Financial News on Coffee

Coffee is a $100 billion/year global industry. And probably the most popular mildly addictive drug for its caffeine. Wikipedia: Coffee, KukaXoco: Starbucks stock chart

• Coffee production may be imperiled as forests are destroyed for more crops. A new report by an industry watchdog adds to growing scientific consensus that as forests are felled to make way for coffee farms, rainfall decreases and crops are more likely to fail. The new research comes as Brazil and other coffee-producing countries are fighting with the European Union about a law that would force them to provide information about whether coffee sold in the bloc had been grown on recently deforested land.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 22 October 2025

• Trump's high taxes/tariffs on imports of coffee (99% of coffee in the USA is imported) is forcing up the price of coffee in the USA
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 19 October 2025

• Due in part to Trump's taxes/tariffs, prices of groceries continue to rise. Record beef prices and coffee that costs $1 more per pound since May have shoppers cutting back on some foods, stockpiling others.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 17 October 2025

• Año cafetero 2024-2025 registró la mejor producción de los últimos 33 años
  - La Republica, 07 October 2025

• Goldman Sachs warns that demand for speciality coffee is at risk as youth unemployment rises. [KM: yes, but AI can generate images of young people buying coffee]
  - Zero Hedge (locked), 01 October 2025

• Starbucks announces it will close hundreds of stores (about 1% of its locations) and fire about 900 people at its headquarters (having fired 1000 people in February). It plans to remodel more than 1000 locations.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 25 September 2025

• Starbucks announces it will close hundreds of stores (about 1% of its locations) and fire about 900 people at its headquarters (having fired 1000 people in February). It plans to remodel more than 1000 locations.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 25 September 2025

• In a $1 billion restructuring, Starbucks announces it will close hundreds of stores (about 1% of its locations) and fire about 900 people at its headquarters (having fired 1000 people in February). It plans to remodel more than 1000 locations.
  - Bloomberg, 25 September 2025

• Prices of arabica coffee beans soar as analyst warns of "weather disasters" [due to global heating due to the burning of fossil fuels] risk denting global production. "... there is ZERO POSSIBILTY for global production to recover until 2030 and it's a FACT that The World IS Running Out of Coffee ..."
  - Zero Hedge, 17 September 2025

• How Luckin Coffee, based in Zhōngguó, is challenging Starbucks in the USA
  - Comcast's CNBC, 16 September 2025

• Yes, your morning coffee has gotten more expensive. Coffee prices are up nearly 21 percent over the past year, partly because of Trump's punishing taxes/tariffs on Brazil and Vietnam.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 12 September 2025

• From the Ottoman Empire to the modern Starbucks, coffee seems to power entrepreneurship and innovation
  - The Daily Economy, 03 September 2025

• Trump's taxes/tariffs are making your morning coffee more expensive. JM Smucker (which manufacturers Folgers coffee) reported a fiscal first-quarter loss, as tariffs raised coffee prices and sapped profit from its retail coffee division.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 28 August 2025

• Denmark has proposed eliminating its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 26 August 2025

• Ratings agency S&P Global put a negative credit outlook on U.S. soft drinks giant Keurig Dr Pepper after the company announced Monday it will buy Dutch coffee group JDE Peet's. S&P analysts highlighted the increased debt profile of Keurig following the announcement of its $18 billion takeover of Peet's.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 25 August 2025

• Keurig Dr Pepper will acquire JDE Peet's - whose brands include Douwe Egberts, Kenco and Peet's Coffee - for more than $18 billion and split into a soft drinks company (Beversge Co.) and a coffee group (Global Coffee Co.). Dr Pepper was the second-most popular soda in the United States last year, below just Coca-Cola and ahead of Pepsi. Global Coffee Co., with around $16 billion in expected annual sales, will be the world's largest 'pure-play' coffee company, selling coffee in more than 100 countries, according to the statement.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 25 August 2025

• Keurig Dr Pepper will acquire JDE Peet's - whose brands include Douwe Egberts, Kenco and Peet's Coffee - for more than $18 billion and split into a soft drinks company (Beversge Co.) and a coffee group (Global Coffee Co.). Dr Pepper was the second-most popular soda in the United States last year, below just Coca-Cola and ahead of Pepsi. Global Coffee Co., with around $16 billion in expected annual sales, will be the world's largest 'pure-play' coffee company, selling coffee in more than 100 countries, according to the statement.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 25 August 2025

• Keurig Dr Pepper will acquire JDE Peet's - whose brands include Douwe Egberts, Kenco and Peet's Coffee - for more than $18 billion and split into a soft drinks company (Beversge Co.) and a coffee group (Global Coffee Co.). Dr Pepper was the second-most popular soda in the United States last year, below just Coca-Cola and ahead of Pepsi. Global Coffee Co., with around $16 billion in expected annual sales, will be the world's largest 'pure-play' coffee company, selling coffee in more than 100 countries, according to the statement.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 25 August 2025

• A stagnant job market is a rising risk for the economy of the USA. Employers are holding on to workers but have slowed hiring to a crawl, creating a fragile labor market.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 25 August 2025

• Starbucks is set to reduce weekly production at its five U.S. coffee roasting and packaging facilities by two days starting in January 2025. Starbucks has been struggling with weak demand in the United States for its pricey beverages.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 22 August 2025

• The global market for Arabica coffee beans has surged in August with prices gaining more than 30% on the ICE exchange, driven mainly by Trump's huge taxes/tariffs he has imposed on imports from Brazil, the head of Brazil's coffee exporters council, Cecafe, said on Friday.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 22 August 2025

