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

Mon, 3 Jul

• Natural Pacamara receives highest bid of US $62/lb at 2023 CoE Honduras auction. The coffee from Pino De Oro scored 91.78 points. Coffee Libre, Proud Mary, and Supremo Coffee collectively purchased 462.97lbs for a total of US $28,704.14.

• GaeaStar launches 3D-printed terracotta coffee cups. Following a US $6.5 million seed funding round in April, the San Francisco start-up has developed reusable coffee cups made from clay, water and salt. GaeaStar says one cup can be printed within ten seconds.

• TreeHouse Foods acquires Farmer Brothers’ Texas coffee facility. The company acquired the roasting, grinding, flavouring, and blending facility for around US $100 million.

• Westrock Coffee enters US $75 million equity investment agreement. The company says the agreement will help with plans for long-term growth.

• Olam Group appoints eight new members to Olam Agri Board of Directors. New members include Serge François Schoen (former CEO of Louis Dreyfus Company), Hixonia Nyasulu, Eng Chin Chin, Pierre Lorinet, Jenifer Thien, Sulaiman Al-Rumaih, Anuj Maheshwari, and Sunny George Verghese. Olam says the appointments will help with future growth.

• Which? study finds UK coffee chain frappés contain more sugar than recommended daily allowance. The consumer group found that many regular-sized frappés at Starbucks, Costa Coffee, and Caffè Nero contain more than an adult’s recommended daily sugar allowance. A Starbucks caramel Frappuccino made with semi-skimmed milk, for example, was found to contain 48.5g of sugar.

Tue, 4 Jul

• Highest-scoring coffee receives 91.13 points at 2023 CoE Thailand competition. The honey processed blend of 70% Java and 30% Catimor, Typica, and Yellow Bourbon was produced by Coffee De Hmong Biofarm in the Nan region. The auction will take place on 15 August.

• BWT water+more supplied over 20,000 litres of filtered water at WoC Athens. The water filtration solutions company was also the qualified Water Filtration sponsor for the 2023 World Coffee Championships, which were held at the event.

• This year’s record-breaking El Niño likely to negatively impact global coffee production. Climate experts predict that El Niño will lead to a record average increase in global sea surface temperature this year. Alongside this, there is likely to be a higher number of heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires – including in coffee-producing countries, which is highly likely to negatively impact coffee quality and yields.

• UK coffee and bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien enters into administration. The chain’s operator, BrunchCo UK, has closed all but one location in the UK following a decline in footfall after the pandemic.

Wed, 5 Jul

• Honduran coffee exports grew by 37% year-on-year in June. The country’s National Coffee Institute says stronger market demand and delayed shipments in May helped to boost exports. By the end of 2022/23 harvest season, green coffee exports are expected to total 5.5 million 60kg bags.

• Brazil Coffee Week to take place in Londrina from 13 to 23 July. Across the ten days, various coffee shops in the city will offer exclusive coffee and food menus to celebrate the festival. Participating coffee shops will also host workshops, competitions, and lectures.

• Grinder manufacturer Conti Valerio opens first production facility in China. The company, which produces Eureka grinders, says the new manufacturing plant in Ningbo will help expand its market presence in Asia.

• RAVE Coffee launches RARE coffee range. The new line of exclusive coffees includes Colombia Humberto Moreno No. 200, Peru Tapir Andino Anaerobic Honey No. 195, and Indonesia Barokah Kerinci Anaerobic Natural No. 193.

• Victoria Arduino launch integrated Virtual Intelligent Scale for Eagle One. The scale uses AI technology to improve workflow and dose ground coffee more accurately.

• This year’s Hotelex Shanghai attracts more than 245,000 attendees. Over 3,000 exhibitors were at the event, including key players in the global coffee industry.

Thu, 6 Jul

• Rancilio launches its first grind-by-weight grinder. The Bond grinder includes a built-in lode cell which weighs grounds as they are dispensed into the portafilter. The grinder can also be integrated with Rancilio’s Connect IoT system.

• Threats to specialty coffee include “market cannibalisation” and “cyclical trends”. In an article for New Ground, Jordan Montgomery explores how convenience may be at odds with the concept of third wave coffee and why “taking several steps backwards” could actually help specialty coffee progress forward.

• Arabica prices drop to lowest level since July 2021 while robusta prices reach 28-year high. According to the ICO’s latest Coffee Market Report, the ICO Composite Indicator Price dropped by 2.4% from May to June 2023, averaging US 171.25 cents/lb. Robusta prices, meanwhile, increased by 7.8% – averaging US 132.13 cents/lb.

• Global specialty coffee industry expected to grow by 12.3% every year. The recent push for convenience – including RTD coffee and capsules – is helping to drive growth of the market.

• Fair Trade USA will maintain current Minimum and Premium coffee prices until end of 2023. The organisation is also launching the Innovation for Impact initiative, which aims to create a more scalable and higher-impact Fair Trade Certified programme for producers and industry stakeholders.

• Caravan to open biggest location so far in London. The roaster and restaurant group will open its eight and largest outlet in the new Grainhouse retail space in Covent Garden.

• Vietnam’s coffee exports turnover poised to reach record levels in 2023. According to the General Department of Customs of Vietnam, the country has shipped 15.58 million 60kg bags so far this year. If export turnover reaches around US $360 million a month from now until end of the year, there will be a new record of US $4.5 billion export turnover in 2023.

Fri, 7 Jul

• Royal Coffee offers promotion to celebrate Canada Day. The US green coffee importer is offering free shipping for online purchases of Crown Jewels and Gems until 15th July.

• WatchHouse appoints Julie Centracchio as new finance director. Centracchio has two decades of experience working in the hospitality industry. The appointment comes as WatchHouse opens its twelfth location (and first outside of London) in Bath, UK.

• Sancoffee partners with Clever Coffee to calculate carbon footprint of Brazilian coffee. Impact No. 1 from Fazenda Santa Clara is the first carbon-neutral coffee backed by emissions data – totalling -0.06kg CO2 per 1kg of roasted coffee. Around 3.31kg CO2 was sequestered by coffee plants on the farm.

• This year’s Birmingham Coffee Festival to take place on 8 & 9 July. Alongside an exhibition, the event will feature a series of panels and lectures, as well as the first edition of the Extracted Development competition.

• Coffee co-packing company NuZee Inc. opens on Nasdaq stock market. CEO Masa Higashida will ring the opening bell, also commemorating the company’s three-year anniversary.

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

• Mon, 26 Jun – Starbucks to issue “clearer rules” following walkouts over removal of Pride decorations. After allegations that store managers were forced to remove decorations for Pride month, executive staff issued an internal memo calling for “clearer centralized guidelines… for in-store visual displays and decorations that will continue to represent inclusivity and our brand”.

• Wed, 28 Jun – Quintaliza launches world’s first coffee-aged tequila. Quintaliza Reposado Tequila is finished in oak barrels, which previously held roasted coffee from Chiapas, Mexico.

• Thu, 29 Jun – Joe & The Juice reports 49% sales growth in 2022. The Danish coffee and juice chain reported US $247.6 million in total sales for the year – representing a 20% increase on its initial forecast.

• Thu, 29 Jun – Rage Coffee opens 30,000 square foot R&D, manufacturing, and blending facility. The Indian coffee brand says the new site will help to increase product development and distribution.

• Fri, 30 Jun – Starbucks Spain’s iced coffee sales increase 26% over the last three years. This figure accounts for more than a third of Starbucks Spain’s sales.

• Fri, 30 Jun – MiiR launches New Standard Coffee product line. The product range includes an insulated carafé, moka pot, French press, and a digital scale – which is the company’s first electronic product.

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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 about Boram Um’s 2023 WBC win.