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.
The volatility in cocoa futures markets is having an effect on coffee, with Bloomberg reporting that speculative buyers are moving into what they perceive to be a similar commodity.
Howard Schultz went on a LinkedIn rant (lol) about how bad Starbucks is doing, after the company’s quarterly earnings dipped ever so slightly. Schultz is very concerned that his former company has lost touch with “the customer experience”—I’m sure the fact that he remains the company’s largest individual shareholder and said shares are down 20% this year had nothing to do with it.
Cold brew is slow, so scientists are constantly trying to come up with ways to speed it up. They’ve tried lasers, now it’s time for ultrasound.
The Blue Bottle union won its election in a landslide! Woo!
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
