Meteorologists are predicting that an exceptionally strong El Niño will likely form in 2026. If past events are any indication, the impacts on coffee could be profound.
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?
There’s a Starbucks in Korea run by hundreds of little robots. Well, they’re not running the place, but they deliver the coffee around a multi-floor tech headquarters—they even have their own elevator.
The green coffee consolidation trend continues, as financial services group StoneX buys up bankrupt coffee trader Mercon’s specialty arm.
Enjoy your coffee. . . on toast? That’s the pitch from an outdoorsy Swiss startup which is selling a tube of coffee paste for campers. New Atlas calls it a “dissolvable paste that can be mixed with water in a cup, spread onto breakfast pastries or simply gobbled straight out of the tube.” Delicious.
Read more about these stories, plus a whole lot of unionisation news, over at Fresh Cup Magazine:
In case you missed it, you can read my latest (very) long-form article on FairWave Coffee Collective and its local-focused approach to private equity investment in specialty coffee:
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
