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

Mon, 17 Oct

• Brazil to host event on carbon neutral coffee production from 29 to 30 November. The event will include lectures and panel discussions on a range of topics like agribusiness, potential markets for carbon neutral coffee, and Cerrado biome conservation efforts.

• European Coffee Symposium takes place in London. This year’s speakers included Allegra Group CEO, Jeffrey Young, Origin Coffee Roaster’s Director of Coffee, Freda Yuan, and WatchHouse’s Head of Coffee, Ryan Garrick. The three-day event also included the 2022 European Coffee Awards – with winners such as La Marzocco in the Best Equipment Supplier category.

• Registration opens for 2022 Brazil International Coffee Week. The event will be held at Expominas in Belo Horizonte from 16 to 18 November 2022, and will feature lectures, workshops, courses, and the national Coffee of the Year competition.

• World of Coffee to return to Dubai in January 2023. The Specialty Coffee Association’s (SCA) flagship event will return to the Middle East for a second time, and is set to take place from 11 to 13 January 2023. WOC Dubai will also host the 2023 UAE National Coffee Championships.

• Tims China opens 500th location, announces 70% revenue growth in 2022 half-year financial results. The coffee chain opened its latest store in Dongguan near Hong Kong. CEO Yongchen Lu says the company is “going deeper into China to offer more guests a great coffee experience”.

• Co-operative monteCCer to host “solidarity cycle” to promote Brazilian Cerrado biome conservation efforts. More than 130 cyclists will participate on 23 October 2022 to raise funds for the Corrente do Bem – a conservation initiative run by 150 farms which plants thousands of indigenous seedlings every year.

Tue, 18 Oct

• Green Coffee Summit 2022 hosts live virtual lectures and seminars. This year’s summit focused on the North American and European coffee markets. Recordings of the event are available on the SCA’s YouTube channel.

• KeepCup launches its first fully-sealed reusable cup. The new reusable Helix cup-to-bottle system can also be used as a cocktail shaker.

• ofi named Sustainability Supply Chain of the Year at the 2022 Global Good Awards. The global ingredients supplier was recognised for its commitments to making its supply chains more sustainable – including for coffee.

• Now and Then Coffee launches virtual raffle to raise funds for Hurricane Ian relief. The Florida coffee shop’s raffle will run until 23 October 2022, with prizes including a Rancilio espresso machine, an Acacia Pearl scale, and a Eureka Atom 75 grinder. All funds raised will be donated to Hurricane Ian relief projects, which severely affected several countries in recent weeks, including some which produce coffee.

• Waitrose partners with Caffè Nero on new at-home coffee range. The new line includes capsules, ground coffee, and whole beans.

• New study suggests Fairtrade-certified producers are more economically resilient and experience greater social wellbeing. The organisation says researchers found that Fairtrade-certified producers were significantly less affected by the pandemic than non-certified farmers – largely thanks to receiving higher prices for their coffee.

• German Barista Championship competitor places fifth using Ecuadorian robusta. Anna Schättgen’s coffee was grown by the Chakra Warmi women producers association in Sumaco, Ecuador.

Wed, 19 Oct

• Convenience store chain 7-Eleven becomes first large-scale Fairtrade-certified coffee retailer in Australia. The company also launched its new line of plant-based single-use packaging to reduce waste.

• Nestlé to acquire Seattle’s Best Coffee from Starbucks, reports strongest nine-month sales growth in 14 years. Nestlé says the acquisition will further strengthen its Global Coffee Alliance with Starbucks. Seattle’s Best Coffee sells whole bean, roast & ground, and K-Cup coffee products. Nestlé also reports that 2022 coffee sales increased at a high single-digit rate, with positive sales developments for Nescafé, Starbucks, and Nespresso.

• HeyCafé launches new Buddy Grinder and Buddy Doser. The new line of on-demand grinders was recently showcased at the 2022 Melbourne International Coffee Expo. Both models include Mahlkönig steel burrs, a touchscreen interface, and a stepless grind size adjustment.

• Perfect Daily Grind provides more than US $6,700 to Las Pinequitas Tasting and Barista Academy. The funding will be used to support ten students at the academy, which is based in Santa Bárbara, Honduras.

• Rabbit Hole Roasters and Café Kreyol win Roast Magazine’s 2023 Roaster of the Year competition. Rabbit Hole Roasters is the winner of the Micro category, while Cafe Kreyol placed first in the Macro category.

• Washed Gesha from Nariño region wins 2022 Cup of Excellence Colombia competition. The coffee, produced by Carlos Alberto Belalcázar, scored 90.65 points. A total of six varieties were included in the competition, such as Pink Bourbon and Colombia. The auction will take place on 22 November 2022.

• First-ever Ugandan AeroPress Championship scheduled for 28 October 2022 in Kampala. The event will be hosted by Chariots Coffees and Barista Academy at Coffee City – a roaster, coffee shop, and research centre in the country’s capital.

• Starbucks opens first Reserve store in India. Tata Starbucks Private Limited opened its first Starbucks Reserve location in Mumbai, which stocks more exclusive micro-lot and single origin coffees.

Thu, 20 Oct

• First-ever Peruvian AeroPress Championship takes place in Lima. The competition was hosted by DARNA World Brands and was held at Casona Sol Aparcana in Barranco. The winner will represent Peru at the 2022 World AeroPress Championship in Vancouver BC, Canada this December.

