Coffee News Roundup

Coffee News Roundup: Week Ending February 25th

Fionn Pooler

Feb 26, 2022 — 14 min read

An espresso cup sits atop a magazine on a table, seen from above. Via PxHere

Not much in the way of news this week—in the coffee world, at least—so let’s expand the More Headlines section and take a whirlwind tour of some of the stories, such as they are.

Coffee and Cocoa Slump With Consumption Dropoff After Russia Attack - via Bloomberg

Bloomberg reports that coffee prices, alongside cocoa and other food-based commodities, have dropped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reasoning? The crisis is “expected to hurt the global economy and curb consumption of goods like chocolate and lattes at restaurants and cafes.”

Read the full story here.

Kroger, Safeway/Albertsons and Hawaiian Isles Agree to Settle in Kona Labeling Case - via Daily Coffee News

From Daily Coffee News comes, well, news of a settlement in the ongoing “can you call coffee Kona if it’s not grown in Kona?” lawsuit. Turns out, no.

These new settlements will bring the total amount awarded to the growers and sellers who brought the class action suit to “more than $15.25 million in monetary relief, plus individual agreements for more stringent requirements regarding the marketing and sales of coffee products bearing the Kona name.”

Read the full story here.

Speaking of Hawaiian coffee…

Bill Would Establish 51% Minimum for 'Hawaii' Coffee - via Yahoo! News

Currently, just 10% of a blend has to actually be grown on the island for it to be labelled “Hawaii-grown”, which seems low. The new bill would see that percentage increase incrementally over the next few years until it reaches 51% by 2024.

“It's not that blended coffees are necessarily bad, " said Christopher Manfredi, executive director of the Hawaii Coffee Association. "What we object to is the below-standard-quality coffees that are used to make the blend ... and the fact that they're able to carry the names of Hawaii's coffee-growing regions."

Read the full story here.

Pret a Manger in Cash Call on Shareholders as Finances Under Pressure - via the Guardian

The UK sandwich and coffee chain Pret a Manger is facing “doubts over its ability to continue as a going concern” amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and unpredictable consumer demand, and is asking for more investment from shareholders to help it continue.

The shift to remote working and drop in tourist numbers in London have also affected the chain, which had £400m of debt by the end of 2020.

Read the full story here.

More Coffee, Less Gold: Sumatra Farmers Alarmed Over Revival of Mine Project - via Mongabay

A proposed gold mine that straddles an important nature reserve and could impact coffee farming on the island of Sumatra could be revived, according to new filings. The Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra’s last remaining intact rainforest, is home to critically endangered tigers, orangutans, rhinos and elephants.

Indonesian coffee farmers oppose the mine, with one village leader saying, “A lot of people live and prosper from Gayo coffee. Don’t let the lives they’ve built off of coffee farming be destroyed just for the sake of gold mining.”

Read the full story here.

JDE Peet’s Will Raise Coffee Prices If Needed as Inflation Bites - via Bloomberg

Yet another example of a huge coffee company raising prices instead of taking lower profts.

The coffee giant announced surging profits this week, with revenue up more than 6% to 7 billion euros ($7.9 billion) and underlying profit up 14% to 899 million euros. That won’t stop it raising prices, Bloomberg says, “to counter accelerating costs for green coffee, packaging and logistics.”

Read the full story here.

Close up of coffee cherries ripening on the branch

The Week in Coffee Unionizing

Lots going on here. First, to Starbucks: the company successfully delayed a scheduled vote count for three more stores in Buffalo, New York, falling back on its oft-used argument that groups of stores should vote together rather than individually. However the National Labor Relations Board rejected a similar argument with regard to the Mesa, Arizona location, meaning that those ballots can be counted on Friday afternoon.

UPDATE: The result was 25-3 in favour of the union, making the store in Mesa just the third, and the first outside New York, Starbucks in the United States to vote to unionize.

In a recent poll, the media organization More Perfect Union found that 69% of Starbucks customers across the United States supported the unionization drive.

Meanwhile, workers at Coffee Tree Roasters in Pennsylvania officially voted to unionize, winning the vote 17-3. “Our hard work since August has helped us win our election, and I hope this inspires other baristas to fight for better in their own workplaces,” barista Helene Tracey said. “We are ready to collaborate with Coffee Tree to create a coffee shop that works for us and our community.”

The Week in Corporate Coffeewashing

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson earned a $20 million bonus in 2021, and 10% of it was for eliminating plastic straws and “farm-level methane reduction” among other environmental and social targets. Shareholders are, however, “sceptical” of such measures, according to the Financial Times.

The company is also trialling a “returnable cup” in Europe, with a £1 deposit repayable once the cup is returned for cleaning and reuse. The goal, says Starbucks, is to put “convenience front and centre to enable customers to easily transition away from single-use and make reusability the only option, long-term.”

Once again, the frame is on the customer and the customer’s environmental choices. But don’t worry, there’s also a new cup “incorporating a patented foaming technology that reportedly offers a rigid and durable wall structure with up to 70% less plastic than current reusable cups.”