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

• Mon, 3 Jan – Robusta futures set new record on Intercontinental Exchange stock market. Robusta contracts for March deliveries closed at US $2,480/tonne in early January. Vietnam’s General Statistics Office announced the country’s December exports dropped 6.5% on December 2020, mainly attributed to shipping container shortages and rising freight costs.

• Mon, 3 Jan – illycaffè partners with Rhône Capital to expand international presence. The global private equity firm acquired a minority stake in the Italian roaster. Rhône will specifically focus on increasing illy’s presence in the US.

• Mon, 3 Jan – Arabica futures fall to six-week low on ICE stock market. Arabica contracts for March deliveries dropped by 1.8% to US 227.05 cents/lb in early January. Price decreases are attributed to uncertainty over the impact of the Omicron Covid-19 variant on coffee supply chains.

• Mon, 3 Jan – Cimbali to provide automatic espresso machines to Pret A Manger UK. Cimbali’s S60 fully-automatic coffee machine will be used to expand Pret’s Coffee Subscription service roll-out. The machines will be installed at the coffee and food-to-go chain’s busiest stores throughout the UK.

• Mon, 3 Jan – Indonesian food & beverage chain Kopi Kenangan raises US $96 million in Series C funding. The company is now valued at over US $1 billion. Kopi Kenangan is looking to expand its presence both at home and abroad.

• Tue, 4 Jan – Brazil’s domestic coffee prices rose to record level in 2021. Both arabica and robusta prices increased sharply due to droughts, frost, and shipping container shortages. Conab’s (Brazil’s National Company for Food Supply) December report indicated 2021/22 coffee production was down 24.4% on the 2020/21 harvest.

• Tue, 4 Jan – SIGEP postponed to March 2022. The event, which was due to be held in January, has been rescheduled for 12-16 March because of international Covid-19 restrictions. It will include a physical exhibition in Rimini, Italy, as well as a virtual expo.

• Tue, 4 Jan – Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture launches website for “Year of Saudi Coffee” campaign. Several events and initiatives for the campaign will take place throughout 2022 to encourage the export of Saudi coffee to international markets.

• Tue, 4 Jan – Food & beverage company Gustav Paulig rebrands to “Paulig Finland”. Parent company Paulig Group operates several brands, including ones for coffee.

• Tue, 4 Jan – Dutch Bros appoints first-ever Chief Technology Officer. Leigh Gower has over 20 years’ experience utilising technology in customer service. She previously served as Vice President of Technology for online jewellery retailer Blue Nile.

• Tue, 4 Jan – International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) opens South Korean chapter. South Korea is the fifth consuming country to join the organisation and represents IWCA’s 29th chapter in its global network. Sarah Kim was appointed as President of IWCA South Korea.

• Wed, 5 Jan – Coffee capsule company Rosso Caffè to launch Reserve Edition product line. The capsules are available according to “strength” intensity across eight varieties. The Reserve Edition can be purchased through a subscription service.

• Wed, 5 Jan – Peet’s Coffee launches new year menu items. New winter beverages include the Churro Latte, the Churro Caramel Macchiato, and the plant-based Cold Brew with Sweet Cinnamon Oat Foam. The seasonal menu items are available until 8 March 2022.

• Wed, 5 Jan – La Marzocco partners with Enduro World Series competitors. The Italian espresso machine manufacturer partnered with former baristas and mountain bike competitors Anita and Caro Gehrig on a series of short videos titled Exploring Coffee Trails – From Bean To Cup.

• Wed, 5 Jan – Retailer E-Mart acquires majority stake in Starbucks Coffee Korea. E-Mart now owns over 67% of Starbucks’ South Korean business, with the remaining stake controlled by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. Starbucks operates over 1,600 stores in South Korea.

• Thu, 6 Jan – Dalla Corte joins Italian Espresso Institute (IEI) project. The IEI serves to protect the heritage of coffee consumption in Italy. Dalla Corte has joined the official IEI network of operators, manufacturing both espresso machines and grinders in Milan for over 20 years.

• Thu, 6 Jan – Keurig Canada pays CA $3 million (US $2.4 million) in K-Cup recycling lawsuit. A financial agreement was reached to resolve concerns over false and misleading claims made to consumers about recycling single-use coffee capsules. The case found that outside of the British Columbia and Quebec provinces, K-Cup pods are not widely accepted for recycling in Canada. Keurig Canada will now publish corrective notices on the recyclability of its K-Cups.

• Thu, 6 Jan – The Barista League releases 2021 Environmental Impact Statement. The report includes environmental impact statistics (such as water and electricity use) from five 2021 events, including Barista Leagues Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Manchester.

• Fri, 7 Jan – Food & beverage brand operator SSP America appoints new Chief Operating Officer. SSP America operates several prominent coffee brands in the US and Canada, such as Peet’s and Dunkin’. Amanda Busby will oversee the company’s 250 locations across North American airports.

• Fri, 7 Jan – Go Fund Bean to expand 2022 Bean For Bean mentorship programme. The 2021 trial run of the project matched 15 coffee workers with voluntary industry professional mentors. Applications for 2022 are open until 23 January.

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

• Mon, 27 Dec – Daily coffee consumption linked to reduced risk of kidney stones. The study from the American Journal of Kidney Diseases found increasing daily consumption to 1.5 cups could decrease the risk by up to 40%. The research included over 500,000 participants from two of the world’s largest medical databases.

• Wed, 29 Dec – Oatly makes changes to Board of Directors. Effective from 31 December, 2021, Björn Öste will step down from his role at the company. Oatly’s board will consist of 12 members.

• Thu, 30 Dec – Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) elects new president. Henrique Dias Cambraia was elected by the BSCA’s Board of Directors. Carmem Lucia Chaves de Brito will serve as Vice President.

• Thu, 30 Dec – National Coffee Association (NCA) announces speakers for 2022 Virtual Convention. An extensive range of speakers will include President of J. Ganes Consulting Judith Ganes and International Women’s Coffee Alliance Executive Director Sarada Krishnan. The NCA’s 2022 Virtual Convention will be held from 8 to 10 March.

• Thu, 30 Dec – UK brand Genius Coffee Co. releases new functional instant coffees. The company claims its “Nootropic formula” helps improve memory, focus, and sleep schedules. The new products include the Focus, Unwind, and Protein options.

• Fri, 31 Dec – New study finds consumers may be genetically predisposed to preferring black coffee. Research from Northwestern Medicine concluded those with gene variants related to faster metabolisms of caffeine were more likely to drink black coffee. The researchers claim consumers associate more bitter flavours with higher caffeine contents, therefore are less likely to opt for milk in their coffee.

• Fri, 31 Dec – US Cambio Roasters launches fully recyclable coffee capsules. The Keurig compatible capsules are available in eight varieties. Cambio Roasters also donates 20% of its profits to food security organisation Food 4 Farmers.

• Fri, 31 Dec – South Korean Ministry of Environment creates agreement to recycle coffee grounds. The agreement includes Incheon Metropolitan City, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea Productivity Centre, Korea Green Foundation, and Hyundai Steel. Coffee waste will be used as a substitute for sawdust and converted into deodorant products using microbiome fermentation through several pilot projects.

• Fri, 31 Dec – Starbucks UK will drop surcharge for plant-based milks. The chain’s £0.40 ($0.54) extra charge for non-dairy milks will be removed from 5 January, 2022. Starbucks US will continue its $0.70 upcharge for plant-based milks.

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Photo credits: Nicole Motteux