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

• Mon, 2 Aug – Lincoln & York releases exclusive El Boqueron Guatemala lot. The limited edition natural processed coffee is available on a first come, first served basis. The coffee scored 87.5 points and can be purchased in cases of 12 250g bags.

• Mon, 2 Aug – Caravela Coffee appoints Jacqueline Green as chair of board. Green first joined the company in 2020 as a non-executive member of the board. She will help with Caravela’s strategic development.

• Mon, 2 Aug – DefaultVeg partners with Guilders Café for menu pilot programme. The initiative will track how defaulting menu items to vegetarian options influences consumer choice. Differences in carbon emissions between meat-based and vegetarian menu items will also be calculated.

• Mon, 2 Aug – Barista League to host three in-person events in 2021. The barista competition will take place in Copenhagen on 11 September, Barcelona on 9 October, and Manchester on 6 November. Team applications will open on 9 August.

• Mon, 2 Aug – SCA Youth Academy to launch in Russia. The scholarship for the Coffee Skills programme has been successfully launched in Italy, Switzerland, and the UK. Recipients can learn all SCA courses up to foundation level, as well as barista skills up to professional level.

• Mon, 2 Aug – US sales of coffee makers and accessories saw double-digit growth in 2021. NPD Group found that sales of equipment such as espresso machines, French presses, cold brew makers, temperature-controlled mugs, and milk frother wands increased significantly in the first half of 2021. Sales of milk frother wands alone rose by 120%.

• Mon, 2 Aug – SCA South Korea announces six new chapter committee members. Hyunjun Kim and HyoWon Lee are Community Coordinators, DongJun Oh and Jung Hwa Lee are Education Coordinators, and Suhyun Lee and Sojung Agness Lim are Competition Coordinators.

• Mon, 2 Aug – BSCA releases statement on impact of Brazil frost. The director of the BSCA, Vanusia Nogueira, said it is still too early to assess the extent of damage caused by the frost over the last two weeks. Over 80% of 194 municipalities were affected by the extreme weather conditions, with some agricultural experts claiming certain regions may not fully recover until 2025. Rare reports of snow also came from southern parts of Brazil last week.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Steeped Coffee available on Amazon and in select Whole Food Stores. The single-serve specialty coffee bags can be purchased using Amazon Prime delivery services.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Libya to host its first ever coffee trade show. The Libya Coffee Expo, which is aimed at coffee professionals and small coffee business owners, will take place from 1 to 4 October 2021. The in-person event will also be livestreamed.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Blue Bottle trials default oat milk in two US stores. The cafés are located in LA and San Francisco, defaulting to Oatly at no extra charge.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Peet’s Coffee releases organic Fazendas Dutra lots in Small Batch series. The natural processed coffee is grown in São João do Manhuaçu, Minas Gerais, Brazil using organic farming methods. It will be available throughout August.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Kona Coffee Cultural Festival to celebrate 50th anniversary this year. The festival will be held from 4 to 7 November in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Events will include a coffee-picking farm experience hosted by UCC Hawaii and the Kona Coffee Cupping Competition.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Ethiopian-focused Unravel Merchants launches in US. The green coffee traders offer a core range of both washed and natural processed grade one and two Ethiopian coffees. Six micro lot coffees are also available, showcasing a variety of processing techniques, such as carbonic dry and anaerobic honey.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Finnish footwear company designs running shoes made from recycled plastic and used coffee grounds. Rens launched a Kickstarter campaign for its second line of sustainable footwear, and claims production and packaging will be carbon neutral.

• Tue, 3 Aug – Black Insomnia Coffee Co. launches Extreme Caffeine Coffee cold brew. The brand claims the RTD product contains four times the amount of caffeine as “regular” coffee. The cold brew is extracted using Black Insomnia Dark Roast coffee, and is available both unsweetened and sweetened.

• Wed, 4 Aug – Demetria partners with Nespresso on pilot programme in Colombia. Demetria’s AI-powered quality detection technology was used to assess over 240,000 seedlings during a three-month project. The qualified seedlings were then distributed to Colombian farmers working with Nespresso.

• Wed, 4 Aug – US Latte Art Competition to be held at 2021 Specialty Coffee Expo. The competition will run alongside the US Roaster Championship, Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, and Cup Tasters Championship at the expo in October. Registration is open for competitors and judges.

• Wed, 4 Aug – Identity releases plant-based CBD Superfood Creamer line. The coconut-based powdered creamer can be added to coffee, tea, and other beverages. Identity sources organically-grown hemp from Oregon for its CBD extracts.

• Wed, 4 Aug – CEPEA/ESALQ arabica price index closes at US $191.53 per bag. The drop in prices is attributed to frost easing in Brazil between 29 and 31 July after the initial severe weather on 20 July. Robusta prices remained stable at US $115.98 per bag, with minimal frost reported in the country’s robusta-producing regions.

• Wed, 4 Aug – Smile Beverage Werks secures US $3.2 million in seed funding round. Leaders of the funding round included Keurig Dr Pepper. Smile Beverage Werks claims funding will be used for R&D and purchasing capsule filling equipment for its compostable coffee pods.

• Wed, 4 Aug – Nottingham roaster 200 Degrees Coffee opens York location. The new café can seat 82 customers and will create 15 full-time and part-time job positions. The roaster now has 14 locations throughout the UK, including Manchester and Cannock.

• Thu, 5 Aug – Gevi 2-in-1 grinder and brewer launches on Indiegogo. The all-in-one grinder and pour-over brewer contains 60mm burrs with 51 different grind settings. The machine also includes a built-in digital scale and a three-jet 360° rotational spout head. Gevi are currently developing the final product, with shipping expected in October 2021.

• Thu, 5 Aug – LOCA reusable ceramic filter launches on market. The filter uses fine porous holes to allow the coffee to extract, eliminating the need for paper filters. LOCA claims the filter helps to increase sweetness and reduce bitterness.

• Thu, 5 Aug – ICO releases 2020-2030 sustainability roadmap. The Coffee Public-Private Task Force strategy roadmap includes a number of technical workstreams, including enhancing market transparency, and improving gender equity and youth inclusion in the coffee industry. By 2030, the organisation aims to improve the social, environmental, and economic sustainability of the supply chain.

• Fri, 6 Aug – FNC reports Colombian coffee exports increased by 9% in July 2021. After recovering from road blockades, production reached 1.2 million bags last month. Between January and July 2021, exports have amounted to seven million bags – a 2% increase compared to the same period last year.

• Fri, 6 Aug – Westrock Coffee Company and S&D Coffee & Tea open Financial Shared Services Centre in North Carolina. Westrock acquired S&D in January 2020 for US $405 million. The shared finance centre will support domestic business operations and provide hiring services for accounting professionals.

• Fri, 6 Aug – Tim Hortons’ 2021 revenue increases to US $831 million. Financial performance reports from April to June 2021 show that revenue increased by 46.7% compared to the same period in 2020. Tim Hortons now operates over 5,000 global stores, and recently opened a new Middle East headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• Fri, 6 Aug – Oatly loses trademark infringement case against Glebe Farm Foods. Oatly claimed Glebe Farm Foods have infringed five trademarks, including the name and colour of packaging. The judge claimed the similarities were “at a very general level” and concluded there was no detrimental risk to Oatly’s branding.

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

• Mon, 26 Jul – Nestlé and Starbucks partner on new RTD coffee line. The two companies will focus on the Starbucks Frappuccino and Starbucks Doubleshot beverage lines. New products will be available in southeast Asia, Oceania, and Latin America markets in 2022.

• Tue, 27 Jul – Eversys announce Dale Harris as brand ambassador. Harris won the 2017 World Barista Championship and is the Global New Product & Business Development Manager at Ozone Coffee Roasters.

• Tue, 27 Jul – Pentair releases 2021 second quarter financial results. Sales increased by 32% on the same period last year, reaching US $941 million.

• Tue, 27 Jul – Starbucks announces 78% revenue increase in 2021 third quarter results. Global revenue reached US $7.5 billion in 2021, while the revenue of Starbucks’ Americas market alone increased by 92% to US $5.4 billion. Global store sales increased by 73% compared to the same period in 2020.

• Thu, 29 Jul – Pret A Manger partners with JDE Peet’s for new capsule range. The aluminium capsules will be available in Tesco and Ocado stores in the UK. Pret A Manger is also planning to launch “Pret Express” self-service machines.

• Thu, 29 Jul – COFE+ robot coffee kiosk receives additional investment. The Shanghai company received tens of millions of RMB (at least US $15.5 million) from angel investors in the funding round. Investments will be used to improve product lines and initial market launch.

• Fri, 30 Jul – Owner of Ditta Artigianale to begin “Italian Coffee Tour” on 4 August. Francesco Sanapo will leave Florence and cycle to Apulia in the Specchia village. The tour has been organised to raise awareness of the impact of climate change on coffee production.

• Fri, 30 Jul – DeLonghi Group announces 2021 first half-quarter net profit of €180.8 million (US $214.7 million). Net profits increased by 319.5% compared to the same period in 2020. DeLonghi stated the rising demand for super-automatic coffee machines and home coffee appliances significantly contributed to sales growth.

• Fri, 30 Jul – MTPak Coffee publishes article on repercussions of EU single-use plastic ban on specialty roasters. The European Commission’s Single-Use Plastics Directive will effectively ban items such as single-use straws, beverage stirrers, and takeaway cups. The directive also requires EU member states to ensure retailers and manufacturers comply with measures to reduce plastic pollution.

• Fri, 30 Jul – Instant coffee market to reach US $9.26 billion by 2025. The CAGR between 2021 and 2025 is anticipated to be around 5%.

Sign up to our weekly coffee news recap to get a summary of all the biggest stories in the sector, delivered straight to your inbox every Monday.