A Record Coffee Harvest for Brazil?

Whatever Happened to IBM’s Coffee Prediction Drone?

For paid subscribers: Eight years ago, the media got very excited about a patent for a drone that could monitor and deliver coffee to the those it deemed under-caffeinated. It never became reality—why not?

Hello, and welcome to the Roundup. Every week, I read all the coffee news and write about the best bits for Fresh Cup Magazine. Then, I summarise those bits for you in this newsletter.

If forecasts are to be believed, Brazil's upcoming coffee harvest could be a record. Government surveys predict an 18% increase on last year, while other analysts think it could be even bigger, as much as 73.3 million 60-kg bags. Brazil's status as the world's largest coffee producer means that what happens with the harvest can heavily influence the futures market—in fact, harvest forecasts and speculation have already helped to drive the C price downwards over the past few months.
South Korea has launched an initiative to explore using coffee grounds and other waste products to manufacture more sustainable airline fuel. The move is at least partly inspired by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused jet fuel production to plummet. At the same time, Korea's booming coffee industry produces a lot of coffee waste, much of it ending up in landfill.

This piece is a few years old, but hopefully still relevant.

Polish researchers compiled and analysed 32 studies that used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the impact of coffee on sleep. EEG measures the brain's electrical activity, and lets researchers evaluate how coffee affects both the duration and quality of participants' sleep. Needless to say, it does. Drinking coffee, even in the morning, can make it harder to fall asleep and “the brain may remain in a more activated, less restorative state during sleep”, they wrote. (I could have told them that.)

For more on all these stories, plus news of a coffee shop that fired all its unionised staff during a "transition period" as it changed owners, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

Last week, paid subscribers received a deleted scene from the coffee drone delivery article. I looked back at IBM's contentious patent for a drone that could monitor and deliver coffee to the those it deemed under-caffeinated. I also spoke to the co-inventor!