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

• Mon, 8 Nov – Taiwan International Coffee Show 2021 to be held online. The event will include presentations and seminars, as well as an online exhibition. The Taiwan International Coffee Show will be hosted virtually from 19 to 22 November.

• Mon, 8 Nov – Cape Town roaster Clay Pigeon Trading travels across southern Africa. The roaster closed its physical premises because of pandemic-related struggles. The company is travelling through the Kingdom of Eswatini, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Namibia to meet local coffee farmers. Directors and co-founders Ernest Andrews and Nicette Dos Santos will document their travels on YouTube and Instagram.

• Mon, 8 Nov – CoE to host three global Sensory Education Training Virtual Calibration sessions. CoE Head Judge Scott Conary will lead a preliminary session on best cupping practices. Participants will receive roasted coffee samples, cupping instructions, cupping spoons, and scoresheets. The three sessions will take place between 26 November and 17 December.

• Mon, 8 Nov – New food sustainability programme to launch from COP26 agreement. The Food Systems, Land Use, and Restoration Impact Programme (FOLUR) will be a seven-year project, funded by the Global Environment Facility. FOLUR will aim to improve agricultural ecosystems and policies in 27 countries for eight major supply chains, including coffee. The project will seek to work with producer organisations, governments, researchers, businesses, and funders.

• Mon, 8 Nov – Nestlé Professional to hold 3-part coffee webinar series. The Drink or even eat the perfect cup of coffee! episode will explore coffee extraction, flavour and aroma, and experimenting with coffee in cooking and baking. The episode will be held on 16 November at 10:00 CET. Participants of all three webinars will receive a Certified Coffee Passionate digital badge and certificate from Nestlé Professional and World Chefs.

• Mon, 8 Nov – International Coffee and Tea (ICT) Industry Expo 2021 to be held in Singapore. The 8th annual event will be held in-person from 18 to 20 November, and will also include a virtual expo from 21 November to 20 December. Admission is free and proof of Covid-19 vaccination is mandatory for entry.

• Mon, 8 Nov – SCA publishes new Coffee Sensory and Cupping Handbook. The handbook is available in print and digital forms, and provides guidance and best practices for sensory analysis and cuppings.

• Mon, 8 Nov – UK Cup Tasting Champion 2022 winner announced. Michael Bell from Grumpy Mule placed first in the competition, which was held at Manchester Coffee Festival from 6 to 7 November.

• Mon, 8 Nov – Coffee prices rose throughout October. The monthly average ICO indicator price increased from US 170.02 cents/lb in September to US 181.57 cents/lb in October. On 26 October, the price reached a monthly high of US 186.46 cents/lb – the highest recorded since February 2012. New York arabica prices are also up 59% on October 2020 – reaching US 245.30 cents/lb.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Expo Café Peru 2021 to be held in Lima. Around 5,000 visitors are expected to attend from 11 to 14 November. The expo will include live latte art and barista demonstrations, as well as an extensive producer-focused talks programme.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Fairtrade International to partner with crowdfunding platform Go Ahead on COP26 climate-focused initiative. Both organisations will commit to supporting local agroforestry projects which will assist smallholder farmers, including for coffee.

• Tue, 9 Nov – UK company partners with domestic roasters to reduce coffee waste. The Odd Coffee Company collects surplus or rejected beans and ground coffee to sell at reduced prices. The company claims it has collected over a million coffee capsules, and is aiming to collect fifty times this amount by 2025.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Carimali releases new Heylo boiler-less espresso machine line. The Heylo range includes an espresso machine and separate milk steamer – designed operate both standalone and as part of a set. Both machines use induction heating and the milk steamer uses a hot air valve, rather than hot steam.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Six Starbucks Buffalo stores to vote in union elections. One day before ballots were scheduled to be delivered to Starbucks employees at three locations in the city, workers from three other stores also petitioned to vote. Starbucks employees will vote over the next four weeks on whether the chain’s first-ever union will be established.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Breville to host live espresso workshop with Onyx Coffee Lab. Coffee professionals from Onyx Coffee Lab will cover topics such as coffee freshness, dosing and grinding, and milk steaming, using Breville espresso machines. The online event will take place on 20 November at 17:00 CET.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Tchibo celebrates 1-year US anniversary with one million free coffee bags. Tchibo is offering the first 250,000 online customers four free bags of the Röst Frisch coffee line – which includes its Morning Blend, Columbia Origin, Classic Blend, and Röstmeister products. Recipients can choose between whole bean and ground.

• Tue, 9 Nov – Panera Brands files for IPO. Panera Brands – which includes Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee, and Einstein Bros. Bagels – has secured investment from restaurateur Danny Meyer’s company. Meyer stated he plans to invest in Panera Brands once it goes public.

• Wed, 10 Nov – Brazil International Coffee Week (SIC) begins in Belo Horizonte. SIC is one of the largest global coffee events, and aims to drive awareness and promote consumption of Brazilian coffee. The event will host an extensive talks programme, as well as workshops and cuppings.

• Wed, 10 Nov – Olam International to launch carbon emissions management platform. GreenPass will enable companies to track and reduce carbon emissions across their supply chains and operations. The digital platform allows users to measure their carbon footprint within an average of six weeks.

• Wed, 10 Nov – Alpro increases UK production capacity with £23 million (US $31 million) facility upgrade. The Kettering facility will now produce 300 million litres of plant milks, with further increases in capacity planned within the next 12 months.

• Wed, 10 Nov – Colombian coffee production falls 13% during October. The FNC says that the number of bags produced in October totalled 1 million, compared to 1.2 million bags in October 2020. So far, total production for 2021 is down 6% since January.

• Wed, 10 Nov – ACE and CoE form separate non-profits. CoE was formerly owned and operated by ACE, but will now operate as its own non-profit organisation. ACE will continue to be the primary marketplace for CoE auctions and the two organisations will share an advisory panel, but will both have separate boards of directors. Voting for ACE board members is currently in progress.

• Wed, 10 Nov – Hawaii County Council tightens regulations on Kona branding. Companies which sell Kona-branded blends must now include at least 51% Kona beans – as opposed to a previous level of 10%. Earlier this year, several companies paid a total of US $13 million in a class-action lawsuit over allegations of mislabelling the Kona brand.

• Thu, 11 Nov – Coffee cube company, InstaBrew, launches compostable packaging. The US company partnered with TIPA to create the home compostable packaging line. InstaBrew’s coffee cubes are sourced from Colombia.

• Thu, 11 Nov – De’Longhi reports 9-month revenue of €2.15 billion (US $2.5 billion). Strong financial results are attributed to the release of several fully-automatic machines and a new marketing campaign featuring US actor Brad Pitt. The European market accounted for the largest increase in 2021 revenue.

• Thu, 11 Nov – Coffee exporter Inloher becomes first carbon-neutral coffee company in Honduras. Inloher initiated its carbon footprint measurements in 2018 and reduced its carbon footprint through in-setting projects at its main facility. The exporter works with over 4,000 producers in Copán, Lempira, Santa Bárbara, and Intibucá.

• Thu, 11 Nov – Dutch Bros surpasses 500 locations in US. The drive-thru coffee chain opened 33 new stores during the third quarter of 2021. Revenue from company-operated locations increased by almost 63% on the same period in 2020. Dutch Bros says it aims to open at least 4,000 stores across the US.

• Thu, 11 Nov – Fairtrade International pens open letter to COP26 attendees on behalf of Fairtrade farmers. The letter – co-written by three Fairtrade Producer Representatives – represents 1.8 million Fairtrade farmers who are demanding more action against the climate crisis. The letter highlights how extreme weather has been detrimental to global crop supplies – including coffee. Ugandan Fairtrade coffee farmer Jenipher Sambazi spoke at a COP26 event on how unpredictable weather impacts Uganda and how agroforestry projects help to mitigate climate change.

• Fri, 12 Nov – Cecafé issues statement on logistics crisis in Brazil. The council claims the shipments of some 3.7 million bags of coffee have been delayed since January 2021. The statement also includes reports of transport worker strikes in the Port of Santos.

• Fri, 12 Nov – IWCA Mexico to host 4th annual Women in Coffee Forum. The forum will take place at the Latin America Coffee Summit in Veracruz, Mexico from 12 to 14 November. IWCA Executive Director Dr. Sarada Krishnan will present on the The World Perspective of Women in Coffee panel.

• Fri, 12 Nov – Storm to host exclusive coffee event at historic coffee roastery, Caffè Marziali. Both espresso and filter drinks, prepared on Storm machines, will be served in the Rome roastery. A refurbished Volkswagen coffee truck will also be set up for the event.

• Fri, 12 Nov – Costa Coffee UK launches TV campaign on Channel 4. The first instalments of the 30-second “Overheard at Costa” advertisements aired during reality TV show the Great British Bake Off. The campaign includes well-known UK TV personalities.

• Fri, 12 Nov – Kerry releases report on seasonal beverage flavours finds increasing demand for iced and functional coffees. Traditional flavours – such as pumpkin spice and salted caramel – remain popular among consumers, but demand for more health-conscious options – including ginger and turmeric – is also increasing. Purchases of seasonal iced beverages throughout autumn increased 9% from 2020, with demand for plant-based options also increasing.

• Fri, 12 Nov – illycaffè announces finalists for 6th Annual Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards. Twenty-seven coffee farmers from nine countries have been selected, before nine finalists representing each country will be chosen for the final round. The nine selected coffees will be evaluated by an independent panel. The awards ceremony will take place virtually at 9:00 CET on 2 December.

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

• Mon, 1 Nov – Uganda becomes Italy’s second biggest coffee supplier. The UCDA says Uganda’s coffee exports have reached the highest levels in thirty years. Approximately 33% of Ugandan coffee produced in September was exported to Italy.

• Wed, 3 Nov – UC Davis Coffee Centre publishes new white paper on acids in coffee. Acids in coffee: A review of sensory measurements and meta-analysis of chemical composition analyses how different acids affect cup profiles and how much of each acid is present in coffee beans. The paper was published in the Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition journal.

• Wed, 3 Nov – Convenience chain 7-Eleven releases Guatemalan 7-Reserve coffee. The Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee is the third single origin coffee to be sourced from Central America in the 7-Reserve range. The arabica coffee is sourced from Huehuetenango.

• Wed, 3 Nov – NEXE completes Factory Acceptance Test for high-speed capsule assembly machine. The new machine can produce up to 200 capsules per minute. NEXE anticipates it will receive a second machine in early 2022 – expanding annual production capacity to over 100 million capsules.

• Thu, 4 Nov – Coffee Bros to open world’s first NFT-funded coffee shop. Coffee Bros will launch sixty purchasable “Crypto Baristas”. Funds raised will be used to open a physical location in New York City.

• Thu, 4 Nov – WCR partners with 1% for the Planet. WCR is now a non-profit partner of the sustainable alliance, which includes over 5,000 businesses and individual partners. WCR can now receive donations from 1% for the Planet members.

• Thu, 4 Nov – Reuters reports major traders pursue legal action against Brazilian farmers. One law firm claims to be working on some 30 lawsuit cases (representing four trading companies in total) on producer defaults on contracts. Farmers in Ethiopia and Colombia are also said to be defaulting on contracts.

• Thu, 4 Nov – Saudi ministry to develop first “coffee city” in the country. The 15-year investment contract will oversee the planting of 300,000 arabica plants in the village of Mashuqa, Al-Baha. The development project will also include a coffee nursery and on-site accommodation.

• Fri, 5 Nov – ITC and farmer connect pilot digital coffee supply chains in Rwanda. farmer connect’s blockchain technology is being trialled in partnership with Nova Coffee, a women-owned coffee processing facility. The facility supports over 2,000 local coffee farmers. The results of the pilot programme will be announced at the ITC’s SheTrades Global event in February 2022.

• Sun, 7 Nov – Italian company develops solar-powered coffee roaster. PuroSole claims it has reduced its carbon footprint to 400kg of CO2 per tonne of roasted coffee. The company sells its own range of soluble coffee, whole bean, and capsules.

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Photo credits: @cafenakua