• In the USA, vegetable prices are up 38.9% (Trump's taxes/tariffs), coffee prices up 25% (Trump's taxes/tariffs on Brazil), and electricity prices are rising twice as fast as inflation (thanks to the AI bubble). 83% of people in the USA are suffering from 'stressflation'.
  - Zero Hedge, 18 August 2025

• A new genetic study on the coffee species liberica (Coffea liberica), published in Nature Plants, has found that liberica is actually three distinct species with unique genetic, morphological, and climate adaptations that might offer more climate-resilient alternatives to arabica and robusta coffee. For now though, it comprises only 1% of all coffee bean production.
  - Phys.org, 18 August 2025

• A coffee analyst warns that a frost in Brazil could deliver a "death blow" to the 2026 Harvest. "Brazil coffee lands across Minas Gerais including all top regions from Southern Minas to Alta Mogiana and the Cerrado already have been hammered."
  - Zero Hedge, 13 August 2025

• Coffee prices spiked 14.5% in July from a year ago, while the average retail price for a pound of ground coffee hit $8.41. That is before Trump's 50% taxes/tariffs on imports from Brazil took effect last week
  - Apollo Global's Yahoo Finance, 12 August 2025

• Caffeinated coffees are mostly free of toxins, with a few exceptions. "While some contaminants were present, most were found at minimal levels and well below the European Union's safety limits per 6-ounce serving." Trace amounts of glyphosate and phthalates were found. Africa has some of the lowest levels of heavy metals, while the highest were found in coffee from Hawaii (which has volcanic soils).
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 11 August 2025

• Zhōngguó seizes an opportunity to praise "beloved coffee from Brazil" while strongly criticizing Trump's "bullying" taxes/tariffs
  - Zero Hedge, 07 August 2025

• Starbucks is under financial pressure again, as Trump's huge 50% taxes/tariffs on imports from Brazil increase the price of coffee
  - Apollo Global's Yahoo Finance, 05 August 2025

• Zhōngguó has approved 183 new coffee companies in Brazil to export their products to markets in Zhōngguó. Another wise move on the part of Zhōngguó, as Trump idiotically imposes taxes/tariffs of 50% on imports from Brazil because Brazil is legitimately prosecuting one of Trump's authoritarian buddies
  - Thomson's Reuters, 03 August 2025

• The authoritarian Trump's steep import tax/tariff on imports of coffee from Brazil (to punish Brazil for legitimately prosecuting a pal of Trump) probably will reshuffle trade routes for coffee beans from the world's top grower and exporter, benefiting Zhōngguó and Europe and incentivizing traders to look for indirect routes into the USA. "The pain will be felt from Sao Paulo to Seattle - from origin to roaster, to cafe chains, grocers, and morning commuters."
  - Thomson's Reuters, 01 August 2025

• The authoritarian Trump's steep import tax/tariff on imports from Brazil (to punish Brazil for legitimately prosecuting a pal of Trump) will disrupt the proces of agricultural products such as coffee and orange juice
  - Bloomberg, 01 August 2025

• Caffeine may help some bacteria keep antibiotics out of their cells, potentially reducing the therapeutic effects of the drugs, a new laboratory study hints. However, experts caution that it's not yet clear how this effect might play out in humans, so caffeine drinkers needn't panic yet.
  - Live Science, 31 July 2025

• The defiant response to Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silava's to Trump's 50% tariff threat was validated Wednesday - at least in the short term - with markets and businesses breathing a collective sigh of relief at the long list of exemptions to the taxes
  - Bloomberg, 31 July 2025

• Why Trump's proposed taxes/tariffs on imports from Brazil (to punish the government) might cause coffee prices in the USA to soar. With Brazil's dominance in arabica bean production, coffee bean roasters in the USA have few alternatives for a different exporter.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 31 July 2025

• After six consecutive quarters of declining sales, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said on July 29 that price increases at the Seattle-based coffee giant would be a last resort
  - Zero Hedge, 30 July 2025

• Starbucks is moving away from operating stores that only accept mobile orders for pickup because they don't have the right vibes
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 30 July 2025

• Starbucks faces a new rival for coffee sales that is very competitive. Luckin, based in Zhōngguó, opened its first stores in New York, showing off its mobile app and low prices, areas where Starbucks has struggled.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 26 July 2025

• One to three cups of coffee each day could cause healthy aging in women. One to three cups a day was also linked to heart health benefits and lower mortality rates. But limit caffeine consumpton to 400 milligrams a day or less.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 26 July 2025

• Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol made 6,666 times more than the median employee at his coffee chain last year
  - Jiaravanon's Fortune, 25 July 2025

• Coca-Cola's failed investment into retail coffee, Costa Coffee, faces an uncertain future. Acquired for $5.1 billion in 2018, its revenues have been flat since the acquisition.
  - Apollo Global's Yahoo Finance, 25 July 2025

• Behind the decision of a coffee company based in Maine to raise prices. Like many companies, Rock City Coffee resisted increasing prices as Trump's tax/tariff trade war drove its costs up. Then it ran out of options.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 25 July 2025

• Thank Trump when your coffee prices increase in the coming months. Trump is threatening to impose 50% taxes/tariffs on products from Brazil, if Brazil continues to justifiably prosecute former president (and right-wing Trump buddy) Bolsonaro for crimes he alleged committed. Trump whines when other countries try to interfere in the USA, but out of spite, is glad to interfere with other countries. Enjoy that thought when paying more for coffee.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 20 July 2025

