Latest news with #coffeeindustry
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coffee Rally Has Peaked But Tariffs Can Pose Risks, Lavazza Says
(Bloomberg) -- Coffee retail prices have peaked for now but remain vulnerable to tariff risks and regulatory changes, according to Italian roaster Luigi Lavazza SpA. Singer Akon's Failed Futuristic City in Senegal Ends Up a $1 Billion Resort Are Tourists Ruining Europe? How Locals Are Pushing Back Can Americans Just Stop Building New Highways? Denver City Hall Takes a Page From NASA Philadelphia Trash Piles Up as Garbage Workers' Strike Drags On The worst is 'hopefully' over, and prices at the supermarket are set to stabilize in line with the slipping costs of green or unroasted beans after a decent crop in top grower Brazil, Giuseppe Lavazza, chairman of the family-owned firm said in an interview. Supply concerns earlier this year had sent prices soaring to record highs above $4 a pound, forcing roasters to transfer costs to consumers. That hurt demand as coffee-drinkers cut back purchases or switched to cheaper blends, he added. While futures prices are now about 30% below February levels, 'the market is very nervous, and there is still a lot of uncertainty,' Lavazza said. 'We need at least a couple of sound harvests coming out of Brazil and Vietnam to say that the storm is over.' Global coffee production is expected to grow in the next season, barring adverse weather in the top growers as farmers increase acreage, Lavazza added. 'There is a big push to produce more coffee, taking advantage of high prices. The next year we will see more abundant availability of coffee around the world.' Still, prices in Europe could come under pressure from European Union regulations to curb global deforestation, set to kick in at the end of the year. The company favors postponing the legislation by a year or two to give producers and buyers more time to prepare. The coffee market is also focused on President Donald Trump's tariffs and the impact they may have on coffee-growing countries. That risks making the beverage costly for US consumers, the company said. Will Trade War Make South India the Next Manufacturing Hub? 'Our Goal Is to Get Their Money': Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate 'Telecom Is the New Tequila': Behind the Celebrity Wireless Boom SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
WIRED
28-06-2025
- Business
- WIRED
Breville's Luxe Brews Great Drip Coffee—and Makes Real-Deal Cold Brew
The new Breville Luxe Brewer is designed for hot coffee. It makes excellent, subtle, hot drip coffee. But it also does something that almost no other fancy coffee maker on the market achieves. It makes real cold brew coffee—the sweet and gentle stuff, the cool elixir of smooth summers and milky heaven. The Luxe is part of a new generation of drip coffee makers that has helped transform drip coffee from bitter office fuel into a subject for connoisseurship. The Luxe's predecessor, the Precision Brewer, was one of only a handful certified by the Specialty Coffee Association to brew drip coffee according to narrow benchmarks on temperature and extraction. The Luxe, though not yet certified, brews according to these same exacting criteria. The Luxe achieves this feat through a whole lot of technical sophistication. This means PID temperature controllers, tightly controlled flow rates, programmable algorithms for different water volumes, and the same thermocoil heating technology and pump you'd use to make espresso. But the Luxe makes cold brew, blessedly, by leaving it alone. Real cold brew is made only with coffee, water, and time. Messing with this formula, or hurrying it up, never quite gives you the real thing. The Luxe gives you the real thing—holding room-temp water and coffee grounds in suspension for as long as 24 hours before releasing it into a waiting carafe. In a world of coffee makers desperate to screw up cold brew, leaving it alone amounts to wild innovation. I haven't seen this function in any coffee maker not made by Breville. The device isn't perfect, of course. There are some quirks. But the Luxe is an impressive machine that keeps Breville in the conversation when it comes to the best drip coffee devices out there. The Fast Drip Photograph: Matthew Korfhage Before we return to cold brew, let's talk drip coffee. It's good. The Luxe is a handsome device, and also a big one: It makes 12 cups of coffee in a batch, as big as the biggest office brewers but much more gentle and precise in how it brews big-batch coffee. The device is programmable in most of its particulars. By clicking the settings option, coffee geeks are free to create their own custom criteria, modulating the brew temp to an accuracy of a single degree. Other settings adjust the size and time of a pour-over-style bloom, and the flow rate of coffee through a shower-style brew head. But most people won't bother. If you press the 'brew' button, the device will sense the amount of water in the removable water reservoir and brew accordingly. For small-batch coffee below 20 ounces, you'll use a conical basket insert and conical paper filters. For larger batches, you'll use flat-bottom filters and the default flat-bottom brewing basket.
