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

• Mon, 11 Oct – Big Island Coffee Roasters announced as finalist in 2022 Roaster of the Year awards. Big Island Coffee Roasters’ finalist nomination marks the first time a Hawaiian coffee company has been nominated at the event. The awards are held by Roast Magazine.

• Mon, 11 Oct – HOTELEX Guangzhou to take place in December 2021. The 3-day HoReCa expo will be held in Guangzhou from 16 to 18 December 2021. Over 600 exhibitors will be showcasing services and products, including coffee.

• Mon, 11 Oct – Coffee prices continued to increase in September. The ICO reported a monthly average of US 170.02 cents/lb – a 60.6% increase compared to the start of the coffee year at US 105.85 cents/lb. Robusta prices increased the most, reaching over US 100 cents/lb for the first time since August 2017.

• Mon, 11 Oct – aēralab to present fully automatic milk steamer at HostMilano 2021. The intelligent milk steaming system can automatically recognise which type of milk is being used, including plant-based options. A Belgian World Latte Art Champion will present the new device at the expo, held from 22 to 26 October.

• Mon, 11 Oct – FNC reports Colombian coffee production increased 22% in September. Throughout last month, 1.2 million bags were produced, compared to 995,000 in September 2020. However, total coffee production this year is down by 5% compared to 2020.

• Mon, 11 Oct – WCC Milan 2021 provides Covid-19 travel guidelines for attendees. Travellers are categorised by lists depending on the departing country. Most attendees will require either an approved Covid-19 vaccine, negative Covid-19 test, or proof of recovery from the virus. WCC Milan 2021 will take place at HostMilano from 22 to 26 October.

• Mon, 11 Oct – Oatly to open innovation hub in Wihlborgs Science Village. The new hub will enable the oat milk company to focus on product development and innovation. The space will fully open in autumn 2023.

• Mon, 11 Oct – Sucafina pilots water treatment programmes in east Africa. Sucafina’s sister companies are trialing three initiatives in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. The project in Rwanda will help to reduce carbon emissions to 1kg per 1kg of green coffee imported. Water filtration systems will also be installed for local communities.

• Mon, 11 Oct – Nespresso announces its first-ever coffee sourced from Honduras in collaboration with Partnership for Central America. Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff held discussions in Washington DC with key US government partners. The Partnership for Central America is a non-profit organisation created by US Vice President Kamala Harris as part of her role overseeing diplomacy programmes in Central America.

• Mon, 11 Oct – Reuters reports 10% of Colombia’s 2021 coffee production has not been exported. Reports claim farmers have defaulted on up to 1 million bags, which has caused coffee prices to increase. Farmers are claiming they will export the defaulted coffee later in the year, but traders, roasters, and retailers will be exposed to monetary losses.

• Tue, 12 Oct – Royal Coffee to host Coffee Screen Sizes – A Remote Roasting & Grading Interactive Experience hybrid class. The two-hour class will be hosted by Education Director Chris Kornman and will cover both theoretical and practical elements of bean shape and size. Access to sample roasters is recommended for this class.

• Tue, 12 Oct – Ratio Six becomes SCA-certified home brewer. The brewer maintains consistent water flow and temperature. Certified brewers undergo laboratory testing to meet SCA standards.

• Tue, 12 Oct – Tim Hortons MENA appoints new CEO. Hesham Almekkawi has previously held executive positions in the US and UAE. Almekkawi will be responsible for outlet growth in the MENA region and developing leadership teams.

• Tue, 12 Oct – Segafredo Zanetti opens two new locations in Mongolia. The first café opened in Nubia International Airport, while the second opened in the River Town Mall in Ulaanbaatar.

• Tue, 12 Oct – Caribou Coffee launches franchise programme. The new launch will be the first time the coffee chain is allowing candidates to operate franchise locations in the US. In early 2021, Caribou partnered with Panera Bread and Einstein Bros to form Panera Brands. The franchise programme will focus on drive-thru store expansion.

• Tue, 12 Oct – K Group and Paulig extend partnership to plant coffee trees in Nicaragua. Their sustainability project will aim to plant 70,000 new coffee plants at Paulig’s partner farms in the country. The coffees will be sold in K stores under Rainforest Alliance or UTZ-certified coffee products.

• Wed, 13 Oct – NCA hosts Ethnicity and Coffee: What Are We Drinking? webinar. The online event covered how different demographics consume coffee differently, looking at rates of espresso consumption and preferred flavour profiles. Vice President of Research Dig Insights Cheryl Hung presented the webinar.

• Wed, 13 Oct – Costa Coffee opens 200 new vending locations in Belgium. Costa’s “Marlow” vending machines are now available in select bars and restaurants in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, and Liège.

• Wed, 13 Oct – National Science Foundation provides grant for research into sustainable Honduran coffee production. University of Massachusetts Amherst Professor of Environmental Conservation Timothy Randhir and David King of the USDA Forest Service will lead a five-year programme seeking to improve environmental, social, and economic sustainability in the Honduran coffee sector. Research will mainly be focused in the Yoro region of Honduras.

• Wed, 13 Oct – Purdue University professor joins Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research team for coffee leaf rust research. Catherine Aime will lead a team of researchers working towards sequencing the CLR genome to eventually breed more resilient varieties. The research is supported by Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council.

• Wed, 13 Oct – UK Coffee Week 2021 to be held from 18 to 24 October. The charity scheme is Project Waterfall’s flagship fundraising campaign – providing access to clean drinking water for coffee growing communities. UK businesses can register to take part and raise funds.

