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

• Monday, 26 Jul – International Trade Centre Alliances for Action hosts UN-affiliated webinar. The webinar, entitled A living income for coffee and cocoa farmers: A collective responsibility was held as part of the pre-summit for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021. The panel included experts from Enveritas, PRODECOOP, and Brazil SCA, who spoke about ways of providing sustainable income for producers.

• Monday, 26 Jul – Dalla Corte celebrates 20th anniversary with launch of limited edition espresso machines. Each model from the new ZeroAnniversary line will include a unique identification number and will be signed by the assembling technician. The new machines are set to be released in September.

• Monday, 26 Jul – Huhtamaki produces Future Smart Duo fibre takeaway lids. The plant-based lids are both recyclable and industrial-grade compostable. The rounded hole also eliminates the need for straws.

• Monday, 26 Jul – Starbucks partners with Feeding America for food bank scheme. Funding will be used to provide equitable access to nutritious food among vulnerable communities with high food insecurity rates. Grants will be issued to 16 food banks to implement local programmes across the US.

• Monday, 26 Jul – European Specialty Tea Association defines “specialty tea”. Specialty tea can be classified by five categories, including the aroma of the dry leaf and the colour and clarity of brewed tea. ESTA hopes the definition will help to distinguish specialty-grade tea from commodity-grade.

• Monday, 26 Jul – Pret A Manger partners with creative agency VCCP to diversify digital channels. The food and coffee chain intends to scale its digital communications and omni-channel marketing after significant store closures and workforce reduction through the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Monday, 26 Jul – SeeSaw Coffee secures 100 million yuan (US $15 million) in funding round. The funding was led by Chinese brand HeyTea. The investments will be used to expand stores across China, and to improve supply chain structure and digital infrastructure.

• Monday, 26 Jul – Pomerantz LLP investigates claims on behalf of Oatly investors. The US-French law firm will investigate claims made against Oatly by Spruce Point Capital Management on 14 July. Spruce Point accused Oatly of overstating its revenue and providing misleading information about its sustainability practices.

• Monday, 26 Jul – Sucafina Kenya pilots biofertiliser project. Similar to the Rwacof programme in Rwanda, the Kenyacof/Kahawa Bora project will collaborate with local agencies in Kenya to produce sustainable fertilisers that are more beneficial for local soils. By 2023, Sucafina aims to develop carbon calculators for its operations in eight origin countries.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Vitasoy Australia to hire one-month Chief Coffee Taster. The plant-based milk company will pay one person AU $10,000 to visit the R&D lab for a month. The winner will have the opportunity to taste a range of alternative milks and test out Vitasoy’s newly formulated almond milk.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – SCA announces 2022 Melbourne and Warsaw World Coffee Championships. The 2022 World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup will be held at Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) from 27 to 30 September. The 2022 World Latte Art Championship, World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, World Cup Tasters Championship, and World Coffee Roasting Championship will be held at the SCA’s World Of Coffee trade show in Warsaw between 6 and 18 June.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Café Show Seoul 2021 announces South Korea Covid-19 regulations. From 1 July, fully-vaccinated visitors are exempt from quarantine rules, but must produce a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival. Café Show Seoul 2021 is set to take place from 10 to 13 November.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Survey shows consumers willing to pay more per pound for Fairtrade coffee. The Fairtrade Consumer Insights report found global consumers are willing to pay up to 35% more for Fairtrade, while awareness of the Fairtrade brand has almost doubled since 2019. US consumer trust in the brand has also increased to 57%, compared to 48% in 2019.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – La Marzocco opens Officine Fratelli Bambi in Florence academy. The custom espresso machine design studio is located in the company’s academy and innovation hub. Both catalogue and bespoke machines will be designed and manufactured at the new location.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – SPINN receives US $20 million in funding round. The SPINN brewer uses centrifugal force to brew hot and cold coffee beverages. The single-serve coffee brewer manufacturers will use funds to fulfil pre-orders for machines.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Report finds largest coffee companies not capable of paying living wages. The Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment analysed the buying practices of the ten largest global coffee brands. Results found that “none can guarantee living income or living wages within their supply chains” for farmers.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Nespresso releases Kahawa ya Congo coffee. The coffee is sourced from the Reviving Origins initiative, which aims to increase coffee production in areas with political, social, or climate-induced instability. The coffee is sourced from the Lake Kivu region and is available in capsule form.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – illycaffè partners with The National Gallery in London. illy will provide coffee for the Gallery’s pop-up catering services, including an outdoor café and an illy Espresso Bar. illy will also support the National Gallery’s Contemporary Art Programme.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Jordre Well and Coffee Holding sell CBD-infused coffee capsules. The Café Caribe CBD Infused Colombian Coffee and Harmony Bay CBD Infused Donut Shop Blend Coffee single-serve capsules contain 25mg of hemp-derived CBD extract per serving.

• Tuesday, 27 Jul – Melbourne International Coffee Expo postponed to September 2022. The decision comes after rising Covid-19 cases has led to a series of local lockdowns in Australia.

• Wednesday, 28 Jul – PIR Expo 2021 to start ticket sales on 1 August. The in-person event is due to take place from 5 to 8 October in Moscow, Russia. The event programme will abe announced on 1 August.

• Wednesday, 28 Jul – Nexe launches compostable coffee capsules in US and Canada. Around 90% of the Nespresso-compatible pods biodegrade within 30 days under in a controlled environment.

• Wednesday, 28 Jul – Keurig launches BrewID technology platform. BrewID can recognise the brand and roast profile of K-Cup pods to customise brew settings. The K-Supreme Plus SMART brewer is Keurig’s first machine to implement this new technology.

• Wednesday, 28 Jul – Drop Coffee mobile bar opens in Turin, Italy. New Zealand owner Damian Burgess opened the mobile coffee shop after working as the head of coffee for Caffè Vergnano. Drop Coffee sources its house espresso blend from Caffè Cognetti and includes guest roasters for single origin coffees.

• Thursday, 29 Jul – The Roastery becomes official coffee supplier to British and Irish Lions rugby team. The Northamptonshire roaster will supply its beans to the rugby team, which is currently touring in South Africa.

• Thursday, 29 Jul – Coffee Planet opens first café in Dubai. The new 1,500 sq ft location will open in the Circle Mall in Jumeirah Village. Coffee Planet sources specialty coffee from over 23 origin countries.

• Thursday, 29 Jul – ACE partners with Taiwan Coffee Laboratory and Taiwan Coffee Association for first Taiwan Private Collection auction. The nine winning lots all scored 86 points or higher, across three varieties (including Geisha) and three processing techniques. The winning lots will go to the Private Collection auction on 31 August.

• Thursday, 29 Jul – Nestlé sees half-year sales growth thanks to growing coffee demand. The company’s first half sales increased by 1.5% to CHF 41.8 billion (US $46 billion). Starbucks-branded coffee products contributed significant sales growth, increasing by 16.6% across 79 markets in the same period.

• Thursday, 29 Jul – Metad Plc distributes one million seedlings to Ethiopian coffee farmers. CEO Aman Adinew claims the seeds were developed to offer high yields, high quality, and disease resistance. The project will distribute a further 200,000 seedlings in the Yirgacheffe region next month.

• Friday, 30 Jul – Registration opens for 2021 Lamastus Family Estates auction. The auction will feature 26 lots from its three award-winning El Burro, Elida, and Luito farms in Panama. The online auction will take place on 18 August at 18:00 EST, with auction software provided by Sensible Development.

• Friday, 30 Jul – Pentair announced as global water sponsor for WCC at HostMilano 2021. The company, which manufactures water filtration systems, will provide water at SCA standards for pre-calibration training, the World Barista Championship, the World Brewers Cup, and the World Cup Tasters Championship in October.

• Friday, 30 Jul – Costa Coffee trials new Express hot and iced drink machines in UK. Customers can choose from over 500 different beverage combinations, including Iced Mochas and Iced Lattes. Over the next two months, Costa will roll out the new machines in 40 locations across Bristol.

• Friday, 30 Jul – Coffee futures drop by 4% while assessing damage from frost in Brazil. Arabica prices fell by 8 cents to US $1.8850/lb as the extent of loss due to frost damage still waits to be determined. Robusta prices also decreased by 2.8% to US $1,832/tonne.

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

• Tuesday, 29 Jun – Research finds topical caffeine treatment may prevent hair loss. Conditions such as alopecia could be treated using the application of caffeine-based liquids, such as coffee.

• Monday, 5 Jul – Cropster appoints new East Africa Account Manager role. Tonny Gitonga has worked in the coffee industry for 10 years, and won the Kenya Barista Championship in 2018. He will work with Cropster partners and clients in the east Africa region.

• Monday, 19 Jul – SCA Canada elects new leadership. Sam Le is National Coordinator, Michelle Ocfemia is Education Coordinator, Jordan Cayer is Community Coordinator, Alison Ensworth is Marketing Coordinator, and Alex Lee is Competitions Coordinator.

• Tuesday, 20 Jul – FCB Coffee opens new location in Paddington station. The west London outlet is FCB Coffee’s second location across the UK rail network.

• Thursday, 22 Jul – Chinese coffee machine manufacturer Kalerm joins the European Vending & Coffee Service Association. The fully automatic coffee machine designer and manufacturer sells models in 65 countries. Kalerm’s KLM1601 model recently won the German red dot design award.

• Friday, 23 Jul – Starbucks introduces disposable cup charge in Czech Republic stores. Customers will be charged CZK 10 ($0.46) for single-use takeaway cups. All proceeds will be donated to the Sázíme Budoucnost forest replanting initiative. The reusable cup scheme offers consumers CZK 10 discount for every beverage purchased.

• Friday, 23 Jul – Redemption Roasters to open training academy in women’s prison. The world’s first prison-based coffee company will open a one-year training programme at HMP Send in Surrey. The training centre will be designed to resemble a coffee shop, with staff, visitors, and inmates all able to purchase beans. Redemption Roasters will also open its first south London retail location in Dulwich.

• Sunday, 25 Jul – Barista who lost job during pandemic opens own coffee shop. John Rey O. Plaza lost his job of two years at a specialty coffee shop in Davao City, Philippines during lockdown. Plaza opened the first Kapeweñoz Specialty Coffee Davao location on 8 July, and also operates pop-up stores.

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