South China Morning Post
23-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Coffee revolution brewing to meet Asia's growing demand
When Stuart Wee entered the coffee industry, he did so to fix what he saw as a fatal flaw in speciality coffee shops, mainly, that 'they don't seem very special any more'. Advertisement Today, the co-founder of Singapore's immersive Restaurant Absurdities and its minimalistic Asylum Coffeehouse has adopted a strategy of quality and innovation, going so far as to spend two years developing his own roast using a cutting-edge, low-energy digital roaster from Taiwanese company Rubasse. A barista makes latte art at Singapore's Asylum Coffeehouse. Photo: courtesy Asylum Coffeehouse 'Speciality coffee is still a niche product,' says Wee, 'so the challenge is to get the customer to try new products that aren't just high-volume milk-based ones.' That there's a demand for such innovation in coffee is hardly surprising. Many markets within the Asia-Pacific region are relatively mature, driving demand for new offerings, but the region is also set to become the fastest-growing coffee market in the world over the next few years, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2 per cent, almost twice that of other regions, according to Mordor Intelligence market research. Last year, the Specialty Coffee Association held the inaugural World of Coffee Asia convention in Busan, South Korea, while the second edition took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, last month. Advertisement The Asia-Pacific region is home to a large cohort of young consumers with high disposable incomes, for whom, says Wee, 'coffee is increasingly seen not just as a treat but as an image product that appeals to the region's growing middle and upper-middle classes. This is why there's so much more choice in coffee now'.
RNZ News
22-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
How soaring prices are brewing prosperity for PNG's coffee farmers
Las Malo coffee mill Photo: Scott Waide For decades, coffee has been the lifeblood of countless rural communities in Papua New Guinea, a crop that sustains families and connects this rugged nation to global markets. As international coffee prices surge to unprecedented levels, and farmers experience a windfall, the challenge for many within government is to address the existing systemic and long-standing issues that have prevented farmers from fully reaping the benefits of these high prices. The latest figures paint a remarkable picture. According to Kina Bank, coffee prices jumped a staggering 70 per cent in 2024, with an additional 18 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2025. While there's been a slight dip in the current June quarter, prices remain historically high. These elevated figures are largely attributed to adverse weather conditions in major coffee-producing nations like Brazil and Vietnam, creating a global supply deficit that PNG farmers are now helping to fill. For the vast majority of rural highlands households reliant on coffee, this translates to tangible benefits. More money in the pockets of smallholder farmers means improved living standards, better access to education, and greater financial security. "Coffee is everything. We pay for school fees. We pay for our cultural obligations," said Robert Solala, a coffee farmer and community leader in Nivi village, Unggai-Bena District, Eastern Highlands - one of PNG's leading coffee-producing provinces. This sentiment is echoed across the coffee-growing regions. Robert Solala, coffee farmer Photo: Scott Waide The surge in income is driving a mini-boom in local economies, as farmers spend their newfound earnings on goods and services, stimulating wholesale and retail trade. ANZ Research forecasts Papua New Guinea's GDP to grow by 4.7 per cent in 2025, largely powered by exports of coffee, cocoa, and palm oil. This economic uplift is also playing a crucial role in easing the country's persistent foreign currency issues. While the figures look good, the difficult realities for many coffee farmers continue largely unabated. Nivi village is located in a valley where getting a trusty Toyota Landcruiser to the community can take hours of pushing and pulling, especially after even a slight drizzle. The road leading to the village has deteriorated so much that farmers often walk for four hours, carrying 40-kilogram coffee bags, to reach the nearest truck stop. Even with these difficulties, the village still produces an average of 5,000 bags a year. "This is something I am yet to understand. I don't know if the government understands the difficulties we face as farmers," Robert Solala said. "We contribute to the economy of the country. We make the money. But we're not getting the help we need." Solala is one of many smallholder farmers who continue to work the land despite the challenges. With the spike in coffee prices expected to be sustained for at least the next two to three years, he is hoping there will be long-term investments into transport infrastructure and farmer support. The PNG government, with support from international partners like the World Bank, has been actively working to bolster the coffee industry and ensure these benefits reach the grassroots. However, it's the slow grind of legacy problems like land disputes and bad roads that present a tricky situation for those driving the intervention programs. A cornerstone of these efforts is the PNG Agriculture Commercialization and Diversification (PACD) Project, managed by the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC), PNG's administering body. Co-funded by the World Bank and the government, the project is a multi-million dollar initiative designed to empower farmers and enhance productivity. For the PACD's project coordinator in the highlands, Potaisa Hombunaka, bad roads remain the biggest obstacle to achieving the high coffee export figures demanded by Prime Minister James Marape. "If I had the financial ability, I would put all the money into roads," Hombunaka said. "So-called experts who plan in air-conditioned offices in Port Moresby need to go to the villages and understand how people live." Potaisa Hombunaka Photo: Scott Waide Potaisa Hombunaka has worked in the coffee-rich highlands for the last three decades. His intimate knowledge of landownership and the deadly disputes it can trigger make him a valuable government asset. Under a similar project six years ago, Potaisa Hombunaka and his team oversaw the construction of what they called "coffee roads". These are short stretches of road leading into coffee-growing regions that drastically reduced the time it took for farmers to transport their coffee. Under the PACD Project, the focus has shifted to enhancing the ability of farmers and PNG exporters to actively participate in global trade. "In 2023, coffee was the second biggest commodity traded on the world market. The first was oil. But our farmers get very little from the global trade. That has to change now." The program has been careful with the partners it works with, avoiding any groups with unresolved land disputes. Through the PACD, coffee farmers are receiving direct assistance in various forms. This includes the distribution of high-quality coffee seedlings, crucial for revitalizing aging coffee trees and increasing yields. In provinces like Chimbu and the Eastern Highlands, farmers have received thousands of seedlings, along with essential farming tools such as pruning shears and canvases. The project also supports the construction of vital infrastructure, such as coffee training centres, storage sheds, and wet mills - facilities that improve the quality of coffee processing and help farmers fetch better prices for their beans. In Goroka, Las Malo, a family-owned coffee processor, has just begun using an electronic colour sorter. The machine, which occupies two-thirds of a newly built warehouse, removes the need for manual labour and quadruples production. "Since 2019, we've paid K13 million [kina] in taxes. We buy directly from farmers," said owner Ken Dumudi. Ken Dumudi - owner, Las Malo Photo: Scott Waide However, there is still a tough nut for the PNG government to crack. The vast majority of coffee exported comes from smallholder farmers who cultivate coffee on their customary land. While plantations with state land titles produced coffee from the 1960s through the 1980s, much of that land has, since Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975, been taken over by its customary owners, many of whom are embroiled in long-running land disputes, some spanning 40 years. "All our coffee comes from smallholders," says Ken Dumudi of Las Malo. "Even us, we don't own plantations." The interventions are not just economic; they are also fostering social change. In areas previously affected by tribal conflict, coffee initiatives are becoming powerful tools for peace and community building. The Kualga Women's Development Association in Nebiliyer, for instance, has received significant funding through the CIC-PACD Project for a nursery, office, and wet bean factory. This project is not only boosting coffee production but also bridging relationships damaged by decades of unrest. While the current climate is undoubtedly positive, challenges remain. Issues such as pest management, declining production in some areas due to aging trees, and ongoing logistical hurdles in transporting coffee from remote farms to market still need addressing. However, with sustained high prices and continued support, the outlook for Papua New Guinea's coffee farmers is brighter than it has been in years, provided prices remain high and long-term investments are made into existing and new transport infrastructure.
News.com.au
08-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Australian coffee tipped to reach $12 amid international pressures
Coffee may need to reach $12 a cup for Australia to compete with other countries for the sacred beans. Benchmark prices hit an all-time high in April, and industry insiders say Chinese demand for beans is squeezing prices in Australia. '(The) Chinese have very much converted from tea to coffee,' Essential Coffee chief executive Todd Hiscock told the ABC. 'They're buying up unprecedented levels of coffee supplies, often they're taking a whole Brazilian stock load in ways that's never been seen before.' Median prices per cup needed to increase to between $8 to $12, he said. 'We've got to come to the party and pay in a competitive global market,' Hiscock said. Brazil produces more than one-third of the world's coffee beans. The country battled through a drought in 2024 that was capped off with a cold snap. Combined, this slashed the overall harvests. As investors turn away from the volatile US, the Brazilian real has also climbed, disincentivising exports out of Brazil. Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer. The El Nino weather pattern plunged Vietnam's coffee-growing regions into drought for the past two years, damaging the plants so badly that many will not fully recover for another two years. These international pressures, plus general inflation, are slicing margins at Australian cafes. A large player in the Australian coffee industry, Essential Coffee's wage bill has risen 9 per cent in two years, combined with a 29 per cent increase in rent and a 6 per cent rise in insurance. Mr Hiscock told the ABC the price of wholesale coffee had risen 119 per cent since November 2023. 'It's hard because people are very sensitive to their beloved coffee and when you move the price up, you find not just a lot of negative reaction, you find some very terse expletives,' he said.