• Tim Hortons aims to double its footprint in Mexico by 2025. The company says it will invest US $30 million in 50 new stores across Mexico’s Queretaro region over the next two to three years, claiming this will create 1,000 direct and 7,500 indirect jobs. The coffee chain also aims to double its Mexican coffee sourcing programmes by the end of 2023.

• US start-up Amalia Foods launches Bricco Blends powdered oat milk base for coffee shops. The “barista-grade” blend contains organic oat powder and pea protein, as well as several other ingredients. When combined with water, the mixture can be used as oat milk.

• Sixty competitors to take part in 2022 World AeroPress Championship in Vancouver BC, Canada. The final competition round will take place from 1 to 3 December 2022 at The Pipe Shop Venue in North Vancouver. Attendees ticket prices start at CA $50 (US $36.50).

• Cxffeeblack works with HBO Max on script for “anti-gentrification” TV pilot. The pitch for the comedy TV show is loosely based on owners Bartholomew Jones and Renata Henderson’s experience of opening a specialty coffee shop in a neighbourhood undergoing gentrification.

• Favourable weather conditions in Vietnamese Central Highlands could produce highest-ever crop for the region. Bloomberg reports that this year’s harvest in the Central Highlands could be 2% higher than in 2021 – totalling around 1.8 million tonnes.

• JNP Coffee to host Grand Cru Burundi virtual auction on 30 November 2022. The auction will include 26 micro-lots, with an average score of 90 points. Sample boxes are available now.

• Alliance for Coffee Excellence announces winners of the 2022 Best of Thailand pilot project. The highest-scoring coffee was a washed Gesha grown by Caleb Jor Dance, which received 92.82 points. The auction will take place on 17 November 2022.

• Internal Starbucks survey shows office-based employees’ faith in company’s ethics and social impact is at an all-time low. The routine survey found that only 52% of corporate employees “completely agree” that Starbucks “behaves in an ethical and responsible manner”, which represents the lowest figure ever polled. The results of the survey have been attributed to the company’s response to staff unionisation efforts, among other factors.

Fri, 21 Oct

• Axil Coffee Roasters and 2022 World Barista Champion Anthony Douglas to host World Barista Champion tour in Australia. Douglas and his team will visit five Australian cities to serve his competition coffee. The first event will be held in Adelaide on 3 November 2022.

• European Bartender School reports 200% increase in requests for barista courses over the past two years. The institution says the growing popularity of specialty coffee and latte art have helped to increase interest in barista classes and workshops.

• Singapore Coffee Association to host Specialty Coffee (Micro-Lot) Auction on 25 October 2022. The auction will be held in conjunction with the 2022 Food & Hotel Asia event, and will feature 55 lots sourced from countries across the Bean Belt. At last year’s auction, the highest bid was US $77/kg for a natural Gesha from Finca Santa Teresa in Panama.

• This year’s Australian AeroPress Championship takes place in Brisbane. The national final will be hosted by Wolff Coffee Roasters, with a Halloween-themed event.

• New York Coffee Festival 2022 attracted more than 8,100 attendees. Around 100 exhibitors were also present at the event, including Parlor Coffee, Blank Street Coffee, and De’Longhi. Davide Orazi of London’s WatchHouse was also announced as the winner of Coffee Masters NYC 2022.

• The Barista League to return to Barcelona on 22 October 2022. Twelve local baristas will compete in three rounds of barista-style challenges using the Rancilio Specialty RS1 espresso machine. The event will be held at Syra Coffee’s roastery.

• Marco Beverage Systems announces judges for the SP9 Brew Master Challenge. The judges for the event, which will take place in December 2022, are founder of SameCup, Demelza Jones, WA State Sales Manager at Five Senses Coffee, Nicole Novak, and Sample Roaster and QA & Sales Support at H.A.Bennetts, Harry Ko. Participant applications for the SP9 Brew Master Challenge are open until 31 October 2022.

• Digital Coffee Future to host The Future of Coffee Logistics Summit from 17 to 18 November 2022. The virtual event will discuss logistical issues in the coffee sector, and will include panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities. Tickets are available now.

• La Cimbali celebrates its 110th anniversary. This year also marks the tenth anniversary of the Coffee Machine Museum (MUMAC), which was founded by the Cimbali Group.

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

• Tue, 11 Oct – Convenience is one of the most prominent factors driving digital sales growth in US coffee shops. Project Café USA 2023 says that over the last 12 months, 47% of US consumers surveyed had pre-ordered a beverage for collection, while 29% had ordered a beverage for delivery.

• Wed, 12 Oct – Café Kitsuné plans to open location in the UAE in early 2023. Maison Kitsuné’s coffee shop concept will open a new store in Dubai next year. The brand operates locations in France, Japan, the UK, the US, and Qatar.

• Thu, 13 Oct – Löfbergs Group joins the European Coffee Federation. The Swedish coffee roaster is the first from the country to join the ECF. The ECF is currently comprised of 37 member companies and 16 national associations across Europe.

• Fri, 14 Oct – International Coffee Organisation’s Executive Director says inflation is likely to decrease out-of-home coffee consumption in coming months. Vanusia Nogueira says rising inflation and less disposable income is likely to encourage coffee consumers to make more coffee at home, with specialty coffee producers and roasters set to be most heavily impacted.

• Fri, 14 Oct – Coffee chain 5 to go operates more than 400 outlets in Romania. The company says it aims to open a total of 1,000 stores by 2028, and is also scaling up its international operations, in the UK, France, Belgium, and Hungary.

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