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

• Monday, 12 Jul – Breville appoints Dr. Monika Fekete as Senior Chemist and Coffee Expert. Fekete founded the Coffee Science Lab consultancy group in 2016. The new role will see Fekete contribute scientific research into product development.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Bluestone Lane announces Lisa Mann as newest board member. The specialty roaster and café chain appointed Mann on the board of directors. Mann has more than 25 years’ experience in marketing, including positions at PepsiCo and KIND.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Starbucks Japan announces new circularity programme for coffee grounds. Stores in Kanto and Kansai will provide local farms with coffee grounds to use as compost and animal feed. The cafés then use produce grown at the farms, including milk, vegetables, and green tea.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Lavazza subsidiary Fresh & Honest relaunches chain in India. Suprabha will operate as a franchise, with 100 stores to open in southern India over the next two years.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Research suggests drinking two to three cups of coffee per day helps to inhibit the effects of Covid-19. The Northwestern University study compiled data from 40,000 British adults against the average UK Covid-19 positive case rates. The research found those who consumed two to three cups of coffee were 10% less likely to become ill from Covid-19, although more research is required to verify these findings.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Uganda June coffee exports reach highest ever in single month since 1991. The Uganda Coffee Development Authority announced exports reached US $58.56 million last month. Since May, robusta and arabica production has increased by 47.04% and 46.63%, respectively.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Keurig Dr Pepper partners with Mazza Recycling for recycling programme. Through the partnership, the New Jersey facility will now collect and recycle coffee pods. Consumers must remove coffee grounds before the capsules can be recycled.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Entries for 2021 Honduras CoE winners announced. There were 25 CoE winning lots, with six farms scoring more than 90 points. The highest-scoring lot was a washed Geisha from Finca Santa Lucia in the Comayagua region, which scored 90.67 points. For the first time in CoE history, a father and daughter placed second and third, respectively. The CoE Honduras auction will take place on 19 August.

• Monday, 12 Jul – Voting opens for Chobani’s “I Dream of Creamer” campaign. Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Blueberry Pie, and Sizzlin’ Brown Sugar are the three final flavour contenders. The Sizzlin’ Brown Sugar flavour currently holds the majority of votes.

• Tuesday, 13 Jul – Scooter’s Coffee appoints Ric Smith as Senior Vice President of Development. Smith has extensive development experience, including the opening of 350 Starbucks stores in six US states. Smith will lead the franchise sales, real estate, and construction departments of the coffee chain.

• Tuesday, 13 Jul – Australian government partners with Kape Diem, 1LM, and Project Origin to support coffee farmers in Timor-Leste. The Business Partnership Platform will help to connect smallholder farmers to international markets and improve coffee quality. It will also provide contracts to both men and women, improving gender equity in the supply chain.

• Tuesday, 13 Jul – Global CBD-infused beverage market to be worth US $14 billion by 2026. Including coffee beverages, the CAGR between 2021 and 2026 is predicted to be 27.5%. This is mainly attributed to cannabis legalisation across the US and Canada.

• Tuesday, 13 Jul – New Abu Dhabi mall set to open % Arabica location. The Yas Mall will include one of the Japanese chain stores, as well as a new Forever Rose café.

• Tuesday, 13 Jul – Best New Product & Coffee Design Awards entry submission open for 2021 Specialty Coffee Expo. Products across ten categories will be displayed at the event. Applicants must be exhibitors at the expo and products must have entered the market between 1 January and 1 October 2021.

• Tuesday, 13 Jul – La Colombe launches summer campaign for Draft Latte products. The company’s marketing team will travel across the US for the “Cruising on Cold Brew Day Dreams” campaign, as well as displaying media advertisements.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Caravela named “Best for the World” company for sixth consecutive year. The award is granted to B Corps which achieve one or more of the five B impact areas. Caravela won in the workers category for its benefits, training, and diversity inclusion schemes for employees.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – London Mont58 roastery launches cold brew blend. The blend is a mixture of 70% Brazilian and 30% Colombian beans. Bags weighing 227g are priced at £5.25 (US $7.28).

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Gruppo Cimbali celebrates 60th anniversary of Faema E61. The espresso machine is considered an iconic model. Cimbali will release the Limited Edition E61 espresso machine for home consumer markets.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Botrista secures US $10 million for automated beverage dispenser DrinkBot. The California company raised a total US $16 million in Series-A funding. DrinkBot can prepare most beverages, including iced coffee and tea, in 20 seconds.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Nespresso publishes results of The Positive Cup sustainability initiative. The seven-year programme increased the company’s long term AAA Sustainable Quality sourcing up to 93%. Nespresso’s global recycling rate was also up to 32% by the end of 2020.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Food4Farmers releases 2020 sustainability report. The organisation raised US $10,000 for coffee co-ops in Central America after Hurricanes Iota and Eta hit communities. The non-profit also helped to reduce monthly instances of food insecurity by 33% in Nuevo Futuro, Colombia.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Global functional beverage market expected to reach US $173.23 billion by 2025. Beverages, such as those containing caffeine, are expected to grow at a CAGR of 7%.

