Coffee News Recap, 26 May: Robusta futures reach 15-year high, Canada & Denmark announce National Coffee Championship winners & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s stories.

Mon, 22 May

SCA announces speaker schedule for 2023 Education Summit to take place in Busan, South Korea. Speakers will include Peter Giuliano and Dr. Mario Fernández-Alduenda, who will present the new Coffee Value Assessment, and Dr. Nancy Cordoba, who will share the latest ongoing research on sweetness in coffee. The 2023 Education Summit will take place on 31 May & 1 June.

Dunkin’ India closed 11 stores over the past year. Franchise partner Jubilant FoodWorks Limited says it wants to attract younger customer demographics through a renewed, more coffee-focused brand identity.

USDA anticipates 2% rise in India’s coffee exports in 2023/24 season. The USDA forecasts exports will reach 6.3 million 60 kg bags during the period, driven by strong export prospects.

Benjamin Put wins 2023 Canadian Barista Championship. Ply Pasarj of Rogue Wave Coffee placed second, while Jair Garduno of Hatch Coffee came third. Put of Monogram Coffee will represent Canada at the 2023 World Barista Championship at World of Coffee Athens in June.

SCA launches survey for its Sustainable Coffee Agenda. The SCA is looking for professionals across the supply chain to assess and track the impact of how value is created, measured, and distributed in the industry, with the broader goal of creating more equitable value distribution. Results of the survey will be used to generate a report. The survey is also available in Spanish here.

SCA Denmark announces winners of 2023 National Barista, Brewers Cup, and Cup Tasters Championships. Patrik Rolf is this year’s Danish Barista Champion, Kian Hickman placed first at the Danish Brewers Cup, and David Savovski is the 2023 Danish Cup Tasters Champion. All three will represent Denmark at the World Coffee Championships in Athens.

Tue, 23 May

SCA announces workshop schedule for 2023 World of Coffee Athens. Workshops across the three-day event will include Understanding and applying the evolved cupping protocol: the SCA’s Coffee Value Assessment, Physical and sensory evaluation of experimentally processed coffees, and Espresso extraction and beverage creation on fully automatics.

This year’s Sheffield Coffee Festival to take place on 3 & 4 June. The event will include an exhibition, latte art and home brewing workshops, the Northern Filter Championships, coffee tasting sessions, and a series of talks.

Swiss company Pinecone launches Foxtail commercial grinder and Pinion home grinder. The Foxtail includes 120mm flat burrs which can grind up to 2.5kg (5lbs) of coffee per minute. The Pinion grinder, meanwhile, includes 65mm flat burrs and can dispense ground coffee directly into portafilters.

Royal Coffee sells new coffee from award-winning Ecuadorian producer Juan Peña. The Ecuador Zamora Chinchipe Chito Community coffee is part of Peña’s new project, and is produced with the same protocols as award-winning Hacienda La Papaya. Buyers of five boxes will receive a sixth box at 50% off with the code: 30036.

Robusta futures reach 15-year high as demand rises and production estimates fall. Robusta futures closed at US $2,629 on Monday – the highest price since 2008. Industry experts say the rise is attributed to increased demand for robusta-based blends and dwindling supplies. Meanwhile, ICE arabica futures fell to US 189.20 cents/lb.

World’s largest coffee variety trial cupping to take place in June. As part of the International Multilocation Variety Trial, Q graders from 29 international companies will assess the quality and sensory attributes of 31 varieties. World Coffee Research says the project aims to help its members determine which varieties might have high-quality potential in their respective countries.

Wed, 24 May

USDA downscales estimates for Vietnam’s 2022/23 coffee production by nearly 6%. The USDA says it anticipates a total of 29.75 million 60kg bags of green coffee. Reasons for the decline include an off-cycle year, higher production costs, and a decrease in the size of coffee-growing areas.

Artpresso Design partners with BIGFACE on custom espresso machine and barista accessories. The collaboration with NBA player Jimmy Butler’s coffee brand includes a customised La Marzocco Strada espresso machine, as well as milk jugs, bar towels, tampers, and distribution tools.

This year’s German Coffee Roasting Championship takes place in Emmerich. Probat is hosting the two-day competition. The winner will go on to represent Germany at the 2023 World Coffee Roasting Championship in Taiwan in November.

Poursteady launches PS2 two-cup automatic pour over brewer. The new Poursteady includes an integrated boiler, precision temperature control, and on-machine recipe creation and calibration technology.

Researchers plan to use parasitic wasps to target coffee borer beetle in Hawaii. The University of Hawai’i’s Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences partnered with USDA to disseminate thousands of Phymastichus wasps in coffee-growing areas. The wasp parasitises the beetle, which reduces its negative impact on coffee yields.