• Jefferies says sell Starbucks over high valuation, and its "questionable strategic priorities"
  - CNBC (locked), 17 July 2025

• Commodities traders are racing against time to sell as much coffee from Brazil as possible in the USA before Trump's new 50% tax/tariff on Brazilian products is implemented on August 1
  - Thomson's Reuters, 15 July 2025

• The authoritarian Trump's threat to impost taxes/tariffs of 50% on imports from Brazil (to interfere with Brazil's criminal justice system) will drive up the prices of coffee and orange juice for people in the USA (just so Trump can interfere with Brazil's criminal justice system to help a friend).
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 14 July 2025

• How to panic people in Italy? Raise the price of espresso. Prices for coffee beans have risen, but in a country where coffee drinking is a ritual, customers demand cheap espresso. That has left coffee bars in a bind.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 13 July 2025

• We visited an outpost of Zhōngguó-based Luckin Coffee in New York City. Quieter, since most orders handled by cellphone apps.
  - Investopedia, 12 July 2025

• The authoritarian Trump's threat to impose taxes/tariffs of 50% on Brazil highlights the illegal, unconstitutional and harmful nature of his erratic trade policies. Brazil prosecuting a former president is NOT a national security threat to the USA, only a threat to a Trump friend.
  - Reason, 10 July 2025

• The authoritarian Trump's attack on Brazil, wanting to imposing a 50% tax/tariff on all imports from Brazil, stretches his constitutional abuses even further, because his justification, Brazil legally prosecuting a former president for corruption, is not a national security threat to the USA to trigger a law that allows him to impose these insane taxes/tariffs
  - Comcast's CNBC, 10 July 2025

• Coffee prices increase after Trump threatens 50% taxes/tariffs on Brazil
  - Financial Times (locked), 10 July 2025

• Coffee prices increase after Trump threatens 50% taxes/tariffs on Brazil
  - Murdoch's New York Post, 10 July 2025

• Financial assets in Brazil are punished, and decrease in value, after Trump threatens 50% taxes/tariffs on Brazil
  - Bloomberg (locked), 10 July 2025

• Investors offer up to $10 billion to buy out Starbuck's operations in Zhōngguó
  - Comcast's CNBC, 09 July 2025

• Drinking instant coffee can increase your risk of age-related macular degeneration by up to 700%, if you have a certain genetic trait.
  - Murdoch's New York Post, 08 July 2025

• Why do Yemeni coffeehouses currently seem to be everywhere in the USA? They are popular late-night, alcohol-free places for people to enjoy.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 05 July 2025

• Luckin Coffee, based in Zhōngguó, opens its first two stores in the USA, both in New York City. New competition for Starbucks.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 01 July 2025

• Coffee farms in the Los Santos region of Costa Rica are being devestated by climate change due to global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Heavy rains are a big culprit, fueling diseases like coffee rust and anthracnose. Wet soils cause young fruit to drop early, and irregular flowering throws off the crop cycle. Farmers now obsess over weather forecasts, trying to adapt to unpredictable rains and rising temperatures that disrupt the delicate balance coffee plants need.
  - Tico Times, 26 June 2025

• War, inflation and now drought are hitting global food supplies. Staples including wheat, beef and coffee are all being affected by the lack of rainfall. In some cases, prices are climbing to record highs.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 22 June 2025

• Starbucks moves to the next phase in its turnaround: winning over employees. Store managers applauded coming changes, like more seating inside cafes and full-time assistant managers.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 15 June 2025

• The coffee retail giants of Zhōngguó, such as Luckin Coffee and Cotti, are preparing an expansion into the USA. Coffee chains in Zhōngguó combine budget pricing with unusual flavors that often blur the line between coffee and bubble tea.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 10 June 2025

• Brewed for longevity: drinking coffee linked with healthy aging in women. Large study finds women consuming caffeinated coffee in midlife are more likely to be healthy agers; tea and decaf coffee didn't show the same benefits and cola sodas were strongly associated with lesser likelihood of healthy aging.
  - EurekAlert, 02 June 2025

• How your morning cup of coffee can interact with certain medicines in ways that reduce their effectiveness -- increase the risk of side-effects.
  - ZME Science, 30 May 2025

• Starbucks is changing one of the most generous parts of its loyalty program. Beginning June 24, the coffee chain is eliminating the 25-star bonus for customers that bring in a personal, reusable cup for drink orders. Moving forward, they will instead earn double stars on their entire order, a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed, which might result in fewer stars to earn free drinks and food. Starbucks is trying to increase profit margins.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 30 May 2025

• How does mildly addictive caffeine in coffee affect the sleeping brain?
  - Univ. Montreal news, 29 May 2025

• 4 myths about coffee debunked by science, including that coffee does not deyhdrate you
  - Popular Science, 23 May 2025

• Nestle's Nescafe coffee brand will invest an additional $69 million in its business in Brazil
  - Thomson's Reuters, 22 May 2025

• Costa Rica is taking bold steps to protect its vital bee populations with the launch of the Bee Lab, a beekeeping laboratory in Naranjo aimed at safeguarding over one million bees and enhancing agricultural productivity. By integrating advanced technology and regenerative practices, the initiative promises to increase coffee and citrus crop yields by up to 25%, supporting farmers and ecosystems alike.
  - Tico Times, 21 May 2025

• More than 1,000 people working at Starbucks, baristas, go on strike to protest the new dress code
  - Associated Press, 14 May 2025

• Trump's crackdown on immigrants now has the prized Kona coffee bean fields of Hawaii as a target. The Trump crackdown has reached Hawaii, where immigrants, some undocumented, are crucial to cultivating the rare Kona coffee.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 14 May 2025

• Hundreds of people working at Starbucks strike over new dress code, and signal more walkouts. Starbucks implemented a new dress code that requires baristas to wear solid black tops, a change from prior practice that allowed any color.
  - Bloomberg, 13 May 2025

• The head chef at McDonald's explains the techniques the fast food chain uses to offer the best tasting coffee at a much lower price than Starbucks
  - New York Post, 12 May 2025

• Increased levels of caffeine in your blood could help you reduce body fat and the risk of diabetes
  - Science Alert, 09 May 2025

• Some coffee shops across the country are trying to keep remote workers from taking over, nixing WiFi and laptops to dissuade Zoom squatters from setting up shop
  - Axios, 09 May 2025

• 12,000 coffee shops are opened in Zhōngguó, while Starbucks suffers. A presidential endorsement increases thirst for the drink while aggressive expansion and price competition make it more accessible.
  - Alibaba's South China Morning Post, 04 May 2025

• Starbucks says that it is making progress on quest to fulfill orders faster. The coffee chain says its new technology can cut in-store wait times by two minutes, as it has been struggling with slowing sales.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 30 April 2025

• A 400-year-old tea and coffee shop, 't Zonnetje, faces closure in Amsterdam as tourism has caused years of skyrocketing rent which the owner cannot afford to pay anymore. Centuries-old businesses such as 't Zonnetje, which have long been entrenched in their local neighborhoods, remain increasingly susceptible to rising rents, as TikTok trendy eateries, generic sweet shops and 'coffeehouses' that specialize in marijuana proliferate among the tourist set.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 30 April 2025

• Shares of Starbucks decline 1% as it reported fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings that missed analyst's expectations
  - Investopedia, 29 April 2025

• Starbucks earnings preview: Tariff uncertainty could overshadow new CEO Brian Niccol's turnaround plan
  - Apollo Global's Yahoo Finance, 29 April 2025

• A planned law in the European Union has coffee growers in Ethiopia rushing to satisfy the law. The new law will require geolocation data to show that beans are not linked to deforestation. Farmers say they need more time to prepare.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 28 April 2025

• Coffee and cocoa will stay expensive. Judy Ganes of JGanes Consulting follows 'soft' commodities, which have seen price spikes due to poor harvests (due to global heating) and strong demand.
  - Barron's, 19 April 2025

• In protest of Trump's attacks on México and its people, more and more coffee shops will no longer sell 'Café Americano', but instead, 'Café Mexicano'
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 18 April 2025

• Roasted duck, plums and cheese: the bizarre brews fueling coffee 'wars' in Zhōngguó. Cafes are putting everything they can think of into drinks to stand out in hypercompetitive market.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 15 April 2025

• A bitter price increase in coffee shops in the USA due to Trump's tax/tariff war, which threatens a $100 billion/year industry, with 10% taxes/tariffs on most coffee imports. The vast majority of coffee in the US is imported. This will force coffee sellers in the USA to raise their prices.
  - BBC, 11 April 2025

• Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have found new cost-effective ways to make a great cup of pour-over coffee using fewer beans. Their findings could potentially provide insights into similar systems such as waterfalls and surface erosion.
  - Penn Today, 10 April 2025

• How a forgotten bean, Coffea stenophylla, could save coffee from extinction. The two main varieties of coffee, arabica and robusta, love water, and the places where they grow are getting less and less of it. New varieties are needed in light of global heating.
  - Smithsonian Magazine, 02 April 2025

• Illycaffe, a premium coffee maker in Italy, will be forced to raise prices in response to any taxes/tariffs imposed this week by Trump. "Taxes will be passed on to the final price." Illy kept prices steady last year despite a sharp increase in arabica bean prices but in 2025 it has increased prices by an average of 4% globally. The CEO added that some of the products sold in the U.S. could possibly be produced locally but the rest of the production would remain in Italy, where she confirmed a 120 million euro investment to double production capacity.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 01 April 2025

• Coffee roasters that were betting on lower prices opted out of hedging. Now consumers will pay the price. Coffee buyers didn't use the futures market to hedge costs, betting they could obtain a better price in the future. But supply shortages persisted and prices kept climbing, leaving companies from JDE Peet's NV to Starbucks no option but to raise costs for consumers. Average prices for a pound of ground roast coffee reached a record $7.25 a pound in February.
  - Bloomberg, 23 March 2025

• Major packaged food makers including Quaker Oats and Folgers coffee asked Trump for targeted exemptions from taxes/tariffs on imports like cocoa and fruit.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 12 March 2025

• North American coffee market participants are seeking clarity on how the trade war started by the administration of Trump impacts their businesses across the region, where operations are highly interconnected.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 12 March 2025

• Coffee exports from Costa Rica to Europe surpass exports to the USA for the first time
  - Tico Times, 11 March 2025

• A recent study published in Nature Microbiology reveals a new benefit of coffee: coffee supports the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. The researchers found that coffee drinkers had high levels of one specific bacteria strain, L. asaccharolyticus. The results suggest that drinking coffee can have a positive effect on your gut by helping the growth of good bacteria.
  - Food & Wine, 09 March 2025

• Global coffee traders and roasters say they have slashed their purchases to minimal levels, as the industry reels from a steep surge in prices that suppliers have yet to convince retail stores to accept.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 08 March 2025

• Coffee prices skyrocket in the Bay Area. With the cost of coffee at an all-time high, Bay Area cafes fear alienating customers. Last year, coffee was under $2 per pound. As of March 6, the price is still a staggering $4.13 per pound. As a result, many Bay Area cafes and roasters have been forced to jack up the cost of java. A hard decision: "You are so afraid of alienating your customer base."
  - SF Gate, 07 March 2025

• The CEO of Starbucks tells its workers to worker harder, after many other workers were fired
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 05 March 2025

• Excelsa, a rarely cultivated coffee bean better able to be grown in hot and dry conditions. It is native to South Sudan and a few other countries in Africa. It is also resistant to many common coffee pests and diseases. Yet it comprises less than 1% of the global market, well behind the arabica and robusta species that are the most consumed coffees in the world. Experts say excelsa will have to be shown to be practical at a much larger scale to bridge the gap in the market caused by climate change.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 03 March 2025

• Starbucks to fire 1,100 people working in corporate positions, amid sluggish sales
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 24 February 2025

• Starbucks to fire 1,100 people working in corporate positions, amid sluggish sales
  - Comcast's CNBC, 24 February 2025

• Coffee prices are at a 50-year high. Producers are not celebrating. Climate change and global heating are causing the higher prices, and coffee growers are worried about whether they can adapt.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 23 February 2025

• Coffee is in a "perfect price storm" - up 30% in 2025, and it is causing higher prices for consumers, with instant coffee prices up 7%
  - Apollo Global's Yahoo Finance, 6 February 2025

• Citi analyst warns that the rally in prices of Arabica coffee may have peaked as demand destruction looms. Andrea Illy, chairman of Italian roaster Illycaffe SpA warned that Arabica coffee futures could surge another 20-25% in the coming months. Illy explained that soaring prices would likely lead to demand destruction as consumers are forced to reduce coffee consumption.
  - Zero Hedge, 13 February 2025

• Starbucks invests $11 million in Costa Rica to open new coffee shops
  - Tico Times, 08 February 2025

• The levels of caffeine in your blood could affect the amount of body fat you carry, a factor that in turn could determine your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. "Genetically predicted higher plasma caffeine concentrations were associated with lower BMI and whole body fat mass".
  - Science Alert, 31 January 2025

• Starbucks earnings exceed expectations, but same-store sales decline for fourth straight quarter. Starbucks said its same-store sales fell 4%, fueled by a 6% decline in visits to its stores.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 28 January 2025

• Starbucks earnings exceed expectations, but same-store sales decline for fourth straight quarter. Starbucks said its same-store sales fell 4%, fueled by a 6% decline in visits to its stores.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 28 January 2025

• Arabica coffee prices hit new high on a brief political squabble between Colombia and the USA. Arabica coffee prices hit a record level, as traders digested the withdrawal of Trump's threats to impose tariffs and economic sanctions on Colombia.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 28 January 2025

• Starbucks is getting back to basics -- but trains baristas in de-escalation to manage new tensions. The new CEO is bringing back ceramic mugs and plush chairs for customers who want to enjoy their coffee in-store.
  - Salon, 27 January 2025

• This collagen-infused coffee powder is actually delicious
  - The Daily Beast, 27 January 2025

• "Nervousness" ripples across the coffee market as prices hit new record highs. The big price jump has traders reducing their exposure to the futures market due to elevated costs, making the market more prone to volatility. Prices have been boosted by concerns about the output in top producer Brazil, where a drought reduced the potential production for the upcoming season. The decline in certified arabica stockpiles held at exchange-monitored warehouses this week is another reminder of continuing supply concerns.
  - Zero Hedge, 24 January 2025

• Older people who regularly drink coffee have a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a new study. But the health benefits only apply to unsweetened, caffeinated coffee.
  - Science Alert, 21 January 2025

• The coffee industry in Costa Rica is experiencing a crisis due to labor shortages, causing a major loss of the current coffee bean harvest. The losses are due to strict new immigration laws in Nicaragua which have made it difficult for many people from Nicaragua to come to work in Costa Rica. The losses are also due to unseasonable rains that disrupted the crucial harvest season.
  - Tico Times, 19 January 2025

• Hanging out at Starbucks? You now need to order something. The coffee giant is reversing a policy that had allowed open access to its cafes, in a push to improve store environments.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 14 January 2025

• Starbucks reverses open public bathroom policy after junkie influx created unsafe environment
  - Zero Hedge, 14 January 2025

• People who get drink coffee in the morning reap benefits that are not seen in those who drink later in the day, according to the first major study into the health benefits of the drink at different times. Analysis of the coffee consumption of more than 40,000 adults found that morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die of any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease during a 10-year follow-up period than those who went without. But the benefits to heart health appeared to vanish in people who drank coffee throughout the day, the researchers found, with medical records showing no significant reduction in mortality for all-day drinkers compared with those who avoided coffee.
  - The Guardian, 08 January 2025

• For years, Starbucks was the dominant coffee chain in Zhōngguó. Now rivals (such as Luckin Coffee, ChaGee, HeyTea) offering local flavors and cheaper prices are crushing the company's profits in its second-largest market.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 08 January 2025

• Wholesale coffee prices are trading near a 50-year high because of shortages related to extreme weather (droughts in Brazil and Vietnam caused by global heating), and increased global demand
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 05 January 2025

• Concrete can be made 30 percent stronger by processing and adding charred coffee grounds to the concrete mix. Every year the world produces a staggering 10 billion kilograms (22 billion pounds) of coffee waste globally. Most ends up in landfills, worsening global heating.
  - Apollo Global's Yahoo Finance, 31 December 2024

• The soft agricultural market has seen a rollercoaster of performances, with orange juice, cocoa, cattle, and coffee hitting record highs amid persistent global supply concerns. These trends show little sign of abating and are expected to continue into 2025. According to Javier Blass, a columnist for Bloomberg, "Order your espresso now. It will be more expensive in 2025, and anyone trading energy and commodity markets into the new year will need caffeine to survive."
  - Zero Hedge, 30 December 2024

• Baristas at more than 300 Starbucks stores go on strike
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 25 December 2024

• Baristas at Starbucks hit the picket lines in a multi-state strike campaign. Do these kids realize that their jobs will just get automated by AI from Silicon Valley ?
  - Zero Hedge, 20 December 2024

• Baristas at Starbucks hit the picket lines in a multi-state strike campaign. Do these kids realize their jobs will just get automated by AI from Silicon Valley from the rich companies that are attuned to the rich owners of Starbucks?
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 20 December 2024

• Arabica coffee futures in New York hit a record high on Tuesday, driven by ongoing fears of a global supply crunch. Prices surged nearly 5% during the session, reaching their highest level in data dating back to 1972. At that time, coffee prices soared due to the disastrous Black Frost, which devastated Brazilian yields. In the cocoa market, the most active contract in New York jumped to the highest level in seven months over West Africa's dismal production outlook, yet another crop experiencing dwindling global supplies. The most-active cocoa contract has jumped 58% to $10,500 per metric ton since late October, the highest since June. This comes as adverse weather dents supplies from top growers in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
  - Zero Hedge, 10 December 2024

• Lowering your risk of mortality: 11 key health benefits from drinking coffee the right way
  - Zero Hedge, 08 December 2024

• The CEO of Starbucks claims he will fix the coffee chain's most infuriating problem - waiting in line a long time for a drink, but people don't believe him
  - Daily Mail, 06 December 2024

• The specialty coffee wave sweeping across small towns in Bharat
  - BBC, 30 November 2024

• Arabica coffee futures blasted through March 1977 highs into blue sky breakout territory as traders panicked about global supply fears originating in Brazil, the world's top producer. Arabica beans trading in New York hit $3.26 per pound on Wednesday, exceeding the $3.08 high last reached in March 1977. Bean prices have jumped 123% since September 2023.
  - Zero Hedge, 27 November 2024

• A rally in coffee futures that is increasing the financial cost of operating in the market has spurred two exporting companies in the world's top supplier Brazil to seek debt renegotiation. The move illustrates how a steep increase in coffee prices can become a burden for exporters, who buy and sell physical coffee supplies and use the futures market for hedging. With arabica coffee futures climbing more than 70% this year, they are having to deal with increased costs of hedging due to higher margin calls.
  - Bloomberg, 27 November 2024

• Coffee futures extended their rampant rally to the highest in more than four decades in New York on global supply worries, threatening to further raise costs for consumers. A severe drought earlier this year in Brazil has fueled worries about the coffee output of Brazil. That comes on top of concerns about another bean variety produced in Vietnam, after a key coffee belt was hit by dryness during the growing period and heavy rains arrived at the start of harvest.
  - Bloomberg, 27 November 2024

• Futures prices for Arabica coffee beans surge to 13-month highs amid a panic about stockpiles in Brazil
  - Zero Hedge, 25 November 2024

• Shade grown coffee thrives in the low altitude regions of Costa Rica
  - Tico Times, 24 November 2024

• Coffee shops are replacing the office for independent workers, but being a 'third place' can be a 'third rail'. Independent cafe owners are not profiting much and even Starbucks is struggling to adapt, even with paid memberships.
  - Sherwood News, 13 November 2024

• How Starbucks plans to reclaim its identity and increase revenue: more Sharpies (less pickups making it like a warehouse), fewer customizations of coffee drinks (which clog workflow and upset customers who have to wait)
  - Salon, 11 November 2024

• A fast-changing coffee market in Zhōngguó awaits Starbucks new CEO. Starbucks is facing challenges in Zhōngguó, as same-store sales in the country plummeted 14% in the fourth quarter. Starbucks is running up against a low-cost model led by local upstarts and money-conscious consumers, but it has some advantages.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 01 November 2024

• 7 ways that Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol plans to change the coffee chain. Many of the changes are meant to help Starbucks cut service times down to under four minutes. To finance the turnaround, the coffee chain is planning to open fewer locations over the next fiscal year.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 31 October 2024

• Starting next week, Starbucks customers will no longer pay more for adding non-dairy milk to their orders. The company said the removal of the non-dairy milk surcharge means customers who request it will pay around 10% less than they did previously.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 30 October 2024

• Somewhere amid the Frappuccinos, fans say Starbucks lost something. Customers are turning away from the coffee giant, and its new chief executive, Brian Niccol, has to figure out how to get them back, and recognizes some of the problems. "t can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too long or the handoff too hectic."
  - Boston.com, 30 October 2024

• After consumers reject the concept, Starbucks abandons the olive oil coffee that it launched less than one year ago. The failed idea was the brainchild of former CEO Howard Schultz, who got the idea after meeting with an olive oil producer who introduced him to the practice of consuming a tablespoon of olive oil each day. What resulted was a beverage lineup at Starbucks that was met with largely negative responses from media and consumers.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 29 October 2024

• Starbucks threatens to fire employees who do not work in the office - just weeks after reportedly letting new CEO work from home
  - Murdoch's New York Post, 29 October 2024

• Coffee price war burns Keurig and Starbucks. Both companies say they are reversing their strategies after price promotions dented sales.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 28 October 2024

• Rooibos tea - now the 'red espresso' to compete with coffee. By grinding rooibos leaves fine enough, they can be used in coffee espresso machines to make a drink, that while not tasting like coffee, with milk and honest, provides a similar experience with less/no caffeine
  - Al Jazeera, 27 October 2024

• Shares of Starbucks decline 3% after the coffee chain says sales fell again, suspends outlook for fiscal 2025. Starbuck's same-store sales slid for the third consecutive quarter, fueled by a 10% tumble in traffic to its North American stores.
  - Zero Hedge, 22 October 2024

• Starbucks suspends guidance as sales slump persists. The coffee chain needs to "fundamentally change" strategy, the new CEO, Brian Niccol, said. Shares fell in after-hours trading.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 22 October 2024

• Higher levels of caffeine in your blood may help reduce body fat, and a lower risk of diabetes
  - Science Alert, 20 October 2024

• The Starbucks stock rally has fizzled. Can its new CEO get it going again?
  - Barron's, 19 October 2024

• The coffee industry in Costa Rica is facing significant challenges due to rising labor costs and decreasing profits for producers. A major concern is that most of the revenue generated by the coffee industry does not make its way back to the producers. New regulations, potential increases in operational costs, and non-tariff barriers affecting coffee bean exports are all putting pressure on the short-term viability of the coffee sector in Costa Rica.
  - Tico Times, 18 October 2024

• The new CEO of Starbucks indicates that the company will reduce coffee deals and promotions
  - Zero Hedge, 14 October 2024

• The new CEO of Starbucks indicates that the company will reduce coffee deals and promotions
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 14 October 2024

• Starbucks expands coffee farms in Costa Rica and Guatemala
  - Tico Times, 04 October 2024

• Starbucks is buying up coffee farms in Costa Rica to protect its supply. Starbucks is expanding its efforts to grow coffee beans productively with climate resilience and profitability for farmers.
  - Q Costa Rica, 04 October 2024

• Howard Schultz, who was interim CEO of Starbucks at the time, broke federal labor law in 2022 by telling a California barista who raised concerns about unionization that "if you are not happy at Starbucks, you can go work for another company". A decision by the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday said the billionaire Schulz's statement was an unlawful, coercive threat.
  - Vox, 03 October 2024

• 500 Starbucks locations have voted to unionize as labor talks continue
  - Comcast's CNBC, 02 October 2024

• Zhōngguó and Brazil are finding the right blend for soaring coffee trade as demand brews. The coffee market in Zhōngguó is expected to grow to 313.3 billion yuan (US$44 billion) by the end of 2024, up from 265.4 billion yuan last year
  - Alibaba's South China Morning Post, 28 September 2024

• Hawaii is the only state boasting large-scale commercial coffee farming. Coffee beans revel in the mineral-rich volcanic soil, elevation and climate in Hawaii's coffee-growing regions on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island. The most famous is Kona, home to hundreds of coffee farms. But that bag of Hawaii coffee you bought on your last visit to Hawaii may not actually be Hawaii-grown coffee. Coffee claiming to be from Hawaii often consists of just 10% coffee grown on the Hawaiian Islands, with 90% from other places in the world.
  - SF Gate, 24 September 2024

• The worst drought in more than 70 years in Brazil, due to global heating, punishes coffee farms and threatens to push coffee prices even higher
  - Associated Press, 20 September 2024

• Moderate caffeine consumption associated with lower risk of developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases
  - MedicalXpress, 17 September 2024

• Arabica futures in New York jumped to $2.6475 per pound in New York, the highest since 2011. Prices are up 40% on the year as shortages of the cheaper robusta beans increase demand for arabica by coffee chains. Brazil s wrapping up its 2024-25 harvest and production prospects weakened after heat and dryness hurt fields. Attention is now shifting to next season's potential, and Brazil has been gripped by its worst drought in decades, threatening further crop damage.
  - Zero Hedge, 16 September 2024

• FoodTech companies are making progress with beanless coffee. On the plus side, coffee cultivation is currently the sixth largest cause of deforestation, and will get worse as consumption rises in Bharat and Zhōngguó. On the misanthropic side, coffee growing provides livelihoods and income to many smallholder farming families globally, he further notes. The conundrum is if they move away from growing coffee, they will likely instead turn to growing more coca - which has similar deforestation issues.
  - BBC, 12 September 2024

• Scientists discover an amazing practical use for leftover coffee grounds - producing a concrete that is 30 percent stronger by processing and adding charred coffee grounds to the concrete mix. Every year the world produces a staggering 10 billion kilograms (22 billion pounds) of coffee waste globally. Most ends up in landfills. "The disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to global heating and climate change."
  - Science Alert, 11 September 2024

• "I have worked at Starbucks for 20 years -- my trendy, quirky coffee shop has become a soulless fast food joint." And the new CEO from Chiptotle will not help. "No matter what time of day I go in [to Chiptotle], they always looked pissed off."
  - Murdochs's New York Post, 03 September 2024

• There are a bazillion possible orders you can make at Starbucks, and it is killing the company as it disrupts revenues at the point-of-sale, as a-holes order multiple drinks with multiple combinations of ingredients. This plagues many retail chains - offering too many products to earn as much revenue as possible, even while the complexity decreases revenue.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 26 August 2024

• Unhappy customers reveal why Starbucks is no longer the king of coffee. Customers are tired of the rising costs, long wait times, and what some view as the company's bad political positions.
  - Murdoch's New York Post, 18 August 2024

• Australia is getting ready to have a larger role in the multi-billion dollar coffee industry. The coffee industry in Australia is aiming to get bigger and better. Whether it can or not hinges on access to prime real estate and importing smaller coffee trees.
  - Disney's ABC News, 18 August 2024

• Starbucks loses its 'perk' in Zhōngguó as drinkers flee for cheaper brews. "Frankly, I do not think Starbucks can gain a lot of traction in the small towns and villages of Zhōngguó.", an analyst says after the revenues for Starbucks declines.
  - Alibaba's South China Morning Post, 11 August 2024

• Zhōngguó now has the most coffee shops in the world. A national company, Luckin Coffee, has 20,000 stores, versus 7,300 for Starbucks.
  - Economist, 07 August 2024

• Evidence is mounting that moderate coffee consumption (1 to 3 cups per day) may improve cognition.
  - McGill University, 07 August 2024

• Consumer giants from Starbucks to General Mills have one big sales problem: Zhōngguó. Starbucks reported same-store sales in Zhōngguó dropped by 14% in the quarter ended June 30, far steeper than the 2% decline in the USA. "Consumer sentiment in Zhōngguó is quite weak."
  - Comcast's CNBC, 06 August 2024

• Why Starbucks is losing customers. Starbucks cafes have long been a 'thrid place' for customers to work and socialize outside of their home or office. But experts say the company is now less experiential than it used to be. This has led to increased competition, with value players like McDonald's and quick-service restaurants vying for a more price-conscious customer.
  - Comcast's CNBC, 05 August 2024

• Higher production costs for coffee bean farmers could lead to coffee price inflation: coffee lovers may have to pay more in the future as prices surge. Roasters and coffee experts are also signaling that prices could remain higher for longer, as factors like climate change reduce the coffee global supply.
  - Warner Brothers CNN, 01 August 2024

• Starbucks asks for time with a turnaround as retail sales slip. The world's largest coffee chain said same-store sales in the USA declined 2% for its June quarter, the second consecutive decline in the key metric since Covid-19 business disruptions in 2020.
  - Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (locked), 31 July 2024

• Shares of Starbuck rose nearly 7%, after news that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has reportedly built a sizable position in Starbucks
  - Murdoch's New York Post, 19 July 2024

• Prices of robusta coffee beans soar to 16-year highs after major grower vietnam records export plunge
  - Zero Hedge, 09 July 2024

• New research, based on samples from 3000 pregnant women, aimed at identifying foods that contain higher levels of PFAS found people who eat more white rice, coffee, eggs and seafood typically showed more of the toxic chemicals in their plasma and breast milk
  - The Guardian, 04 July 2024

• With global coffee production under threat from global heating and fungal diseases, coffee farmers seek new solutions. One study in a journal, Science, estimates that 60 percent of all coffee species are at risk of extinction. "Research shows that the number of regions best suited for growing coffee will be cut in half over the course of the next 25 years or so."
  - Zero Hedge, 28 June 2024

• Some coffee farms in Vietnam thrive despite drought, but may not stop espresso price hikes. Predictions are that coffee bean output in Vietnam will drop 10% to 15%.
  - Thomson's Reuters, 23 June 2024

• Vietnam, the top producer of robusta coffee, reports its smallest amount of coffee bean exports since 2009. Robusta is commonly used in instant coffee and espresso and as a filler in various ground coffee blends.
  - Zero Hedge, 12 June 2024

• Soaring prices of coffee force the owner of Folgers to increase supermarket prices
  - Zero Hedge, 08 June 2024

• Futures prices for robusta, the bean used in instant coffee, soars the most since 2011
  - Zero Hedge, 22 May 2024

• From slavery to specialty - the rise of black-owned coffee in Brazil.
  - Tico Times, 20 May 2024

• Coffee is anti-aging, linked to prevention of dementia and sarcopenia. As we age, muscle mass gradually declines, and with it, sometimes cognitive function. But recent research suggests drinking coffee may help.
  - Zero Hedge, 12 May 2024

• Robusta coffee bean prices near half-century high as Vietnam supply woes spark world crunch
  - Zero Hedge, 06 May 2024

• The next bean hyperinflating is Robusta coffee futures in London, hitting fresh record highs on Friday. This comes as poor harvests in Vietnam, the world's second-largest producer of robusta beans, fuels concerns about global shortages. Also, arabica futures are erupting. Futures for robusta, the cheaper coffee bean grown at lower altitudes and requiring less care than more expensive arabica, are up 2.6% to $3,945 per ton, a new record high based on data going back to 2008.
  - Zero Hedge, 13 April 2024

• Prices for Arabica coffee jump the most in a week in nearly three years. Arabica coffee futures with May delivery jumped 12.5% on the week (the largest weekly gain since July 2021), closing at $2.12 per pound.
  - Zero Hedge, 06 April 2024

• Cocoa and coffee prices have soared to record high -- and Citi predicts there may still be additional price increases
  - Comcast's CNBC, 04 April 2024

• Global heating is threatening the coffee supply of the world. By the end of the century between 35% and 75% of the coffee-growing land in Brazil, the biggest producer of coffee in the world, could be unusable.
  - Economist, 25 January 2024

• How coffee farmers in Hawaii fought counterfeit Kona beans. A testing method borrowed from geology helped farmers sue a slew of stores selling supposed 'Kona' coffee.
  - Ochs-Sulzberger's New York Times, 19 January 2024