• Wed, 13 Oct – Mokha Institute to be official organising partner for 2022 National Yemen Coffee Auction. The Yemeni non-profit will help to co-ordinate Yemen’s first public coffee auction, which will be held in May 2022. The Mokha Institute will host a webinar on 6 November discussing the lead-up to the auction.

• Wed, 13 Oct – Uganda to leave ICO. Managing Director of the Ugandan Coffee Development Authority Dr. Emmanuel Lyamuleme Niyibigira issued a letter stating the authority will not extend the agreement past 1 February 2022. The reasons for leaving remain unknown.

• Wed, 13 Oct – Costa Rica opens Laboratory of Molecular Biology for research on CLR. The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica opened the new research centre in partnership with the EU and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. Researchers will develop more climate-resilient varieties and identify new coffee plants.

• Thu, 14 Oct – Hotel chain Hilton partners with Bluestone Lane coffee roasters. The premium coffee chain will co-create food, coffee, and beverage programmes for Hilton’s Tempo brand hotel properties. Bluesone Lane will also act as Tempo’s exclusive provider of coffee and tea products.

• Thu, 14 Oct – Smile Coffee Werks launches biodegradable straws. The single-use straws are certified home compostable by TÜV Rheinland DINCERTCO. The new products are available with or without paper sleeves.

• Thu, 14 Oct – Nescafé Azera partners with The Prince’s Trust on packaging design campaign. The By Design campaign includes exclusive designs from artists from the UK youth charity. Nescafé will donate £150,000 (US $204,438) to The Prince’s Trust to support its programming for disadvantaged youth.

• Thu, 14 Oct – Rancilio to provide technical support for 2021 Gelato Festival World Masters. Competitors in the final round will use the RS1 espresso machine and Kryo 65 OD grinder. The final will take place in Anzola dell’Emilia, Italy.

• Thu, 14 Oct – WCR to host Producing more coffee—good or bad for farmers? webinar on 20 October. The virtual event will explore research from LSE and University of Naples Parthenope on the effects of coffee productivity on farmers, using data from Enveritas. The webinar will be held at 16:00 CEST.

• Fri, 15 Oct – UN FAO hosts A Dialogue on Tea and Coffee webinar for World Food Day. The virtual event, taking place at 14:30 CEST, will discuss the cultural significance of tea and coffee. Speakers include illycaffè chair Andrea Illy and deputy editor of The Economist Tom Standage.

• Fri, 15 Oct – Brazil coffee exports hit 4-year low. Cecafé says that all forms of Brazilian coffee exports fell by an average of 26.5% in September. Green arabica exports fell to 2,422,269 bags, while green robusta exports fell 51.8% to 326,045 bags.

• Fri, 15 Oct – US coffee businesses may be eligible for Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) grant programme. Grants can range from US $1,500 to $20,000 for small businesses and non-profits working in agriculture and food production. Applications close on 22 November.

• Fri, 15 Oct – Kaffe Bueno receives €2.5 million (US $2.9 million) grant from European Innovation Council. The coffee research organisation will use the grant to build the world’s first coffee biorefinery in Denmark. Kaffe Bueno will focus its research on breaking beans into base components to produce functional, health-forward ingredients for the food and beverage industry.

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

• Fri, 1 Oct – Cecafé and BSCA host global events for International Coffee Day. A number of in-person events were held in countries such as Italy, Australia, and India. Cafés in Sydney served 7,000 coffees in personalised cups with QR codes to promote consumption of Brazilian coffee.

• Tue, 5 Oct – Chemex launches Funnex filter brewer. The double-walled glass brewer can be placed on mugs and carafes to extract single cups or batches. Chemex filters can be used with the new brewer.

• Tue, 5 Oct – illycaffè renews partnership with The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. The ceremony is set to take place from 3 to 5 October in Antwerp. The 100% arabica illy blend will be served at the event.

• Wed, 6 Oct – BSCA hosts 20th episode of The History of Special Coffee web series. In partnership with Café Editora, this episode focused on the importance of the roasting stage on the supply chain. New episodes are uploaded every Wednesday.

• Wed, 6 Oct – Oatly experiences supply chain shortages. CEO Toni Petersson stated the company is currently able to fulfil around 70% of demand. He added that the new US and UK production facilities will enable Oatly to fulfil 100% of demand. Shares of Oatly have decreased by some 50% since its IPO launch in May 2021.

• Thu, 7 Oct – Asia-Pacific plant-based milk market to reach US $19.8 billion by 2031. China is expected to see the most growth as consumers opt for more functional and health-focused beverages. Almond milk is a key driver of market growth throughout the region.

• Thu, 7 Oct – Tchibo launches pop-up coffee shops in Chicago. As part of the company’s campaign for International Coffee Month, the mobile coffee tour was available from 7 to 10 October and will also be open from 14 to 17 October.

• Fri, 8 Oct – Löfbergs partners with Circle K on Rescued Coffee project. The new initiative produces exclusive blends from coffees that would otherwise be wasted due to damage to packaging or roasting and grinding issues. The dark roast South and Central America and southeast Asia coffee blend is sold in Circle K stores.

• Sun, 10 Oct – Applications close for 2022 NCA Charity Showcase and Award. The annual award event honours charities supporting coffee-growing communities. The ceremony will take place on 8 March 2022 at the NCA’s annual convention.

• Sun, 10 Oct – Gruppo Cimbali debuts new Faemina at 2021 Vienna Coffee Festival. The prosumer and small business espresso machine includes two boilers and water softening technology. The festival took place from 8 to 10 October in the Austrian capital.

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