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

Mon, 4 Apr

• Rastislav Kasár wins 2022 Coffee Masters. The competition took place at the London Coffee Festival. The 2018 Slovakian Coffee in Good Spirits champion also placed second in the 2021 Coffee Masters.

• Brighton Coffee Festival to return in 2022. The event will include live talks and a trade exhibition. Brighton Coffee Festival will take place on 14 August.

• SCA Netherlands announces winners of 2022 Dutch National Coffee Championships. The competitions were held at the 2022 Amsterdam Coffee Festival. Lex Wenneker won the Brewers Cup, Charly Bushoff placed first in the Cup Tasters Championship, Jesse Fook won the Latte Art Championships, and Jasper De Waal placed first in the Barista Championships.

• Yonder Coffee features Ukrainian roaster on its subscription service. April’s roaster of the month is Lviv’s Svit Kavy, which has been affected by the conflict in Ukraine. Yonder is hoping to purchase a week’s volume of wholesale coffee so that Svit Kavy can continue operations. Yonder is also accepting one-off purchases of the Ukrainian roaster’s coffee, as well as donations to the Coffee for Displaced People project. The project enables Svit Kavy to donate coffee and food to Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front line.

• Westrock Coffee to launch IPO. The roaster and distributor is valued at around US $1.09 billion. The company plans to combine with Riverview Acquisition Corp, which raised US $250 million through an IPO in August 2021.

• Starbucks’ flagship New York store votes to unionise. Employees at the New York City Reserve Roastery voted 46-36 in favour of forming a union. The store is the ninth company-owned Starbucks location to unionise.

• Scotland to reintroduce single-use cup charge. Scottish Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater announced the formation of an advisory group which will establish mandatory single-use cup charges – including for coffee cups. The group will include supply chain representatives, as well as academics and environmental organisations.

Tue, 5 Apr

• Fairtrade International announces new Living Income Reference Price for Indonesian coffee producers. The Living Income Reference Price is offered as guidance for companies wanting to pay living wage incomes in their supply chains. Fairtrade launched its first Living Income Reference Price in 2021 for Colombian farmers. Developed with local coffee professionals, the Living Income Reference Price for Indonesian farmers shows the need for a 26% increase on current market prices.

• Network assessment service Epitiro develops wifi monitoring widget for coffee shops. The widget can be installed on a coffee shop’s website to inform customers of live wifi speed and reliability. Epitiro’s remote internet monitoring system uses virtual agents to continually measure service availability.

• World Coffee Research publishes 2021 annual report. In 2021, WCR partnered with 241 companies and individuals to establish sustainable coffee programmes in 9 origin countries. The organisation also implemented the Coffee-Breeding Programme Assessment Tool in Ethiopia and Uganda, as well as initiating its genotyping programme in 8 coffee-producing countries.

• New study finds coffee yield can increase on farms with higher levels of bird activity and bee pollination. Research from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims farms with less bee pollination and with fewer birds for pest control can experience a 25% drop in coffee yields.

• Philippine Coffee Quality Competition announces 2022 winners. The annual competition honours arabica and fine robusta producers in the Philippines. The top-scoring arabica coffee was a natural Catimor from Marfil Dela Cerna, which received 84.79 points. The fine robusta winner, from Mabini Ubuan, scored 84.41 points. The 2022 auction will take place on 23 April.

• Momus Paris to host coffee tasting event in April. The event will be hosted by coffee consultant Daniela Capuano, and will take place at the Hôtel des Académies et des Arts in Paris from 13 to 14 April.

• Beverage group Suntory purchases 100% renewable electricity for Japanese operations. The company (which owns Suntory Coffee) will use renewable electricity at all 30 manufacturing and R&D facilities in Japan. Across North America and Europe, 30 of Suntory’s total 35 sites are already using 100% renewable electricity.

Wed, 6 Apr

• Re:co Symposium held in Boston. The two-day event included speaker sessions and lectures, networking opportunities, and coffee sensory experiences.

• Coffee prices drop for first time in 17 consecutive months. The ICO Composite Price Indicator for March averaged US 194.78 cents/lb – a 7.6% decrease on the average price in February 2022. Global green coffee exports totalled 9.88 million bags in February 2022, compared to 10.24 million bags in February 2021.

• DMCC partners with Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services. The agreement will provide first aid training for DMCC employees and promote Dubai’s emergency responses services. The DMCC also held a coffee tasting at the DCAS headquarters.

• La Marzocco releases single-group Leva X manual lever espresso machine. The prosumer machine includes a digital interface which displays real time extraction data, such as pressure and pre-infusion information. The machine can store up to four extraction profiles.

• Ecommerce platform COFE launches exclusive Saudi Khawlani coffee line. The coffees are sourced from the southern Jizan region. Starbucks co-founder Zev Siegl partnered with the platform to help source and roast the coffees.

• International Coffee Organisation drafts new International Coffee Agreement. The ICA has been revised to improve international co-operation across the supply chain, with a focus on sustainability and the livelihoods of producers. The new structure of the agreement will oversee the transition of the Coffee Public-Private Task Force into a permanent programme, which aims to address challenges such as climate change and Covid-19.

Thu, 7 Apr

• Brazil’s domestic coffee prices fall by over 13%. According to the CEPEA Index, arabica prices closed at BRL 1,243.64/bag (US 261.21 cents/bag) on 31 March. Reasons for the price decrease include the US dollar’s depreciation against the Brazilian Real and fewer futures contracts. However, Brazil’s robusta prices remain stable.

• Insulated glassware STACK launches Kickstarter campaign. The double-walled glasses were developed by coffee brewer manufacturer Carl Henkel. The stackable glasses can be used for hot and cold coffees.

• Cecafé’s Carbon Project helps Minas Gerais coffee farms become carbon negative. The Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council partnered with the Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management & Certification and the University of São Paulo to measure the carbon sequestration on 40 farms in the 3 main regions of Minas Gerais. Annually, the farms sequestered an average of 10.5 tons of carbon emissions per hectare.

• Partnership to Advance Coffee Equity welcomes three new members. The programme was created in June 2021 by Neumann Kaffee Gruppe and the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity. Through the one-year programme, 3 coffee professionals will join NKG subsidiaries in the US, as well as each individual partnering with their own mentor.

• Mobile ordering app Orda partners with DoorDash. The app allows customers to order and pay at coffee shops, as well as receiving rewards from their purchases. Coffee shops can integrate DoorDash deliveries into their businesses through the Orda platform.

• Colombia’s coffee production drops 13% in March. The country produced 914,000 bags of green coffee in March, compared to the 1.1 million from March 2021. The fall in production is attributed to heavy rainfall and March being a historically low harvest month. So far in 2022, production exceeds 2.7 million bags – down 16% on the same period in 2021.

• Social enterprise Kua Coffee wins Young Global Changers Award. Founder Brianna Kerr placed second at the sustainable awards programme. Kua Coffee supports climate-adaptive farming and processing techniques, as well as developing coffee waste recycling schemes.

• Royal Coffee’s Director of Education publishes new green coffee guide. Chris Kornman’s first published book Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters and Buyers covers a number of topics, including processing methods and quality control. Royal will host a book launch at its Crown coffee lab on 7 May.

Fri, 8 Apr

• Specialty Coffee Expo and 2022 US Coffee Championships take place in Boston. The event will be held until 10 April, and will include national competitions such as the Barista Championships, Brewers Cup, and Latte Art Championships.

• Papua New Guinea joins the International Women’s Coffee Alliance. Papua New Guinea is the organisation’s 31st national chapter. The new chapter represents 400,000 smallholder female coffee farmers in the country.

• Fiorenzato launches US branch. The Italian espresso grinder manufacturer partnered with coffee equipment supplier Espresso Parts to launch Fiorenzato USA. Espresso Parts will sell and distribute Fiorenzato’s grinders. The initial US product line includes the Allground prosumer grinder and the XGi commercial grinder.

• Pact Coffee releases recyclable coffee pods. The Fruit & Nut capsules include coffee sourced from Epiphanie Mukashyaka, who is the first female farmer in Rwanda to grow specialty coffee. The Bourbon Cream pods include coffee from Brazilian farmer Gilberto Basilio, who is also managing reforestation projects in Brazil.

• Breville launches new Barista Express Impress espresso machine. Breville released the machine at the Specialty Expo. The new model includes the automated Intelligent Dosing and Impress Puck systems, and will be available in late 2022.

• Minor Figures becomes certified B Corp. The oat milk company is also verified as carbon neutral through a number of offsetting projects producing shade-grown coffee in Nicaragua and Colombia.

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

• Wed, 30 Mar – SCA Ireland announces new committee members. The 2022-2024 Chapter Committee includes Lucas Sampaio as National Coordinator, Dominik Roman as Events Coordinator, and Stephen Houston as Community Coordinator.

• Wed, 30 Mar – World Coffee Events publishes rules and regulations for 2022 World Barista Championships and Brewers Cup. Minor changes to improve clarity and consistency have been made to both competition rulesets. The 2022 World Barista Championships and 2022 Brewers Cup will be held at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo from 27 to 30 October.

• Wed, 30 Mar – Ireland to implement single-use cup tax. The €0.20 fee (US $0.22) will come into effect in late 2022. The tax is part of the Irish government’s long-term plan to eradicate all single-use cups in the country – including coffee cups.

• Thu, 31 Mar – The New Yorker and La Colombe Coffee launch third collaborative blend. The publication partnered with the roaster in August 2021. The medium roast New Yorker blend is available on the magazine’s online store, as well as on La Colombe’s website and in cafés.

• Thu, 31 Mar – Nominations open for 2022 SCA Sweden and Italy chapters. Nominations for both chapters are open from 30 March to 6 April. Voting will take place between 20 and 27 April and the results of both elections will be announced on 4 May.

• Thu, 31 Mar – Coffee shortages reported in Russia due to sanctions. After the ruble fell 25% against the US dollar, some green coffee traders in Russia have been unable to buy coffee.

• Thu, 31 Mar – ICO hosts 132nd International Coffee Council session. Topics discussed on the agenda included the new International Coffee Agreement and the fifth World Coffee Conference, which will be held in India. The next International Coffee Council will take place in Bogotá, Colombia from 3 to 7 October 2022.

• Fri, 1 Apr – Global coffee capsule market expected to grow US $8.53 billion by 2025. Europe is predicted to have 45% of global market share, according to Technavio.

• Sun, 3 Apr – SCA Austria announces winner of 2022 Austrian Roasting Championships. Felix Teiretzbacher of Felix Kaffee placed first. Teiretzbacher will compete in the 2022 World Roasting Championships at World of Coffee in Milan from 23 to 25 June.

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Photo credits: Ana Valencia