Flash Coffee Indonesia’s Managing Director steps down. Maxine Chaury spent two years in the role, and helped increase revenue by 33% during that time.

Caffè Nero launches Nero Book Awards. The UK coffee chain says its awards scheme celebrates excellence in UK and Irish literature. The first edition will open for entries on 19 June and will include four categories: children’s fiction, debut fiction, fiction, and nonfiction.

Thu, 25 May

Analysts say El Niño poses a larger risk to robusta than arabica. Reuters reports that the weather phenomenon – which disrupts rainfall and temperature patterns, and is expected to develop in the second half of 2023 – could decrease supplies and raise prices of robusta. Conversely, it may reduce the chance of frost occurring in some of Brazil’s arabica-growing regions.

Research indicates that loyalty schemes and subscriptions don’t directly result in financial benefits for coffee shops and roasters. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that rather encouraging repeat customers, loyalty schemes and subscriptions rely on customers to purchase additional or more expensive items during their visits.

International Coffee & Tea Asia Expo and Café Asia 2023 begin in Singapore. The tenth edition of both events will run until 27 May, and will include more than 200 exhibitors, educational talks, live brewing demonstrations, and networking opportunities. Fraser and Neave will also launch its Ömilk Oat Barista drink at this year’s Café Asia. Four-time Singapore National Latte Art Champion Jervis Tan will be at the event to host demonstrations.

This year’s International Café & Beverage Show hosts the 2023 Malaysian Coffee Championships. The three-day event is hosting this year’s Malaysian Barista, Brewers Cup, and Latte Art Championships, as well as a trade show and a series of lectures and workshops.

Fri, 26 May

UK government to potentially ban use of plant milk homophones on packaging. The draft proposal could ban terms such as “mylk” or “m*lk”. Plant-based product packaging may also be prohibited from including phrases like “not milk” or claiming they are “alternatives to dairy products”.

Saudi specialty coffee chain Barn’s to open ten stores in London, UK. The company currently operates over 500 stores across Saudi Arabia, and plans to reach 1,000 global stores by 2030 – including ten in London.

Scottish roaster announces multi-million pound investment in Glasgow headquarters. Matthew Algie, which has been operating for more than 150 years, says the upgrade will enable it to roast over 2,500 tonnes of coffee every year. Upgrades to the headquarters include a new green coffee handling and blending system, updated automation solutions, and new packaging lines.

The Barista League takes place in Brno, Czech Republic for first time. The barista-style competition includes three rounds of multidisciplinary tasks, as well as the Mystery Mocktail Challenge and the Guess the Infusions interactive experience.

Next year’s London Coffee Festival to take place from 11 to 14 April 2024. The event will be held at the Truman Brewery in East London, and will host the 2024 Coffee Masters competition.

Here are a few coffee news stories from previous weeks that you might find interesting. Take a look.

Thu, 4 May – Costa Coffee India renews business strategy to target more millennial and Gen Z consumers. The coffee chain says India remains a key part of its market focus. Costa Coffee plans to open new stores in eight to ten major cities in the country and has redesigned existing stores to appeal more to younger consumers.

Thu, 11 May – Reborn Coffee reports 51% revenue increase in 2023 first quarter. The Californian specialty coffee retailer operates 12 international locations, and plans to open another four in the coming months.

Wed, 17 May – Tim Hortons opens five new locations in Bahrain. Middle Eastern franchisee AG Café now operates eight Tim Hortons stores in Bahrain, a “key market” for the company.

Thu, 18 May – Uganda’s coffee sector to benefit from new modern railway line between Kampala and Kenya. Turkish firm M/s Yapi Merkezi aims to begin construction this year. It’s hoped the line will improve efficiency and affordability of the export of Ugandan coffee.

Thu, 18 May – Lavazza opens SCA Premier Training Campus in Chicago, US. The training facility will host classes led by SCA Authorised Specialty Coffee Trainers, as well as industry events and new product launches and demonstrations.

Thu, 18 May – Brazilian National Supply Company cuts estimates for 2023 coffee production to 54.74 million 60kg bags. Conab says the total crop is still expected to grow by 7.5% compared to the previous harvest, despite a predicted 7.6% decline in this season’s robusta harvest.

Thu, 18 May – USDA anticipates 3% increase in Colombia’s 2023/24 coffee production. Total production volume is expected to reach 11.6 million 60kg bags of green coffee by the end of the season. However, the USDA says Colombia’s slowing economic growth will restrict substantial growth of its coffee sector.

Photo credits: SCA Denmark