Companies are turning to automation as a tool to fight back against industrial action. In coffee, that role could well be played by robot baristas—in fact, it sort of already has.
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?
Companies are turning to automation as a tool to fight back against industrial action. In coffee, that role could well be played by robot baristas—in fact, it sort of already has.
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.
For paid subscribers: What happens when the melodramatic language of social media and political discourse begins to impact how we discuss the coffee industry.
For paid subscribers: Troubled coffee companies now have a new way to escape their problems: invest in cryptocurrencies and pray that the line keeps going up.
For paid subscribers: Donald Trump’s latest arbitrary tariff threat, this time against Brazil, has once again enveloped the coffee industry in chaos and uncertainty. When will it end?
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.
For paid subscribers: A look at what makes coffee health studies so attractive to news organisations and readers, and how such stories also benefit the coffee industry.
For paid subscribers: deleted scenes from last week's lexicon. Musings on the words "Sustainability", "Specialty", and the old-school buzzwords like "Artisan" and "Gourmet".
