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

• Monday, 3 May – Lavazza begins construction of first US manufacturing facility. The Pennsylvania roasting and packing plant will serve the US market, which currently receives stock from Italy. The factory is set to open in October 2021.

• Monday, 3 May – CBI to host “EU – Central America: Specialty Coffee 2021 – Virtual Matchmaking Event”. The B2B platform will connect producers from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama with buyers throughout Europe. The networking event is free to attend for all relevant trade professionals.

• Monday, 3 May – Singapore Specialty Coffee Auction 2021 will welcome 150 in-person bidders. The hybrid auction will also include hundreds of online bidders from the Asia-Pacific. The event will be streamed live via the Singapore Coffee Association’s Facebook page and Zoom platform.

• Monday, 3 May – Mahlkönig releases X54 Allround Home Grinder. The new model has 35 different grind settings and 54mm steel burrs. The LED display allows home users to select from 4 timer presets and a manual mode. Sales will begin this month in Germany.

• Monday, 3 May – Nescafé Gold Blend Roastery Collection launches barista-style soluble coffee. The range includes “The Light Roast”, with notes of honey and biscuit, and “The Dark Roast”, with notes of dark chocolate and nuts.

• Tuesday, 4 May – illycaffè reports 2020 revenue of €446.5 million. This is a decrease of 14% on the company’s 2019 turnover. Home consumption channels accounted for 56% of all brand revenue, compared to 40% in 2019.

• Tuesday, 4 May – Gruppo Cimbali partners with IULM University for market research on super-automatic LaCimbali S15. For the second year in a row, master’s students from the International Marketing & Sales Communication programme presented five projects focusing on digital and traditional marketing strategies for the machine.

• Tuesday, 4 May – The Shade Catalogue launches first edition focusing on Indonesia. The Conservation International, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre, and World Coffee Research collaborated on the report, which details information on national trees and shrubs and their benefits for coffee production.

• Tuesday, 4 May – Copper Cow Coffee secures US $8.5 million in Series A funding. The Vietnam-inspired US company focuses on single-use pour overs, using compostable pouches designed to fit over cups.

• Tuesday, 4 May – South Korean coffee chain “A Twosome Place” considers IPO. The company could be valued at US $445 million. A Twosome Place operates around 1,300 stores across South Korea; its sales remained positive throughout the pandemic, and increased by around 10.3% last year.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Anti-government protests continue across Colombia. Protests have been ongoing for eight days, originally opposing a new tax reform plan that has since been cancelled. There has been widespread criticism of the response to the process, which has led to dozens of deaths. Road blockades are affecting farmers in the Huila, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Nariño provinces who are mid-harvest.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Specialty Coffee Expo to take place in New Orleans from September 30 to October 3. Covid-19 safety measures will be in place at the in-person event. Returning features include Best New Product Awards, Coffee Design Awards, Roaster Village, and US Coffee Championships.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Nestlé opens new RTD innovation centre in China. The production facility will open in the Guhe Subdistrict of Laixi in Qingdao, Shandong. The new centre will focus on increasing production capacity and improving sustainability.

• Wednesday, 5 May – FNC wins Brukol Award for contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Brukol Responsible Business Awards 2021 event was hosted virtually from London, celebrating sustainability across business. The FNC was granted the award for its social, economic, and environmental efforts in the Colombian coffee sector.

• Wednesday, 5 May – De’Longhi US launches new products for spring and summer range. New products include the fully-automatic Dinamica Plus, the La Specialista Maestro manual pump espresso machine, and the La Specialista Prestigio with the MyLatte system. All machines are aimed at the home consumer market.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Kerry Foods releases top 7 global taste trends in new report. The top flavour trends were identified using categories like “nostalgia”, “seasonality”, and “taste exploration”. The research found that across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, consumers enjoy flavours including coconut, lychee, and green mango.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Nestlé launches “Wunda” pea-based milk range. The dairy alternative will launch in France, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and include unsweetened and chocolate variants.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Fairtrade International Covid-19 fund helps more than 150,000 farmers in 60 countries. The fund provided €15 million in 2020 and will continue supporting farmers until 2022. The funding provides both short and long-term Covid-19 recovery assistance for farmers across Africa, Central and South America, Asia, and the Caribbean, including coffee producers.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Cocoa & Forests Initiative reports progress in ending deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. CFI planted around 10 million trees in Côte d’Ivoire in 2020, while around 226,000ha of forest was restored in Ghana. Cacao traceability also improved in both countries.

• Wednesday, 5 May – Krispy Kreme files for IPO in US. The coffee and doughnut chain was acquired by JAB Holding in 2016 for US $1.35 billion. The chain entered the stock market once before in 2000, but filed for bankruptcy not long after.

• Thursday, 6 May – Loring hosts How to Avoid Coffee Roasting Defects webinar. Independent coffee consultant Rob Hoos spoke about identifying and defining roast defects, and how roasters can avoid them to improve coffee quality.

• Thursday, 6 May – UCC Coffee Quality Contest 2021 takes place in Vietnam. The first annual UCC contest took place in Brazil in 2001. The contest encourages farmers to improve coffee quality and sustainability, ultimately aiming for higher prices.

• Thursday, 6 May – Fire Department Coffee launches Spirit-Infused Coffee Subscription Club. The Rockford, Illinois roaster launched their first Spirit-Infused coffee in 2016, but are now releasing a new monthly rotating range. The first flavour is Blood Orange Bourbon, and the subscription service is only available to club members.

• Thursday, 6 May – Global Coffee Platform revises Baseline Coffee Code. The association initially developed the Code in October 2020, but held public consultations throughout March and April this year to review the developing needs and demands of the coffee sector. The Code aims to serve as a framework for sustainability in coffee production.

• Friday, 7 May – Brazil requests the US and China join ICO. The US left the organisation under the Trump administration, but there are hopes that it will rejoin under Biden. The ICO has requested that China joins in previous years to represent its growing coffee consumption and production sectors.

• Friday, 7 May – FAO South Sudan “Excelling in Excelsa” project set to build new coffee processing facility. The partnership between Hummingbird Action for Peace and Development, Interchurch Coordination Committee Development Aid Cooperation, and Equatoria Teak Company has led to a three-year project in the Equatoria region of the country. Between July and March, the region provides suitable growing conditions for the rare excelsa species.

• Friday, 7 May – FNC hosts sixth national quality contest, entitled “Colombia Land of Diversity”. Around 1,100 farmers across 15 regions in the country submitted their coffees, with 210 going through to the second round. The top 26 lots are now being scored by international judges.

• Friday, 7 May – NCA announces CEO of Probat Wim Abbing as newest board member. Abbing’s addition to the board of directors will help to strengthen the German manufacturer’s presence in the US market.

• Friday, 7 May – Exports of Brazilian coffee to EU and UK increased in first quarter of 2021. EU imports rose by 18%, while UK imports increased in volume by 23%.

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

• Wednesday, 28 Apr – Arabica ICE prices reach three-year high. July prices settled at US $1.4175 per lb after reaching US $1.4415. The Brazilian real also strengthened against the dollar.

• Thursday, 29 Apr – Specialty coffee training centre in DRC set to open in coming months. The project in the Lake Kivu region was started by the University of Buffalo and the Coffee Quality Institute. Construction began in May 2020, and will provide job opportunities in the coffee sector for conflict survivors, women, and people with disabilities.

• Thursday, 29 Apr – Allegra World Coffee Portal report breaks down Scandinavian coffee market. Throughout 2020, the overall number of outlets reduced due to Covid-19 disruptions. The report found that 94% of Scandinavians typically drink coffee at least once per week, but that only 28% expressed interest in coffee delivery services.

• Thursday, 29 Apr – illycaffè opens Gran Caffè illy in Eataly London. The coffee bar is inspired by Italian cafés. It offers nine different arabica coffees and illy’s Cold Brew range of beverages. Indoor seating will be available from May 17.

• Friday, 30 Apr – IWCA Virtual Convention 2021 to take place from June 14 to 18. The online event will allow attendees to connect with members of the non-profit’s 27 chapters, and learn more about the organisation’s work. IWCA recently welcomed Emily Bollinger – Green Coffee Manager for Peet’s Coffee – as its newest board member.

• Friday, 30 Apr – Cenicafé identifies six new species of coffee leaf rust in Colombia. The research institution also found nine new variants of CLR, leading to further concerns about plant immunity. The FNC is encouraging producers to replant with proven disease-resistant varieties.

• Friday, 30 Apr – Victoria University finds consuming one or two cups of coffee before exercising can improve performance. Between 30 to 60 minutes before a workout, researchers found that 3 to 6mg of coffee for every kilogram of body weight can enhance endurance and strength training.