A Library of Coffee Agroforestry Research

• Agroforestry has long been considered one of the best ways for the industry to respond to and mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis. There has been a lot of research done on the subject, and now all that info is in one place thanks to the non-profit Coffee Watch and the tropical research institute CATIE. The database is a collection of more than 1,300 peer-reviewed studies, technical reports, and manuals, conducted over the past 60 years.

“Anything that’s ever been written about agroforestry coffee is in this library,” Coffee Watch CEO Etelle Higonnet told Mongabay. “That way, companies don’t have to do a million stupid pilot projects and reinvent the wheel for 20 years that we don’t have. They can just hoover up all this knowledge quickly, easily.”

• As the acquisition of JDE Peet's by Keurig Dr Pepper looms, Peet's is closing dozens of locations in the Bay Area and Illinois. The move, according to Peet's, is part of an effort to "align our business with long-term growth priorities and current market conditions". One of the closing stores is unionised, and the union accused Peet's of failing to bargain over the impact of the closure on workers.
• Plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups leach microplastics, that much we know. A new study showed again how hot liquids increase that leaching—but is ingesting microplastics actually bad for us? That's less established, and several researchers recently cast doubt on the methodology and results of some of the highest-profile recent studies.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Disposable Coffee Cups?

Single-use coffee cups are choking the planet. From discounts to levies to bans, solutions are out there—but changing consumer behaviour is the bigger challenge.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

For more on all these stories, plus the latest coffee unionising news, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

Coffee News Club: Week of January 26

To-cups leach microplastics, but whether that’s a health risk remains a question. Plus, Peet’s closes dozens of stores, and everything you need to know about agroforestry all in one place.

Fresh CupFionn Pooler

On Friday, paid subscribers received some thoughts on social media marketing by coffee brands, and why exactly so many of them are still posting on Elon Musk's far-right soapbox and deepfake generator, X:

Coffee Brands Continue To Use X, the Right-Wing, Deepfake-Creating Social Media Platform

For paid subscribers: Since Elon Musk’s purchase, and especially in the wake of the Grok CSAM deepfake scandal, it has become impossible to defend staying on X. And yet, many coffee brands and organisations are still there.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

I'll be back on Friday with a new article—on the subject of coffee and ICE—but until then it's goodbye from Clem who is keeping an eye on things/may be stuck: