How Do We Judge Coffee's Value?

It was yet another busy week in coffee news land. Here's what happened (yes this is a Monk reference; I've been watching a lot of Monk lately):

• The Trump administration's continued kneecapping of the federal government has once again impacted the coffee industry: this time in Hawaii, which is battling pests, diseases, and the ravages of climate change. Now, crucial USDA funding and personnel have been cut, leaving Hawaii's coffee farmers unsure for the future.
• After teasing the move in January, Starbucks has now announced that it will lay off 1,100 corporate workers in a bid to “operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration.” Is it efficient to have your CEO commute by private jet from California to Seattle? Just wondering.
• How do we judge coffee's value, and what do we base our coffee purchasing decisions on? A new project from Ohio State University and the Coffee Science Foundation wants to find out. “Through this research, we aim to uncover how both sensory qualities—like aroma and flavor—and non- sensory factors—such as certifications and origin—shape consumer perceptions of coffee value,” said OSU Professor Dr. Christopher Simons.

For more on all these stories, plus some coffee unionising updates, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:

Coffee News Club: Week of March 3rd

Click to find out how many people Starbucks laid off—and the union’s response. That and more: here’s the news for the week of March 3rd.

Fresh Cup MagazineFionn Pooler

If you missed it, you can check out my latest piece, on the marketing evolution of "beanless" coffee and other substitutes and their newly antagonistic approach to coffee:

The Cynical Evolution of Coffee Substitutes

We used to grudgingly turn to coffee alternatives in times of turmoil. Now, however, there is a new breed of venture capital-backed substitutes, with a more antagonistic relationship to coffee.

The PouroverFionn Pooler

I'll be back on Friday with a new interview for paid subscribers (and full access to the last interview for everyone else) but until then it's goodbye from my editor Claire's cat Moon: