Coffee News Roundup

COFFEE NEWS ROUNDUP: WEEK ENDING JULY 6TH

Fionn Pooler

Jul 6, 2018 — 4 min read

The World Cup, as you're probably well aware, is into its end game, with the quarter finals taking place this weekend. My team (Colombia—favorite coffee origin still involved) were knocked out by the team (England) that every American person I've encountered over the past three weeks has assumed I support. Just nope.

It's just Brazil left now to represent coffee, but they're such overwhelming favorites that I can't bring myself to "root" (as they say here) for them. Therefore, by the process of elimination and who has the best shirt design, Croatia it is.

Anyway, coffee news—as usual, there's good, there's bad, and there's weird. Let's take a look, shall we?

Coffee Just Raised $100,000 For The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project - via Sprudge

A couple of weeks ago we reported on a fundraiser set up by Sprudge to raise money for the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), which works to prevent wrongful deportations by connecting refugee families to community support and emergency legal aid.

Hundreds of coffee companies across the United States took part, and in total raised more than $100,000 to benefit the non-profit and the families they serve.

Read more here.

Coffee May Make You Live Longer Even If You Don’t Do Well With Caffeine - via Daily Coffee News

The health benefits of coffee just keep mounting up.

A new study, conducted over 10 years with half a million participants, has found that drinking coffee (even decaf or instant) may in fact help you live longer.

The study found that consumption of coffee "had a pronounced inverse association with mortality, meaning fewer participants who regularly consumed coffee died during the study period." In fact, it led to a 12% decrease in mortality rates over the ten year period.

So that's good. Pour me another.

Read more here.

Forget the coffee, what will Starbucks do to Italy's environment? via The Local

It has taken Starbucks a long time to finally work up the nerve to launch in Italy. Milanese cafes were the inspiration for former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, but the company's aggressive worldwide expansion has always ignored the country which inspired it. They are probably scared of the welcome they'll likely receive.

That will change in September when Starbucks opens its first cafe in Milan, but a coalition of local authorities is more concerned with the coffee monolith's environmental impact than with the taste of its espresso.

Traditionally, Italians have eschewed single-use disposable cups in favor of ceramic mugs, but Starbucks (along with the rise in popularity of McDonalds and other fast food chains) could change all that. Needless to say, Italian environmentalists aren't happy, and are calling on the company to stick to the Italian way.

Read more here.