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

Mon, 10 Jul

• Applications open for Toddy Cold Brew Championship at PRF Colombia. Sixteen spots are available for the competition. Each person will be provided with a set of three Toddy Cold Brew Cupping Kits, and can use either Toddy SB Paper Filters or Toddy SB Tree Free Filters. All participants will need to present two drinks to the judges, and will be scored based on technique, food safety, sensory quality, and service. Applications close on 1 August 2023, and PRF Colombia will take place on 14 & 15 September.

• Starbucks union workers ask customers to organise pickets at non-unionised US locations. Reuters reports that Workers United plans to hand out flyers during a 13-day bus tour to encourage customers to organise their own protests against the company’s alleged anti-union efforts. Customers are being encouraged to stage protests on the “national Adopt-a-Store day of action” on 7 August.

• Japanese chain % Arabica signs deal to expand European footprint in 2024. The company has partnered with SOHO Middle East to open stores across France, Germany, Portugal, and Greece – with the first locations set to open next year.

• Starbucks aims to open 335 new stores in Thailand by 2030. The chain currently operates 465 stores across the country, and expects to reach 480 by the end of 2023. New stores will include Reserve and drive-thru locations.

• Colombian coffee production fell by 13% over the past 12 months. The National Federation of Coffee Growers cites unfavourable climate conditions for the decline. In June, however, production volumes increased by 1%, while imports decreased by an estimated 30% on the previous year.

• Catalyst Trade and M-Cultivo to co-host Ethiopia Innovation Lots auction on 1 August. The 24 available coffees are organised into three Innovation Process catgeories: Intrinsic, Interval, and Symbiotic. The auction will take place online through M-Cultivo’s platform.

Tue, 11 Jul

• Sucafina and 4C’s impact programmes recognised by Global Coffee Platform as equivalent to the GCP Coffee Sustainability Reference Code. Sucafina’s IMPACT responsible sourcing programme has been recognised as second party assurance, while 4C has been recognised as third party assurance.

• Melbourne International Coffee Expo announces this year’s Product Innovation Award finalists. The tenth annual MICE will take place from 17 to 19 August 2023. The nominees include:
  • Coffee preparation equipment
    • Linea Micra by La Marzocco Home
    • Toddy Go Brewer by Bombora
    • Franke Mytico by Franke Coffee Systems
  • Ancillary electrical equipment
    • NanoFoamer PRO by Coffee Tools Distributing 
    • ULTRA RO by Puretec
    • Rhino Coffee Gear Spinjet spray assembly & actuator Star 3-EDP by Bombora Coffee + Water Supplies
  • Coffee accessories
    • The Good Cup by Roastar Coffee Packaging
    • Trimatt ColourStar AQ V by Trimatt Systems
    • BioPak Certified home compostable coffee cup and lids solution by BioPak

• Oatly appoints new Chief Financial Officer. Marie-Jose David succeeds Christian Hanke, who held the role since 2020. David has over two decades of global finance and leadership experience.

• Biggby Coffee recruits MMB to guide new marketing and branding strategies. The US coffee chain says MMB will help determine the best path forward for both its brand strategy and digital content.

• Coffee futures drop following promising weather in Brazil. ICE robusta futures lost US $51 between Monday and Tuesday, with the main contract for September delivery closing at US $2,576/tonne. Meanwhile, the ICE arabica contract for September delivery closed at US 157.55 cents/lb – representing a drop of 230 points.

Wed, 12 Jul

• Pact Coffee says it paid 76% above average Fairtrade price for coffee last year. In its 2022 impact report, the UK roaster also stated it purchased almost half of its coffee from women producers or gender equity groups last year. Pact Coffee also hasn’t sourced coffee from Ethiopia since 2020 following the outbreak of conflict in Tigray in the same year.

• Beanless RTD brand Minus Coffee completes new seed funding round. The beanless coffee company received an undisclosed sum from Amplifica Capital, which it will use for further product development.

• World AeroPress Championship announces dates for more national competitions. New dates include:
  • Austrian AeroPress Championship – 15 July, Vienna
  • Vietnamese AeroPress Championship – 29 July, Ho Chi Minh City
  • Polish AeroPress Championship – 27 August, Warsaw
  • Omani AeroPress Championship – 5 August, Muscat
  • Swiss AeroPress Championship – 23 September, Lausanne
  • Bahrain AeroPress Championship – 6 October, Manama
  • Indonesian AeroPress Championship – 4 October, Jakarta
  • National Australian AeroPress Championship – 1 December, Melbourne (along with four regional competitions)

• Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand hosts ninth annual Thai Specialty Coffee Awards. This year’s competition included 268 samples representing a range of processing methods – with 53 coffees receiving 85 points or higher. Auction bids for the 2023 event totalled over THB 3.27 million (US $93,500).

• Sage Appliances launches three new colours for The Barista Express Impress home machine. The machine, which includes Intelligent Dosing and Precision Measurement technologies, is now available in blue, red, and white.

• Former Managing Director of Oatly UK joins Caffè Culture’s Total Coffee talks programme. Ishen Paran will join other speakers, including Paul Ross and Vanúsia Nogueira. Caffè Culture will take place on 3 & 4 October in London.

Thu, 13 Jul

• Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council reports 10% decline in 2022/23 exports. Cecafé states Brazil exported 35.626 million 60kg bags of coffee during the harvest year. Green coffee exports decreased by 19% – with arabica exports down by 23.3% and robusta exports up by 60.5%.

• Paradise Coffee Roasters launches world’s first 100% fine robusta subscription. All coffees are roasted in Hilo, Hawaii, and are sourced from countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The first coffee is an anaerobic lactic natural processed robusta from Hacienda Legrand in Ecuador.

• Glitter Cat Barista and GoFundBean launch Hot Medicated Summer Raffle fundraiser. The non-profits are raising money for 2022 US Cup Tasters Champion Julien Langevin and 2018 US Barista Championship runner-up and Glitter Cat Barista founder Veronica Pearl, who have both incurred significant financial debt following treatment for mental health-related issues.

• Alliance for Coffee Excellence appoints coffee producer Erwin Mierisch as new executive director. Mierisch, who helped coordinate the first-ever Nicaragua Cup of Excellence and the Los Favoritos Private Collection Auction, will take on the ED role on 14 August. Mierisch will oversee operations for both ACE and CoE.

• California Energy Commission’s Food Production Investment Program provides US roasters with US $1.8 million grant to invest in Bellwether machines. Oakland-based Red Bay Coffee Roasters and Heirloom Coffee Roasters received the funding to purchase Bellwether’s electric roasters. Red Bay will receive eight machines, while Heirloom will install 16 of them.

Fri, 14 Jul

• Fifth edition of the Specialty Coffee & Tea Asia event to take place 26 to 28 September 2023. Hosted at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore, the event will include the Singapore Barista, Latte Art, Cup Tasters, and Brewers Cup Championships. A full event schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

• The 2023 Brazil International Coffee Week to take place from 8 to 10 November. The event is one of the largest in the coffee industry, and includes exhibitions, lectures, workshops, competitions, and coffee tastings. A full schedule for the 2023 event will be announced shortly – which will include the Coffee of the Year Award.

• The Barista League Los Angeles event to take place at MoonGoat Coffee on 5 August. Nine teams will take part in the barista-style competition, which will also include Toddy’s Cold Brew Bar and the Guess the Infusions experience.

• Royal Coffee offers promotion on Ecuador, Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania lots. Roasters can get 20% of these lots using the code: EA20OFF.

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

• Fri, 19 May – USDA forecasts 2023/24 Ethiopian coffee production to grow by 1%. The estimates for the total harvest are 8.35 million 60kg bags of green coffee – 800,000 more bags than in 2022/23.

• Thu, 29 Jun – Opici Wines & Spirits launches Meletti Coffee Liqueur. The liqueur contains a blend of coffee, cacao, sugar, and a neutral-tasting spirit, with tasting notes of chocolate and nuts.

• Thu, 6 Jul – US National Labor Relations Board sues Starbucks over refusal to rehire 33 workers at three Seattle stores. Reuters reports that Starbucks plans to reorganise the stores as part of a new “Heritage District”, which would essentially force 73 workers to reapply for their jobs. The board calls the move an “illegal response to unionisation efforts” at the 1st Ave and Pike Street store.

• Thu, 6 Jul – Tims China opens 700th store in Yinchuan. The local operator of Tim Hortons says the opening of the 700th store “spearheads” its efforts to expand across China. The operator plans to run 1,000 stores by the end of 2023.

• Fri, 7 Jul – Lavazza anticipates double-digit decline in earnings in 2023. The Italian company says its spending on green coffee has increased by 80% since 2021. Last year, it increased its prices by an average of 6%, and while it plans to avoid further price increases in 2023, it expects profit margins to fall.

• Fri, 7 Jul – Demand for Ethiopian coffee grows in China. According to the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Association, China exported some 11,200 tonnes of coffee to China in 2021/22.

Photo credits: Producer Roaster Forum, Shane Gallagher

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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 Fair Trade USA’s minimum price freeze.