For paid subscribers: What Starbucks’ CEO Brian Niccol’s meeting with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says about the company’s embrace of coffee’s wellness trend—and the trend’s darker side.
Workers at Blue Bottle Coffee, acquired by Nestlé in 2017, have unionised. Now, they’re building international solidarity with the conglomerate’s union in Colombia.
Incredibly, there’s no mention of Starbucks in this week’s roundup. Instead:
A consortium of large European coffee roasters, known as the ICP (International Coffee Partners, not Insane Clown Posse as I originally read the headline), lobbied to delay the impending E.U. deforestation legislation. Now that it has, in fact, been delayed, ICP welcomed the news. The extra year gives farmers and companies more time to meet the compliance requirements, the group said.
Luckin Coffee is growing so rapidly that in order to secure enough green coffee it is doing the equivalent of asking to speak to the manager: striking deals directly with the Brazilian government. The tech-focused Chinese startup has agreed to spend $2.5 billion on arabica and robusta coffee from Brazil over the next four years.
We all know that coffee affects your gut—and not always in an enjoyable way. However, according to a new study, coffee can in fact positively impact the health of your gut microbiome.
I'm the creator and writer of The Pourover. Based in Scotland, I have over a decade of experience in the specialty coffee industry as a barista, roaster, and writer. Ask me about coffeewashing.
Fionn Pooler
