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, 21 Aug

• Honey processed Gesha sells for US $3,606/lb at 2023 Lamastus Family Estates Auction. Oklao Specialty Coffee and Black Gold Specialty Coffee purchased 9lbs (around 4kg) of the “special lot” coffee for a total of US $32,454.

• Rawirat “Jibbi” Techasitthanet wins first-ever Australia’s Richest Barista competition. Techasitthanet, who completed the final round in 2:03, received a cash prize of AU $25,000 (US $15,942). Runner-up Pirada Tungbenjaphol received AU $10,000 (US $6,377), while the third prize of AU $5,000 (US $3,188.50) went to Lucky Salvador.

• MICE to return from 12 to 14 May 2024. More than 10,200 attendees visited this year’s three-day event, which took place from 17 to 19 August. The 2023 MICE Product Innovation Awards were also held at the event, with winners including Franke Coffee Systems and Rhino Coffee Gear. MILKLAB also hosted the Barista Battle International Final, with Jie Yang announced as the winner. MICE 2024 will return to the Melbourne International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 12 to 14 May.

• New survey finds coffee is now the UK’s favourite beverage. According to the Statistica Global Consumer Review, 63% of Brits regularly drink coffee, compared to 59% who prefer tea. UK consumers purchased more than 533 million bags of coffee over the past year, with 287 million packs of tea bought in the same period.

• Sucafina Specialty celebrates tenth anniversary of the Kahawatu Foundation. Sucafina launched the non-profit in response to declining coffee yields and quality in East Africa, and the subsequent socioeconomic impact on local communities. Since 2012, Kahawatu Foundation has forged partnerships with ICO, IDH, GIZ, Nestlé, and Starbucks.

• Booth and visitor registration still open for 2023 Speciality Coffee & Tea Asia event. The exhibition will take place as part of this year’s Speciality Food & Drinks Asia event, which will be held from 26 to 28 September at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore.

Tue, 22 Aug

• Bellwether Coffee commits to applying living income sourcing model to all its coffee by end of 2024. Launched two years ago, Bellwether’s Living Income Pricing model establishes origin-specific minimum prices, and is already in place in 26 countries.

• Bruvi partners with US specialty roasters for new B-Pod line. LAMILL Coffee’s Black Onyx B-Pod are available as part of the new range, as well as Joyride’s Original Cold Brew B-Pod. Both products are exclusive to Bruvi’s single-serve brewer. The Guilt Free Toss B-Pods are made with a bioenzyme which the company says helps to break down materials more quickly.

• Loyalty and pre-order app My Coffee Counts supports local charities in Australia. Participating coffee shops and roasters can convert customer loyalty rewards into donations for various local fundraising initiatives.

• New York Coffee Festival announces judges for 2023 Coffee Masters. The judges panel includes Anne Lunell of Koppi, Tymika Lawrence of the SCA and Sprudge, David Donde of Truth Coffee, and Juan Carlos de la Torre of Café Avellaneda, Café con Jiribilla, and Ratiorama. The competition will take place from 6 to 8 October in Manhattan, NYC.

• Researchers use spent coffee grounds to strengthen concrete. After adding used coffee grounds, engineers at RMIT University were able to increase the strength of concrete by nearly 30%. The process turns ground coffee into biochar – a carbon residue that can be used in place of sand when making concrete.

• South Korea reports first drop in coffee imports in five years. The Korea Customs Service said import volumes fell by 3.9% year-on-year in the first six months of 2023, with some experts citing lower global production volumes and a large jump in imports in 2022 as reasons for the decline.

Wed, 23 Aug

• Kenya’s coffee earnings grew by 4.2% during first half of 2023. The country’s Central Bank says higher export volumes offset a decline in coffee prices in global markets. Throughout August, producers have been able to sell coffee directly through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, hoping to increase earnings by cutting out broker fees.

• Coffee Master Colombia awards ceremony takes place in Bogotá. The awards programme recognises leaders in the Colombian specialty coffee sector, and includes several different categories. Minka Café received the Favourite Store award, while Caffa Colombia was awarded the Best Drink Author.

• Value of Uganda’s coffee exports increased by 25.85% in July. The Uganda Coffee Development Authority says the country exported 645,832 60kg bags of green coffee in July, representing a 12.16% increase in volume compared to July 2022.

• Global Coffee Platform recognises five more sustainability schemes equivalent to Coffee Sustainability Reference Code. GCP recently recognised 4C, the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agricultural Standard, ECOM SMS Verified, Enveritas Green, and Sucafina IMPACT as part of its Sustainability Reference Code – bringing the total number of recognised schemes to 19.

• Onyx Coffee Lab launches Extractions concentrate range. The new line includes Southern Weather and Monarch coffee concentrates. Each bottle contains approximately twelve servings.

• This year’s Golden Bean North America names Bonlife Coffee Roasters as overall champion. Canterbury Coffee for Federated Co-Operatives is the 2023 Large Franchise Champion, while Theory Coffee Roasters was named Small Franchise Champion. Florida’s Oceana Coffee also won medals in all five categories it entered.

• Kaldi Company forms strategic partnership with Rapid Innovation to support growth of KaldiMarket blockchain coffee trading platform. Rapid Innovation will help to launch the platform, which uses blockchain technology, Web3 software, and IoT-enabled traceability to promote price transparency for green coffee.

• Dualit wins six awards at the 2023 Great Taste Awards. The Guild of Fine Foods recognised the coffee equipment manufacturer in six categories for several products, including the Organic Colombian Aluminium Coffee Capsules and Decaf Aluminium Coffee Capsules – which both received two-star “Outstanding” awards.

• SCA launches Extrinsic Assessment Survey to help develop new Coffee Value Assessment. Results from the community survey will be used to understand which “extrinsic” (or non-physical) attributes of green coffee are the most useful for assessing quality.

• Coffee futures prices rebound on lower global certified stocks. The main arabica contract for September delivery rose to US 153.90cents/lb on Wednesday, while the corresponding robusta contract increased by US $28/tonne. Reasons for the rise were a stronger Brazilian real, which resulted in lower export volumes.

Thu, 24 Aug

• ORIGAMI Cup 2023 to take place in Tokyo on 26 September. The coffee competition, which focuses solely on the ORIGAMI pour over brewer, will be held at Little Darling Coffee Roasters in Minato-ku – and is taking place in Tokyo for the first time.

• International Women in Coffee Convention announces Vanúsia Nogueira as this year’s keynote speaker. Nogueira, Executive Director of the International Coffee Organisation, will deliver a keynote address at the convention, which will take place from 16 to 22 October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

• Liverpool’s Andrew Keegan wins 2023 Starbucks UK Barista Championships. Keegan works as a supervisor at the Starbucks Myrtle Street Store in Liverpool. He will go on to represent the UK at the 2023 EMEA Barista Championship.

• Café Virtuoso rebrands as Talitha Coffee. The San Diego roaster has also launched a new online storefront. For every bag sold, Talitha Coffee donates a portion of sales proceeds to organisations supporting survivors of sex trafficking.

• Washed Gesha sells for US $216.50/lb at pilot Best of Taiwan auction. The coffee, which received 90.86 points, was produced by Fu-Sen Tseng at Royal Bean Geisha Estate in Chiayi County. A total of 110.23lbs were purchased for $23,864.80 by Oriowl Co. Ltd in Japan.

• Big Island Coffee Roasters raises US $30,000 for the Maui Strong Fund. Proceeds of sales of the Hawaiian roaster’s Lāhainā Strong Blend will help to support people affected by the recent wildfires on Maui island.

• WatchHouse opens 13th location in Covent Garden, London. The Southampton Street location includes a Slayer Steam LPx espresso machine, a custom brew bar, a 3Temp Hipster brewer, and a full brunch menu.

• UK Brewers Cup to take place at Caffè Culture in London on 3 & 4 October 2023. The UK competition forms part of the 2024 World Coffee Championships, and will be held at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Visitor tickets for Caffè Culture will go on sale on 4 September.

• Canephorum v.2.0 event to be held at the Swiss Coffee Festival on 6 & 7 October 2023. The forum, which is Europe’s first-ever event focusing solely on robusta, will include panel discussions, workshops, cupping sessions, and networking opportunities. The Swiss Coffee Festival will be held at Halle 550 in Zurich from 6 to 8 October.

• Pret A Manger expands coffee subscription service to the US and France. The Club Pret subscription service entitles customers to five barista-made drinks per day, as well as 10% off all menu items.

Fri, 25 Aug

• IKAWA and Campesino Coffee to host workshop in Medellín after PRF Colombia. IKAWA’s Andrew Stordy and Oliver Mutch will attend PRF Colombia on 14 & 15 September. They will also host a workshop and presentation with Colombian Coffee Roasting Champion Luisa Fda Quintero at Campesino Coffee on 16 September.

• Six national AeroPress Championships to take place in August and September. Winners of all competitions will go on to represent their respective countries at the World AeroPress Championship from 1 to 3 December in Melbourne, Australia:
  • Estonian AeroPress Championship on 25 Aug, hosted by The Brick Coffee Roasters at Viru Food Hall, Tallinn.
  • Peruvian AeroPress Championship on 26 Aug, hosted by Artidoro Rodríguez Café at Parque Candamo, Lima.
  • Ecuadorian AeroPress Championship on 26 Aug, hosted by AeroPress Ecuador at Cotopaxi International Airport.
  • Polish AeroPress Championship on 27 Aug, hosted by AeroPress Poland and Cophi Solutions at Focus Building, Warsaw.
  • Laos AeroPress Championship from 1 to 3 Sep, with the second edition hosted by Dam Dam in Vientiane.
  • Finnish AeroPress Championships on 11 Sep, hosted by Kahiwa Coffee Roasters in Lahti.

• Espresso Pro launches grind size measuring tool. The stainless steel Accurate Triangle includes ten different grind size measurements, ranging from Turkish coffee to cold brew.

• Expat. Roasters expands footprint with new store in Surabaya, Indonesia. The store is the Indonesian specialty roaster’s first outside of Bali, and includes a fusion cuisine menu and locally-sourced coffees.

• International Café & Beverage Show to return to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 23 to 25 May 2024. The 2023 event welcomed nearly 11,000 attendees, and also hosted the Malaysian Brewers Cup, Barista, and Latte Art Championships. More details will be announced about ICBS 2024 in the coming months.

• Evento Torrando Ideias conference to take place from 21 to 23 September in Patrocínio, Brazil. The event explores roasting trends and aims to share knowledge among local coffee professionals. This year, the conference will include the 2023 Ally Coffee Champs Trip guests – including World Barista and Brewers Cup champions.

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

• Thu, 17 Aug – HeyCafé launches new All-Round Grinder Jack. The new model features 64mm steel burrs, a stepless grind size adjustment, and a cast aluminium grinding chamber which minimises heat transfer and retention.

• Thu, 17 Aug – The San Franciscan Roaster Co. hires two industry veterans. The 2017 US Coffee Roasting Champion Mark Michaelson is the roaster manufacturer’s new Head of Education, while Ally Coffee’s Kelly Traw joins as Head of Client Success.

• Fri, 18 Aug – Cotti Coffee opens second international store in Jakarta, Indonesia. Following the opening of its first international location in South Korea last week, the Chinese coffee chain has also expanded into Indonesia.

• Fri, 18 Aug – Starbucks to open innovation and technology centre in Shenzhen, China. The company will invest US $206 million in the facility over the next three years, which is set to open in September 2023. Starbucks says the centre will help to automate more store operations, digitalise its supply chain, and improve personalised customer engagement.

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