Coffee: Still Popular

In the Age of Coffee Automation, What Happens to Baristas?

Coffee companies are going all in on automation. We’re told that it improves efficiency, cuts costs, and yields a better product. But what does it mean for the baristas whose labour these automations displace?

Hello, and welcome to the Roundup. Every week, I read all the coffee news and write about the best bits for Fresh Cup Magazine. Then, I summarise those bits for you in this newsletter.

This week, in coffee news:

U.S. retail coffee prices jumped 21% in August compared to the same month last year, driven mainly by companies passing along the cost of Trump's tariffs. Coffee imports from Brazil have fallen considerably, the Financial Times reports, with Brazilian exporters turning to Germany and China while American buyers are looking towards Colombia to fill the gap.
The second annual National Coffee Association trends report shows that coffee, unsurprisingly, remains popular. Cold coffee in particular was all the rage over the past few months. One interesting data point is that most people who bought coffee while out and about did so via drive-through—59%, an all-time high and 9% up on last year.
Rainforest Alliance has launched a certification specifically for regenerative agriculture. “Markets need to move beyond a ‘do no harm’ mindset to one that repairs and restores,” said Rainforest Alliance CEO Santiago Gowland. (I really need to write something about coffee certifications more generally. I have a lot of thoughts.)

For more on all these stories, plus some good and bad coffee health news and a continued lack of progress on a first union contract for Starbucks Workers United, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

If you missed it, why not check out my latest long read on Trump's tariffs, how they are incentivising new kinds of smuggling, and how the general upheaval heralds an uncertain new era for the global coffee industry: