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

Mon, 27 Mar

• International Women’s Coffee Alliance’s current Executive Director to leave organisation in May 2023. Dr Sarada Krishnan, who first joined the IWCA in June 2021, will continue as an advisor and will also assist in the appointment of a new Executive Director in the coming weeks.

• US gelato chain Cremalosa launches new coffee programme. The brand, which is owned by acclaimed US food writer Meredith Ford, will now serve coffee from Land of a Thousand Hills – a specialty roaster in Atlanta, Georgia.

• Fourth wave of coffee will focus on “the industrialisation of coffee” and “less about craft”. World Coffee in Good Spirits finalist Vladyslav Demonenko predicts that the fourth wave of coffee will be more geared towards better availability of high-quality convenient products, such as RTD drinks and capsules.

• UK roaster 200 Degrees to open new coffee shop and barista school in Chester. This will be 200 Degrees’ 19th location in the UK, and will include an in-house barista school open to both professionals and enthusiasts.

• Ethiopian coffee authorities to host two lectures on market access and genetic diversity at 2023 Specialty Expo in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Adugna Debela Bote, Director General of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority will present the Ethiopian Coffees: New Market Systems Lead to New Access Opportunities lecture on 21 April. The following day, Dr. Kassaye Tolessa Sherge, Director of Food Science and Nutrition Research and Directorate of the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research, will host The Quest to Understand Ethiopian Coffee Qualities lecture on 22 April.

• TechnoServe and Starbucks Foundation launch Mujeres CAFÉ initiative in Peru. The project will work with 1,300 Peruvian women in coffee farming communities to develop leadership, communications, and decision-making skills.

Tue, 28 Mar

• Suntory Beverage and Food’s first female CEO seeks US $5 billion in drinks acquisitions. The company, which is one of the biggest canned coffee manufacturers in Japan, is particularly interested in the US RTD beverage market.

• USDA’s Agricultural Research Service joins World Coffee Research’s Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network to bolster genetic diversity. The partnership will specifically focus on the Hawaiian coffee sector, with the overall aim to better prepare for future threats from pests and diseases. In 2020, coffee leaf rust was first discovered on some of Hawaii’s islands.

• New study suggests how coffee helps to lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Research from Clinical Nutrition suggests that coffee lowers pro-inflammatory biomarkers like C-reactive protein, while also increasing anti-inflammatory biomarkers like adiponectin. However, the study found that people who smoke are unlikely to experience these effects.

• Scotsman Ice renews partnership with Specialty Coffee Association. The ice machine manufacturer has renewed its sponsorship with the SCA for another three years. Scotsman Ice will sponsor the 2023 World Barista and Coffee in Good Spirits Championships.

• International Trade Centre partners with International Coffee Organisation on new Sustainability Initiatives in the Coffee Sector mapping project. The new initiative is an effort to consolidate existing projects in coffee-producing countries onto one database to create an interactive map. The ITC and ICO are calling for suitable respondents to fill out a survey.

• Specialty Coffee Association announces 2023 Sustainability Award winners. The Business Model category winner is Primavera Green Coffee, the Project category winner is RENACER Coffee Training School by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and the Individual category winners are David Griswold and Jose Rivera. The winners will be formally recognised at Re:co Symposium on 19 and 20 April 2023.

Wed, 29 Mar

• SEB Professional opens Experience Centre in Geislingen an der Steige, Germany. The new facility showcases the company’s entire range of coffee machine systems including WMF Professional, Schaerer, and Curtis. The Experience Centre also features an auditorium and training centre.

• US’ National Labor Relations Board claims Starbucks illegally refused to bargain with workers on Zoom but former CEO maintains it “engaged in good faith bargaining”. The NLRB stated that Starbucks violated national labour laws by refusing to engage in collective bargaining sessions via video calls. However, as part of his US Senate testimony, Howard Schultz claims representatives “improperly demanded multi-store negotiations, delayed or refused to attend meetings, and insisted on unlawful preconditions.”

• More than 700 tickets sold for The Barista League’s second event held in Mexico City. Some 138 baristas applied to compete, with teams representing 16 different Mexican coffee companies. The winners of the competition are Sebas Bonelli and Kike Valle from Team Dirty Fingers. The next Barista League event will be held in Brno on 26 May.

• New ZHAW study singles out chemical compounds responsible for fruity flavours in fermented coffee. Scientists at the Coffee Excellence Centre at Zurich University of Applied Sciences used gas chromatography and nasal assessment to identify three chemical compounds which contribute to intense fruity aromas in fermented coffee: 2-methylpropanal, 3-methylbutanal and ethyl 3-methylbutanoate.

• Dean’s Beans launches organic Fairtrade-certified RTD cold brew line. The US specialty coffee company’s Nice Nitro canned cold brew is steeped for 24 hours.

• Global Coffee Platform recognises five sustainability schemes aligned with the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code. Louis Dreyfus Company’s Responsible Sourcing Program Advanced initiative, Mercon Specialty Coffee’s LIFT platform, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe’s NKG Verified programme, and Volcafe’s Verified and Excellence intiatives have all been recognised for their alliance with Global Coffee Plaform’s Coffee Sustainability Reference Code.

Thu, 30 Mar

• New award-winning docuseries The Road to Milan follows Andrea Allen’s journey to 2021 World Barista Championship. The documentary, which was produced by Wildly and is presented by Pacific Food Barista Series, received the Best Series Award at the 2023 Oregon Documentary Film Festival. The Road to Milan is also up for selection at the 2023 New York City Independent Film Festival.

• Fairtrade to raise its Minimum Price baseline for coffee. The organisation’s new Minimum Price will come into effect on 1 August 2023, and will raise the baseline price for coffee by 19% for robusta and 29% for arabica.

• German Brewers Cup 2023 takes place in Nürnberg. Rösttrommel Coffee Roasters are hosting the competition, with the winner going on to represent Germany at the 2023 World Brewers Cup in Athens, Greece this June.

• Saudi Arabian government approves signing of the ICO’s International Coffee Agreement. Saudi Arabia will sign the agreement as part of its The Year of Saudi Coffee campaign, which aims to increase exports of domestically grown coffee. The Saudi coffee sector is expected to produce 28,700 tonnes of green coffee by the end of 2026.

• illycaffè records its highest-ever revenue growth in a decade. The Italian coffee company experienced a 13.6% increase in 2022 revenue. It also reported a 16% increase in operating profit, and has expressed interest in expanding in the US market.

• Moccamaster K5 Grinder receives approval from European Coffee Brewing Centre. Technivorm’s new flat burr coffee grinder is the fourth product to receive approval from the ECBC.

Fri, 31 Mar

• Birmingham Coffee Festival to open ticket sales on 5 April. After a four-year hiatus, the festival returns to Birmingham’s Custard Factory venue on 8 and 9 July 2023. This year’s event will also hos the first-ever Extracted Development competition, which is open to both roasters and baristas.

• Venezuela Brewers Cup 2023 to take place on 1 April 2023 in Caracas. Registration is now open for the competition, which will be held at the Lidotel Caracas. Venezuela’s Caracas Quiere Café was recently welcomed as a new SCA Competition Body for the 2023 World Coffee Championships.

• Royal Coffee launches new bulk green coffee promotion. The US green importer is offering US $300 off when customers purchase ten or more standard-sized bags of coffee when customers use the code “10BAGS”. Customers can also buy 20 bags and save US $600 with code “20BAGS” and save US $900 when buying 30 bags with code “30BAGS”.

• UK Barista Championship 2023 takes place in Elstree, Hertfordshire. The highest-ranking baristas from five regional heats are competing for a place at the 2023 World Barista Championship, which will be held from 22 to 24 June. Competitors include semi-professional rugby player Kyle McGhie.

• Kansas City Asian American and Pacific Islander Festival 2023 to include city’s first Vietnamese coffee shop. The event, which will take place on 20 May, will feature Cafe Cà Phê, as well as other prominent coffee brands such as Umeshiso, Rancilio Group, and Oatly.

• Pact Coffee to launch “secret recipe” cold brew. The UK roaster’s new cold brew, which includes coffees from José Ramón Collazos in Colombia and María Del Rosario Ariza Coy from Farmers Co-op Society in Kenya, will be available on 5 April.

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

• Tue, 14 Mar – YouTuber Jacksepticeye’s Top of the Mornin’ coffee brand welcomes new CEO. Former Ugly Drinks CEO Hugh Thomas will help drive brand expansion and growth. The company donates 1% of proceeds to mental health initiatives for young people.

• Thu, 16 Mar – UK coffee subscription start-up secures funding on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. Richard and Fiona Jones successfully pitched their Beans Coffee Club to investors Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden. The couple successfully asked for £50,000 (US $61,000) for 15% of the business.

• Wed, 22 Mar – New study suggests coffee benefits physical activity but can reduce sleep. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that coffee consumers take an extra 1,000 steps per day on average than those who don’t drink coffee. However, coffee consumers also lose an average of 36 minutes of sleep each night, but this largely depends on caffeine consumption levels.

• Thu, 23 Mar – Empire State Building announces new Starbucks Reserve Sunrise Experience. The Starbucks Reserve store will host sunrise coffee sessions at the 86th Floor Observatory from 1 April 2023, which include a complimentary “microblend” coffee.

• Thu, 23 Mar – New Starbucks CEO wants to develop “a different kind of company” for employees. New CEO Laxman Narasimhan has told employees that the company plans to “reinvigorate” its work culture in the wake of a growing unionisation movement in the US. Narasimhan said he will also work four hours in a different US Starbucks store each month.

• Thu, 23 Mar – Specialty Coffee Association launches 2023 Specialty Coffee Education Survey. The SCA says the aim of the survey is to understand demand for coffee education programmes from the perspective of coffee educators. Survey results will be used to develop further SCA educational content.

Photo credits: The Barista League

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Want to keep up with current affairs in the coffee industry? Check out last week’s stories and make sure to read the latest Coffee Intelligence News & Opinion piece on why Starbucks’ new CEO is good news for India’s coffee sector.