Is this the end for Amsterdam’s ‘coffee shops’?

BudgetPlaces via Flickr

Amsterdam’s oldest ‘coffee shop’ is set to close amid a shake-up of the industry that is renowned for marijuana tourism.

The Mellow Yellow coffee shop was opened in 1967, and has become of the biggest tourist destinations in the Netherlands largest city, but the coffee shop is being forced to close on January 1.

…continue reading Is this the end for Amsterdam’s ‘coffee shops’?

Kenya’s coffee cartels stealing to order

Over 30,000 kilos of coffee has been stolen in Kenya in 2016, with thousands of farmers affected by this growing wave of thefts according to Kenya’s Coffee Directorate.

Not only costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, the increase threat of theft from farms could see farmers cease production almost entirely, as they are unable to secure their harvest.

…continue reading Kenya’s coffee cartels stealing to order

UK chains slammed for insane sugar-laden items

Health campaign groups are in uproar at a range of popular UK coffee and cafe chains over their sugar usage in a range of popular menu items.

Analysis by Action on Sugar, found that many of the popular snack items we are consuming at Pret a Manger, Starbucks and more actually contained, in some cases, 72g of sugar. Three times the daily recommended maximum sugar intake for children.

…continue reading UK chains slammed for insane sugar-laden items

SCAE set to merge with SCAA

Print

Credit: SCAE

News from the United Kingdom this week, where the recent SCAE member vote to unify with the SCAA resulting in an overwhelming majority vote to merge with their North America counterparts.

The Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was held on Monday 23rd May 2016, with SCAE President Paul Stack confirming that 51% of all SCAE members had voted on the matter.

The unification is set to take place, with all the legal procedures still to be finalised before the merger can be completed.

…continue reading SCAE set to merge with SCAA

Big Improvement in Myanmar’s Cupping Competition

stock-snap-beans

The second-ever cupping event hosted by the Myanmar Coffee Association was a rip-roaring success with scores throughout the competition considerably higher than last year’s maiden iteration.

Following the criteria laid out by the Speciality Coffee Association of America (SCAA), 56 of the 60 (93%) lots entered would have met the minimum grade required to be classed as a high-quality speciality coffee.

…continue reading Big Improvement in Myanmar’s Cupping Competition

The Nappucino

Greggs

When it comes to PR stunts in the coffee industry, not much grabs our attention these days.

We are a hardy bunch here at World Coffee Press and despite our relatively youthful complexions; we have seen our fair share of good, bad and indifferent attempts to garner a couple of column inches.

…continue reading The Nappucino

Caffe Nero Customer Forced To Undergo Surgery

caffenero

A woman from the United Kingdom was forced to have surgery to remove a wire bristle from her throat after eating a panini from the coffee shop chain Caffe Nero.

Katherine Willans, 34, inadvertently ingested the piece of wire after visiting a Caffe Nero shop in south London. The bristle had come from a brush that had been used to clean the contact grill used in the Putney store.

Willans had to go under general aesthetic to extract the wire, and she spent three days in a hospital.

…continue reading Caffe Nero Customer Forced To Undergo Surgery

Coffee Rust Decimating Mexico’s Coffee Harvest

Coffee Leaf Rust

A combination of disease and aging plants has left the Mexican coffee industry with one of its smallest harvests in recent years.

Last week, the National Union of Coffee Producers predicted that crop levels for the current 2015-16 season could be as low as 1.5 million bags of coffee – a fifty percent decline compared to last year’s 3 million total.

…continue reading Coffee Rust Decimating Mexico’s Coffee Harvest

Kenyan Farmers Protest Against Regional Coffee Bill

untitledcoffee

Change isn’t always a good thing.

With a government-assembled task force looking at how the troubled Kenya coffee industry can be improved, it seems that a number of regional councils are trying to jump the gun and install changes of their own.

In what is yet another tale of conflict and intrigue, a larger number of farmers protested against a council-backed bill that would bring sweeping reforms to coffee farming with the Nyeri region of the country.

…continue reading Kenyan Farmers Protest Against Regional Coffee Bill