Coffee News Roundup: Week Ending February 16th

This week, in coffee news:

• Farmworkers are essential actors in the coffee supply chain, but the industry has a long history of labor exploitation and poor working conditions. Costa Rica is trying to change that by establishing a new health insurance system and implementing injury protections for seasonal coffee pickers.
• Costa Coffee is increasing barista wages by an average of 9% to keep pace with the United Kingdom’s living wage laws. This is the fifth time that Coca-Cola-owned Costa has raised wages for its staff since 2021.
• A labor coalition called the Strategic Organizing Center estimates that Starbucks has spent at least $240 million on expenses related to delaying and discouraging union activity.
• Wearing virtual reality headsets like the Apple Vision Pro can be nausea-inducing and dangerous (depending on the activity). However, according to a new study, VR headsets can also make going for a coffee more exciting.

Read the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

In case you missed it, my latest article looks at alternative approaches to coffee sustainability:

Coffee, Sustainability, and Shifting Perceptions

As the climate crisis comes for coffee, new ideas are needed. But some solutions are already out there—we just need to recognize and embrace them.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

And Fresh Cup is republishing some Pourover pieces from the archive, starting with this one about decaf: Decaf Coffee, But Make It Specialty

Until next week, it’s goodbye from Merlin: