More Accessible Coffee Education?

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?

The King of Sweden’s Coffee Experiment

For paid subscribers: Today, Sweden is famous for its love of coffee. But historically that hasn’t always been the case, and one particular ruler’s attempts to prove coffee’s harmful health impacts may have been the world’s first randomised controlled trial.

I tried to make a "new dress code/no espresso" rhyme in the title in reference to the Starbucks story below, but it didn't work.

Anyway, here's the coffee news:

The Specialty Coffee Association is changing the way it charges for its education courses, moving to a new tiered system based on country. When the new structure goes into effect later this year, coffee professionals looking to take SCA courses will pay more in certain countries than others. This, the SCA says, will "make learning more accessible, affordable, and equitable for coffee professionals everywhere".
A new report from TechnoServe shows that investing in regenerative agriculture could increase smallholder coffee farmer income, boost exports, and reduce carbon emissions. Investing $560 million per year, the report found, would increase farmer income by an average of 62%, improve coffee exports by an average of 30% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 million tons annually.
Thousands of unionised Starbucks workers went on strike last week over changes to the company's dress code. More than 2,000 workers at 120 stores across the United States walked out: "Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, [the company is] focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code,” said shift supervisor Paige Summers. “Customers don’t care what color our clothes are when they’re waiting 30 minutes for a latte”.

For more on all these stories, plus how a Ugandan entrepreneur is working to get more women involved in the business side of coffee farming, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine: