Demand for coffee is growing, and climate change threatens supply—yet consumers don’t want to pay more. In an intensified and unequal industry, however, someone always pays.
For paid subscribers: One of Howard Schultz’ final acts as Starbucks CEO was inflicting upon us a line of olive oil-infused coffee drinks. He was so confident the Oleato would change the world. It didn’t.
It was a bumper week of coffee news, so much so that I had to relegate some otherwise interesting stories to the More News section (or possibly week’s Roundup). Here’s what’s been going on:
The coffee trader Mercon filed for bankruptcy, citing a litany or reasons such as pandemic-related logistical issues, bad weather in Brazil, and fluctuating coffee prices. Or it might have been the massive amount of debt the company accrued over the past few years. Worryingly, the bankruptcy also meant that Mercon subsidiary CISA Exportadora, Nicaragua’s largest exporter, also shut down and threw the country’s coffee sector into turmoil.
McDonald’s wants to take on Starbucks at its own game by launching a spinoff cafe chain called CosMc’s focused on coffee-based beverages like the churro frappe and s’mores cold brew. To differentiate itself from the green siren, the company is taking inspiration from an obscure 80s robot-alien-surfer McDonaldland mascot which appeared in a few deeply weird commercials and a NES video game. What could go wrong?
Go Get Em Tiger workers are unionizing! More than 70% of the California specialty chain’s 100+ workforce signed authorization cards, although the company declined to voluntarily recognize the union and instead hired a pair of “anti-union legal specialists”, which bodes well.
Nestlé is moving “the equivalent of half its global shipping needs to alternative, lower-emission fuels with immediate effect.” Quite how much lower the emissions, and exactly what kind of fuel, remains to be seen.
Giving your coffee beans a little spritz with water just before grinding lowers static and reduces clumping (as well as the dreaded grinder retention). There’s also a volcanology link, because of course there is.
I'm a coffee writer and creator of The Pourover. Based in Scotland, I have over a decade of experience in the specialty coffee industry. Ask me about coffeewashing. It's pronounced Fin (he/him)
Fionn Pooler