• Wednesday, 14 Jul – Spruce Point Capital accuses Oatly of overstating revenue. Oatly recently offered public shares, each valued at US $17. Spruce Point Capital claims Oatly is overstating its revenue and its US $12 billion valuation is “unsustainable”.

• Thursday, 15 Jul – Dutch Bros releases new summer menu items. The Iced Campout Cold Brew and Campout Mocha Freeze are available at over 470 locations in the US. The marshmallow-themed drinks will be available until end of August.

• Thursday, 15 Jul – Partnership for Gender Equity and Coffee Roasters Guild host Instagram Live. Coffee Roasters Guild spoke to PGE founder and CEO, Kimberly Easson, on how the non-profit’s work is improving gender equity in the coffee supply chain.

• Thursday, 15 Jul – Higher numbers of hollow beans and peaberries in 2021 Brazil harvests. Farms in Varginha and Franca found the amount of hollow beans increased from 5% to 20% and 34%, respectively. Water supply, growing temperature, and soil nutrition are considered to be major contributing factors.

• Thursday, 15 Jul – Brazil’s 2021 harvest reaches new record of 3.5 million bags average per month. Despite a lack of space and containers on ships, exports to other coffee-producing countries increased by 50.6% in the first five months of 2021.

• Thursday, 15 Jul – Dunkin’ partners with New York Mets and Yankees for “Raise a Cup to Coaches” initiative. Baseball and softball coaches can be nominated to win free Dunkin’ coffees for a whole year.

• Friday, 16 Jul – Tchibo expands presence in US retail coffee market. The German coffee brand partnered with Jewel-Osco supermarkets to sell products in 188 stores throughout Chicago.

• Friday, 16 Jul – Fellow launches “Fellow Drops” text-message coffee ordering service. Customers can sign up to weekly text message offers for whole bean coffees from a range of specialty roasters. They provide payment details when signing up, and respond to text messages to state the quantity of beans they want to order. The coffees are selected by Fellow and will include exclusive lots.

• Friday, 16 Jul – BLK & Bold releases two new roast blends. The first black-owned, nationally-distributed roaster in the US recently signed a deal with the NBA. Brighter Days is the new dark roast from the company, while Smoove Operator is the light roast.

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

• Sunday, 20 Jun – SavingSpot releases The World Coffee Index 2021: The Cost and Consumption of Coffee Around the World report. The report looked at coffee consumption trends in 104 countries. Research found South Korea charges the most per cup at an average of US $7.77, while Iran charges the least at an average of US $0.46.

• Tuesday, 6 Jul – Frosts predicted to negatively affect Brazil 2022 harvests. On July 1, 2021 farmers across the country reported frost damage to their crops, particularly in the states of Minas Gerais and Paraná. It is believed the frosts will have no effect on 2021 harvests, but could affect production figures in 2022.

• Wednesday, 7 Jul – Sucafina raises US $7,222 for Girls Gotta Run Foundation. Through donations from the 5K Fun Run 2021, funding will support athletic scholarships for Ethiopian girls.

• Wednesday, 7 Jul – Carolina Padilla appointed as new Executive Director of the Salvadoran Coffee Council. Padilla is a third generation coffee producer with over 20 years’ experience working in the industry. Padilla will serve as ED until 2024.

• Wednesday, 7 Jul – Bloomberg reports that the price of fertilisers increases. Over the past several years, nutrients such as phosphate and potash have been in high demand, yet low in stock. Price increases may negatively affect farmers, including coffee producers.

• Thursday, 8 Jul – Nestlé Mexico to partner with winners of Creating Shared Value award to improve capsule sustainability. Mexican social impact organisation Promesa received the award for its recycling programme, collecting over 3,000 tonnes of waste over the last two years. Nestlé Mexico will now partner with Promesa to improve its capsule collection and recycling programmes.

• Thursday, 8 Jul – El Salvador Coffee Council and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock launch Café de El Salvador country brand. The Marca Pais programme will seek to increase coffee yields in the country and promote internal consumption.

• Friday, 9 Jul – Ditta Artigianale opens new café in former monastery. In partnership with Hario, the new coffee shop opened in a restored monasterial building in Florence. The location also includes a coffee school for education and training.

• Friday, 9 Jul – Mr Black Roasters & Distillers launch Mr Black Espresso Martini. The RTD beverage is the Australian company’s first canned product. The espresso martini contains coffee from Colombia and Ethiopia with high-quality Australian vodka. The product is currently only available in Australia.

• Friday, 9 Jul – Registration opens for The State of the Art in Coffee Fermentation webinar. The webinar will be held on August 11 PST, jointly hosted by the SCA and The Fermentation Association. Attendance is free.

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