out this form in English or this form in Spanish.

• ASEAN Café Show 2023 takes place in Bangkok, Thailand. The three-day event will run until 29 October, and includes a trade show, a series of talks, cupping sessions, and the 2024 Thai Coffee Roasting Championship.

• Applications open for 2024-25 NKG PACE programme. The initiative is open to members of the black community interested in developing a career in coffee, including in Q grading and quality control. The programme will take place in Hoboken, Seattle, and San Diego, US, and applications close on 30 November.

• SCA Coffee Retail Summit takes place online. The SCA presented this year’s summit at community events in Busan, South Korea, Chicago, US, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Speakers included Collective Coffee CEO Cees Kuypers and Supply Change Capital CEO Shayna Harris.

• Café Imports launches free open-source coffee education platform. The ed+u platform provides live online classes covering a variety of topics. The first classes took place on 26 & 27 October, featuring discussions about coffee taxonomy, anatomy, and origins.

• Blue Bottle collaborates with NIGO on HUMAN MADE coffee and street wear collection. The collection celebrates the opening of the first Blue Bottle cafe in Shibuya, Tokyo – designer Nigo’s hometown – and includes a t-shirt, hoodie, sweatshirt, hat, keychain, and a Past and Future Blend bundle.

• Coffee professional Olga Lucia Cuellar Gomez launches fundraiser to provide financial support during cancer treatment. Olga was diagnosed with cancer on 7 June 2023 and is currently self-employed, so will use donations as financial support while she focuses on her recovery.

• Amatera raises US $1.6 million to expand climate-smart coffee breeding platform. The French start-up aims to develop climate-smart perennial crops, including a new coffee variety that combines the resiliency and high yields of robusta with the flavour profile of arabica.

• Team Fleetwood Macchiato wins the 2023 Barista League Milwaukee. Usama Abdelsalam and Rylah Kluck secured their spots at next year’s Mystery Coffee Vacation. Guest judges included Veronica Pearl of Glitter Cat Barista and Sean Liu of Discourse Coffee.

• Kenya Coffee Producers Association says just 11.5% of coffee producers understand milling and marketing contracts. The association’s latest report also found that despite the country selling most of its coffee to the US, only 1% of local producers own US dollar accounts. In total, the association estimates that just 10% of producers actively take part in the value chain.

• Keurig Dr Pepper reports 3.2% decrease in net coffee sales during 2023 Q3. Net coffee sales reached US $1.01 billion, compared to US $1.05 billion in the same period last year. Pod revenue decreased by 4.8%, which the company says was driven by shipment declines.

Fri, 27 Oct

• The 2023 Cyprus, South Australia, Brazil, and Japan AeroPress Championships to take place on 27 & 28 October. The winner of the South Australian competition will secure one of seven spots at the national championship on 1 December, while the winners of the Cypriot, Brazilian, and Japanese competitions will proceed to the World AeroPress Championship finals in Melbourne from 1 to 3 December.

• Kenyan government secures direct trade coffee sales with The Java Coffee Company. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua signed an agreement with the coffee firm in Rotselaar, Belgium. The company pledges to purchase an initial shipment of 10,000 60kg bags of green coffee.

• Bean Voyage to host Women-Powered Coffee Summit on 2 & 3 November in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The two-day event aims to champion gender equity and justice in the global coffee industry. Speakers will include Kat Melheim of Roasterkat & Coffee People Zine and Giselle Barrera of Latinas in Coffee.

• Curate Coffee Roasters to host Omakase Experience in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia on 27 November featuring 2023 World Barista Champion Boram Um. Alongside WBC finalist Cole Torode, Um will host a three-course coffee experience as part of his Dream Team World Tour.

• South Korean chain TOUS les JOURS opens first Canadian café. The company’s Canadian debut comes after strong sales in the US market. The Calgary location will serve as a springboard for further expansion.

• Paris Baguette partners with local franchisee to develop stores in the Middle East. The South Korean café chain aims to enter several Middle Eastern markets by 2033, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain with the support of Galadari Brothers Group.

• Alshaya Group targets 3,000 Starbucks stores in the Middle East by 2028. The Kuwaiti franchise group already operates around 2,000 stores across Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries. It now aims to open a further 250 stores per year by 2028.

• Coffee Fest Orlando 2023 to take place on 10 & 11 November. The Orlando, Florida event will take place at the Orange County Convention Centre, and will feature exhibitions, educational events, and several competitions.

• Origin Roasted ships Peru coffee harvest to coffee subscribers in record time. The US company, which also roasts coffee in Colombia, shipped the Peruvian Double Caturra in late October after it was harvested in August.

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

• Mon, 16 Oct – Workers at Vibrant Coffee Roasters in Philadelphia, US seek union election. Employees have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations board, and plan to join the local Workers United chapter.

• Thu, 19 Oct – Bazzara adds three new coffees to its Luxury Blend range. The Italian roaster has launched the Panarabica range, which includes coffee sourced from Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

• Fri, 20 Oct – Researchers say coffee consumption can reduce the risk of migraines. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found a causal link between coffee consumption and reduction in migraine risk. However, it also found no similar associations for other neurological diseases studied.

• Sat, 21 Oct – Coffee consumption may protect kidney function. A study published in Nutrients found that despite long-held hypotheses, drinking coffee may be beneficial for kidney function. However, this only applies for people with a “higher genetic predisposition” to caffeine intake.

• Sat, 21 Oct – Indian Coffee Board to launch collaborative research project with local producers. The project aims to improve robusta productivity and will focus on clonal propagation.

• Sat, 21 Oct – Bamboo “eco-cups” may pose health risks. The Guardian reports that despite companies promoting them as sustainable, bamboo cups are usually non-recyclable. They may also accelerate the degradation of plastic resin that could be harmful to human health.

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Coffee news image credits: Producer & Roaster Forum

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 piece on PRF Guatemala 2024.