Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week.
Here are this week’s stories – the word of the week is acquisitions.
Mon, 25 Mar
- Roosa Jalonen wins 2024 UK Barista Championship. Fifty two competitors took part in this year’s final, which took place at the Tate London. Jalonen placed first and will go on to represent the UK at World of Coffee Busan from 1 to 4 May 2024. As part of its UK Barista Championship sponsorship, Oatly has created the UK BC Alt Milk Prize Fund, which awards the top three finalists with cash prizes. The oat milk brand also provides a dedicated prize to the competitor who has the highest-scoring milk round.
- International Coffee Partners announces five-year strategy to address trends in the global coffee industry. ICP says it will continue working in its six focus countries of Honduras, Brazil, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Indonesia. Here, ICP aims to reach 15,800 smallholder farming families to support them in improving their livelihoods, applying farm diversification strategies, and implementing regenerative agriculture and agroforestry practices. ICP also hopes to support 5,000 youth in these countries during the five-year period.
Tue, 26 Mar
- JDE Peet’s completes transaction to sell Caribou Coffee products. The company secured a long-term licence to manufacture, market, and sell Caribou Coffee-branded products in January 2024. JDE Peet’s says the transaction will allow it to expand its premium coffee portfolio in the US – where the company already sells and distributes Peet’s Coffee, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, and L’OR coffee products.
Wed, 27 Mar
- HOTELEX Shanghai welcomes over 3,000 exhibitors. The four-day expo is also hosting a dedicated Coffee and Food Festival featuring more than 120 retail coffee brands, a coffee bazaar, and the 2024 Chinese Barista, Latte Art, Brewers Cup, Coffee Roasting, and Cup Tasters Championships.
- Jota de Paula wins 2024 Brazilian Latte Art Championship. The barista, who works at Jardim do Café in São José dos Campos, placed first at the competition – with Tiago Rocha coming second and Eduardo Olímpio placing third. de Paula will go on to represent Brazil at the 2024 World Latte Art Championship at World of Coffee Copenhagen.
Thu, 28 Mar
Fri, 29 Mar
- Cropster to host virtual reality experience at Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago. As part of a collaboration with MAV Coffee, Algrano, and Syra Coffee, Expo attendees can take part in an immersive VR experience at Cropster’s booth. The company will also host a discussion panel titled (Act)ionable Impact: What we do with what we know, which will feature industry professionals, including Benjamin Paz and Norbert Niederhauser.
Here are a few coffee news stories from previous weeks that you might find interesting. Take a look:
- Tue, 19 Mar – Researchers find trigonelline in coffee can improve muscle health and function. As part of an international collaborative study led by Nestlé Research in Switzerland and the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, researchers found that consumption of trigonelline can increase nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) levels – which can improve healthy longevity and reduce the risk of certain age-associated diseases.
Photo credits: Nizatto Agency
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Want to keep up with current affairs in the coffee industry? Check out last week’s coffee news stories and make sure to read the latest Coffee Intelligence News & Opinion piece about how 7-Eleven’s new RTD line shows that convenience store coffee is evolving.