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

• Mon, 17 Jan – Danone North America to roll out oat milk creamers at US convenience chains. Danone-owned Silk will distribute its portioned oat milk creamers to 7-Eleven, Circle K, and other convenience stores, as demand for oat-based milks rises in the US.

• Mon, 17 Jan – Green coffee ecommerce platform Farmly launches in Brazil. Producers submit coffee samples to a Farmly partner Q Grader, before offers are made available to roasters via the platform. Coffees purchased by roasters are delivered through logistics partners, as well as directly through Farmly.

• Mon, 17 Jan – Steadfast brewer receives 1,000% of target funding to launch in Japan. The stainless steel, flat bottom brewer is designed and manufactured by South Korean company Nothin Coffee. The brewer walls are angled at 31 degrees, which the company claims allows for more even extraction.

• Mon, 17 Jan – World Coffee Research and drinkware brand MiiR collaborate on sustainability campaign. Through partnerships with UK and US artists, the new drinkware range will raise funds for WCR. For every item sold, WCR will receive US $8. The “MiiR x WCR” collaboration will be offered by specialty coffee retailers across Europe and the US.

• Mon, 17 Jan – Good Food Awards 2022 winners announced. The annual award scheme celebrates high-quality and sustainable US food and beverage brands, including those that work in coffee. Winners included Big Island Coffee Roasters for its edible Espresso Bites, as well as Higher Grounds Trading Co. for its Karla Portillo Honduran coffee. The awards ceremony will be held from 4 to 6 March.

• Mon, 17 Jan – Applications open for 2022 Best New Product and Coffee Design Awards at Specialty Expo Boston. All shortlisted entries will be showcased at both the Best New Product and Coffee Design Award displays at the expo from 8 to 10 April. Both entry deadlines are 14 March.

• Tue, 18 Jan – Starbucks opens first drive-thru location in Italy. The Lombardy location was opened through a partnership between Percassi, Starbucks’ sole licensee partner in Italy, and the Q8 service station company. Starbucks first launched in Italy in 2018 and aims to open over 20 new stores by 2023.

• Tue, 18 Jan – UK’s largest private label coffee manufacturer rebrands as “Cafea UK”. Cafea UK manufactures a range of coffee products, including instant, roast and ground, and capsules.

• Tue, 18 Jan – Partnership between Organic Centre and Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research to advance organic farming practices. Funds amounting to US $600,000 will support several projects over the next three years, including the Organic Training for Agricultural Professionals prize. Projects showcasing the greatest success in implementing organic farming practices (including coffee producers) will receive up to US $300,000 annually for a maximum of three years.

• Tue, 18 Jan – Brazil’s 2021 export losses of up to 3 million bags due to logistics issues. This volume is equivalent to a loss of around US $500 million. The Brazilian Coffee Exporters Association (Cecafé) claims shipping delays and shortages are not likely to be resolved in the short term. Reports also indicate Brazil is expected to have the lowest coffee stockpiles on record by March 2022.

• Tue, 18 Jan – Starbucks China partners with food delivery app Meituan. Customers in mainland China will be able to place delivery orders on the Meituan platform. Starbucks China will create a tab for each store on the app, allowing users to access photos and videos of baristas in each of the 5,000 locations.

• Tue, 18 Jan – Peet’s Coffee fully transitions to water processing for decaf coffees. The water processing method uses no chemicals to remove caffeine. Peet’s claims demand for its decaf coffees has grown by 11% over the past 12 months.

• Wed, 19 Jan – Colombian coffee retailer Juan Valdez opens first Argentinian location. The Martínez, Buenos Aires coffee shop will stock coffees sourced from the Sierra Nevada and Huila regions of Colombia. Juan Valdez operates over 330 national locations, as well as a further 130 locations in 14 international markets – including in the US and Malaysia.

• Wed, 19 Jan – Australian university develops platform to connect agricultural producers and researchers. In partnership with Murdoch University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the On-Farm Experimentation platform allows producers (including coffee farmers) and researchers to collaborate on field experiments and agricultural innovation.

• Wed, 19 Jan – EG Group to no longer acquire coffee chain Caffè Nero. The petrol station forecourt operator’s takeover bid ended after Caffè Nero completed a £330 million (US $453 million) debt financing. Caffè Nero initially rejected the bid from EG Group in November 2020.

• Wed, 19 Jan – Brazil’s National Supply Company (Conab) estimates 2022/23 coffee production to increase over 16%. Despite frost and heavy rainfall in 2021, Conab predicts Brazil’s production will reach 55.7 million bags during the 2022/23 harvest. This prediction, however, is still below the record 63 million bags produced in 2020.

• Wed, 19 Jan – World of Coffee Warsaw to host 2022 Cezve/Ibrik Championship. The CIC joins the World Latte Art, World Coffee in Good Spirits, World Cup Tasters, and World Coffee Roasting Championships to be held from 23 to 25 June.

• Wed, 19 Jan – Pret A Manger US pays over US $677,000 in biometric privacy class-action lawsuit. The US division of the coffee and food-to-go chain was accused of obtaining employee fingerprints without proper consent. The settlement funds will be evenly distributed between over 790 current and former Pret A Manger employees.

• Thu, 20 Jan – Flash Coffee launches in-app delivery feature in Singapore. The in-app delivery is available at 23 locations in the country.

• Thu, 20 Jan – The Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity launches Dona Ivone Scholarship. CCRE will award two US and Brazilian black coffee professionals a total of US $8,000, as well as educational opportunities with Diedrich roasters and Sindicafe Brazil. Applications are open until 31 January, and both recipients will be announced on 15 February.

• Thu, 20 Jan – Malaysia Coffee Week 2022 to take place from 3 to 6 March. After the Digital Malaysia Coffee Week was held late 2021, the in-person event will take place in Selangor. The exhibition will include the Specialty Coffee Village with live roasting demonstrations, and the Malaysia Barista Team Challenge.

• Thu, 20 Jan – London Coffee Festival to launch UK Coffee Awards 2022. The awards will include nine brand awards and six product awards, including Most Notable New Café, Best All-Round Fully Automatic Coffee Machine, and Best All-Round Grinder. The first round of nominations is open until 6 February.

• Thu, 20 Jan – Roaster Pegasus Coffee acquires plant-based Dude’s Donuts. The US roaster first began selling Dude’s Donuts in February 2021. The acquisition will allow Pegasus Coffee to broaden its product range to wholesale customers.

• Fri, 21 Jan – IWCA! Connects webinar series to return in March 2022. The first Embedding Gender Transformative Strategies in the Coffee Sector session will include Wolfgang Weinmann from the International Coffee Organisation. The webinar will take place on 23 March.

• Fri, 21 Jan – Project Café UK 2022 reveals UK branded coffee shop market grew 43% over past 12 months. UK coffee chains collectively achieved a £1.3 billion (US $1.7 billion) sales rebound in 2021 – recovering to some 87% of pre-pandemic value. The report also found 70% of UK consumers downloaded a coffee chain loyalty app in the same period.

• Fri, 21 Jan – Coca-Cola expands RTD coffee line. The Coca-Cola with Coffee Mocha beverage will be available in the US in February. The new flavour joins the Dark Blend, Vanilla, Caramel, and Vanilla Zero Sugar RTD coffee options.

• Fri, 21 Jan – New research published on effects of coffee consumption on digestion and gut health. The review of over 190 scientific papers found coffee acts as a stimulant to numerous digestive processes and can provide potential protective effects against common digestive problems, such as gallstones.

• Fri, 21 Jan – Euromonitor publishes Top 10 Global Consumer Trends 2022 report. The annual report defines global trends influencing consumer behaviour – including in the coffee industry. Some of the trends include the increasing awareness of climate change and reducing carbon emissions, and an increasing focus on health and wellbeing.

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

• Tue, 11 Jan – Starbucks US to double spending with BIPOC suppliers. By 2030, the chain aims to increase spending with BIPOC supply chain partners up to US $1.5 billion. Starbucks also launched a free toolkit in partnership with Arizona State University for minority-owned businesses.

• Wed, 12 Jan – Spanish coffee accessory manufacturer launches Fast Flat paper filters. The flat bottom filters are designed to lay flat against the walls of the brewer. Sibarist claims the design leads to quicker brewing times and more consistent extractions.

• Wed, 12 Jan – Pret A Manger UK to pay over £10 (US $13.70) to all hourly employees. The chain will invest over £9.2 million (US $12.6 million) to increase hourly pay rates as of 1 April, 2022.

• Thu, 13 Jan – Roaster Bluestone Lane appoints retail executive Jim Alling as newest board member. Alling has previously served as President of Starbucks US and COO of T-Mobile. Bluestone Lane operates 55 locations across the US.

• Thu, 13 Jan – Death Wish Coffee launches creative collaboration with US rock band. The 30-minute Coffee Notes video features performances from Halestorm. The release is part of the brand’s 10-year anniversary campaign.

• Thu, 13 Jan – Recycling company PectCof raises €2 million (US $2.3 million) to scale production. PectCof recycles coffee pulp into its food and beverage ingredient Dutch Gum, which can be used as an emulsifier and stabiliser. Funds will be used to accelerate technology development and scale up the production of Dutch Gum.

• Fri, 14 Jan – Morning Bell Coffee Roasters becomes first worker-owned co-op in US Iowa state. Ownership of the company is now evenly distributed between five co-workers.

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.

Want to keep up with current affairs in the coffee industry? Check out last week’s stories.

Photo credits: @cafesantamatilde