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

Mon, 21 Mar

• Nespresso files lawsuit against Peet’s Coffee. Nespresso claims Peet’s capsules infringe trademark rights for its own capsule design, further claiming that Peet’s capsules cause confusion for consumers when distinguishing between Nespresso’s. Nespresso has applied for federal trademark designation in the US. Peet’s Coffee has declined to comment.

• Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand open women’s leadership school in Timor Leste. The year-long programme covers money management, sustainable farming practices, and gender equity to local communities – including coffee farmers. Twenty-six farmers from Cooperative Café Timor are currently enrolled in the programme.

• Caravan Coffee Roasters opens on-site brew bar in London roastery. The Brewbar is located at Caravan’s flagship Lambworks café. The new location includes Gabi Master A pour overs and a Victoria Arduino Eagle 1 espresso machine.

• Former basketball player Dikembe Mutombo visits DMCC to add new blend to coffee product line. The National Basketball Association Hall of Famer tasted several of DMCC’s house blends and added a new coffee to his product line with food trader and distributor Cajary Majlis. In early 2021, Cajary Majlis joined the DMCC Coffee Centre to export coffee from Mutombo’s home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Dubai.

• South Korea’s coffee imports increase 24% in 2021. According to data from the Korean Customs Service, the country’s coffee imports were valued at over US $916 million last year – an all-time high. By volume, Brazil is the biggest exporter of coffee products to South Korea, at over 39,800 tonnes.

• Death Wish Coffee Co. launches limited-edition charitable blend. The medium-roast Grind for Good Blend includes Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Indian beans. Proceeds of sales will be donated to the Ethiopian non-profit Girls Gotta Run Foundation.

Tue, 22 Mar

• Coffee and food-to-go chain Greggs partners with social enterprise supporting homeless communities. The BillyChip platform allows people to purchase tokens for homeless individuals to use as alternative currency. Seven Greggs outlets in Bristol will sell BillyChips over an 8-week trial period.

• Triestespresso 2022 to be held from 27 to 29 October. The 10th B2B biennial expo will take place in Trieste, Italy. More than 13,000 visitors have attended previous Triestespresso events.

• Green coffee platform Algrano launches Coffee Requests. The new feature allows roasters to contact multiple suppliers at once. Coffee requests are shared automatically with all matching verified sellers, with both parties having full transaction transparency before sending samples.

• Brazil’s domestic coffee prices dropped in February. After reaching record highs in early February 2022, domestic coffee prices in Brazil dropped by R$172.36 per bag (US $34.97) throughout late February and mid-March. Prices closed at R$1,262.07 (US $244.87) on 15 March. The price decreases are attributed to economic sanctions imposed on Russia, as the country is the sixth largest importer of Brazilian coffee.

• 200 Degrees opens third Nottingham location. The roaster has opened 17 locations over 10 years, with the third Nottingham coffee shop to open on 9 May.

• Portuguese 2022 Barista Championships to take place at Lisbon Coffee Fest. The competition will be held from 26 to 27 March at the LX Factory.

Wed, 23 Mar

• Brazil’s 2022/23 coffee production figures estimated to increase by 8% on 2021/22 harvest. Brazilian agribusiness consultancy Safras & Mercado predicts the country’s 2022/23 production will reach 61.10 million bags, including 38.80 million bags of arabica. However, this represents an overall 12% drop from Brazil’s record crop in 2020.

• International Women’s Coffee Alliance hosts new episode of IWCA Connects! Guest speaker Wolfgang Weinmann presented an overview of the International Coffee Organization’s (ICO) Public-Private Task Force and how it brings together coffee industry leaders and actors to collectively identify challenges in the coffee sector.

• Rancilio Specialty RS1 receives SCA certification. The espresso machine was assessed for reliable and stable brewing temperature ranges. Following SCA review, the machine’s average temperature oscillation was recorded at +/- 0.6°C.

• Cup of Excellence hosts exclusive Women’s History Month cupping event. The special cupping session will include five CoE winning lots grown by women coffee producers. The event will take place on 26 March at Either/Or in Portland, Oregon. Proceeds of ticket sales will be donated to non-profit Grounds For Health, which establishes cervical cancer prevention programmes in coffee-growing communities.

• Research finds spent coffee grounds could be used to monitor brain activity. Scientists from the American Chemical Society (ACS) applied used coffee grounds to electrodes, which were then able to detect neurotransmitter levels. The researchers will present their findings at the spring ACS meeting.

• Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) signs agreement with Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). The four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations will help promote an inclusive and sustainable rural development agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean. The partnership will develop a model which can be regionally replicated, as well as adhering to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

• Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group opens new US coffee distribution facility. The new Suffolk, Virginia facility will handle bulk and ecommerce distribution across the country. The Italian roaster also operates a roasting, grinding, and packing facility in Suffolk.

• National Coffee Association to host webinar on findings from new report. The virtual event will explore the new 2022 National Coffee Data Trends Specialty Coffee Report. The webinar will take place on 30 March at 13:00 EST.

Thu, 24 Mar

• Expo Café & Gourmet 2022 takes place in Guadalajara, Mexico. The event will be held until 26 March. Alongside an exhibition and networking opportunities, Expo Café & Gourmet will host the the Flavour Expo Coffee Awards to recognise and celebrate Mexican coffees.

• VEA Ventures acquires Bellezza Espresso. The brand will join VEA alongside Carimali, Elektra, and Heylo. Under VEA, Bellezza will look to become a leading brand in the prosumer espresso machine market. Following on from success in Europe, North America, and Australia, Bellezza plans to enter more international markets by the end of 2022.

• Paulig invests €25 million (US $27.4 million) in recyclable coffee packaging production. The investment in new packaging lines at the Vuosaari coffee roastery in Helsinki, Finland will also enable the company to increase capacity and efficiency. Paulig aims to produce 100% recyclable packaging using renewable and recycled materials by 2030.

• Luckin Coffee reports 2021 total revenue of RMB 7.8 billion (US $1.2 billion). This represents a 97.5% increase on 2020. The company now operates over 6,000 stores, but has yet to turn a profit since opening its first stores in 2017.

• Flash Coffee plans to become plastic-negative through partnership with offsetting start-up. In collaboration with CleanHub, customers can donate S $0.20 (US $0.15) per order to support plastic collection schemes – including GOT BAG and Green Worms.

• Intelligentsia releases instant Black Cat Blend espresso. The US roaster developed the product with specialty instant coffee manufacturer Swift Cup. Intelligentsia is serving the instant Black Cat espresso at its Illumination Bar in Pasadena, California.

• SCA announces World of Coffee 2022 will now take place in Milan. The trade show and several World Coffee Championships were originally scheduled to take place in Warsaw, Poland, but will now be held in Italy. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced thousands of refugees to flee to Poland, including the PTAK convention centre where WOC was set to be held. The SCA will donate 100% of the revenue from WOC ticket sales to Ukrainian coffee businesses and professionals.

• Cropster hosts webinar with Kenyan barista champion Martin Shabaya. The webinar focused on barista and producer collaboration in the World Barista Championships. The webinar also included David Ngibuini from Maguta Estate Coffee, who provided Shabaya’s competition coffee.

Fri, 25 Mar

• Mavam releases new undercounter espresso machine. The super-automatic Mavam MM espresso system includes two independent grinding chambers and a three-button interface for extraction.

• Costa Coffee plans transition to net zero emissions by 2040. The chain will work to cut carbon emissions across all company-controlled operations, as well as working with its partners to reduce emissions on coffee and dairy farms.

• PRF Colombia announces event schedule. The conference agenda has been confirmed, including more than 15 lectures and panel sessions. New speakers include founder of Sterna Café Deiverson Migliatti and President of Metropolis Coffee Company Tony Dreyfuss. PRF Colombia will be held in Medellín from 30 June to 1 July.

• London Coffee Festival 2022 to take place from 31 March to 3 April. The event will be held at the Truman Brewery and will feature the 2022 Coffee Masters competition, which assesses barista skills.

• Equal Origins to host two webinar sessions on Gender Equity Index. The two-part virtual series will provide insights into the newly launched Gender Equity Index, including the five main domains of the tool. The first webinar will be held on 29 March at 19:00 GMT and the second edition will take place on 5 April at 15:00 GMT.

• German Coffee Association to host Sensory Science Update conference. The online conference will cover a number of findings and studies in the field of coffee sensory science, such predicting coffee quality using AI technology. Speakers will include Dr. Samo Smrke of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and CEO of Demetria Felipe Ayerbe. The conference will be held on 31 March at 10:30 CET and will be conducted in English.

• Caravela Coffee’s Galápagos Islands suppliers receive Carbon Neutral International Standard. The carbon footprint and carbon sequestration of the 26 coffee farms in Galápagos were measured in late 2021. The results were verified by third-party One Carbon World.

• Nestlé and FNC to plant 200 million trees in Colombia by 2030. As part of its Global Reforestation Programme, Nestlé will plant 7.5 million trees over the next five years. Through the support of the FNC, Nestlé will plant trees in the regions of Antioquia, Risaralda, and Valle del Cauca.

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

• Tue, 15 Mar – Nespresso launches The Things We Hold social initiative project. The artistic project was created in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ homeless youth non-profit Ali Forney Centre (AFC) and New York artist Justin Teodoro. The artist designed a limited-edition range of mugs and saucers for the project. For every mug designed, Nespresso donated US $24 to the AFC, totalling around US $500,000.

• Wed, 16 Mar – Volcanica Coffee releases new low-acid coffee range. The Low Acid Coffee Collection includes two blends and three single origins from Sumatra, Costa Rica, and Brazil.

• Wed, 16 Mar – Caribou Coffee releases annual charitable Amy’s Blend. The blend is named after Amy Erickson, Caribou’s first roaster, who passed away in 1995. Caribou will donate 10% of all Amy’s Blend sales to the Girls on the Run Foundation.

• Thu, 17 Mar – Starbucks to operate 55,000 stores by 2030. The coffee chain currently operates more than 34,000 locations in 80 countries. Starbucks hopes to open a further 21,000 locations in more than 100 international markets.

• Thu, 17 Mar – Eureka ORO launches new Mignon Single Dose grinder. The new single-dose model includes a 15° grinding chamber which reduces grind retention.

• Fri, 18 Mar – Caffe Inc. BV and the Amsterdam Climate and Energy Fund to build recycling facility for coffee waste. Coffee waste will be recycled into oil to use in the beauty product industry, as well as producing bio-based coffee blocks. The Amsterdam Climate & Energy Fund will finance the facility.

• Fri, 18 Mar – AeroPress and World AeroPress Championships collaborate on competition experience giveaway. The two winners will each receive a competitor pack, which includes an AeroPress brewer and the official 2021 WAC coffee roasted by Bureaux. Entries close 25 March.

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Photo credits: @gisselleguerrag