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☆ I was a loyal Trader Joe's shopper for 13 years. But after switching careers and taking a pay cut, Aldi's value won me over.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Katrina Kernodle Walsh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

With Trader Joe's less than a mile from my doorstep, grabbing groceries with my 1-year-old daughter in tow was, frankly, relaxing. AdvertisementThis is why I — a loyal shopper — started cheating on Trader Joe's with Aldi. Three weeks ago, I grabbed my Trader Joe's totes and headed to Aldi to pick up olive oil, lemons, and coffee. Related storiesAlthough the products weren't displayed with quirky signage like at Trader Joe's, the bare-bones set-up still had a huge variety of produce. After eyeing my receipt, I was an immediate Aldi convertI was loyal to Trader Joe's for over a decade, but after one shopping trip, I'm an Aldi convert.

Persons: —, Aldi —, Katrina Kernodle Walsh, Aldi, Joe's, I've Organizations: Service, Business, Aldi Locations: Washington, Richmond , Virginia

☆ Your coffee’s getting pricier – and climate change could keep it that way
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Erika Tulfo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Roasters and coffee experts are also signaling that prices could remain higher for longer, as factors like climate change reduce the coffee global supply. Climate change drives prices up“Coffee is more sensitive to changes in temperature than many other crops,” said Michael Hoffmann, professor emeritus at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “Climate change is getting worse. According to Delany, coffee prices are typically between 100 to 140 cents, but have stayed consistently above that range for the past three years. “There’s a drum beat in the background that is climate change, and that is causing problems,” he said.

Persons: CNN —, Tomas Edelmann, ”, Hamburgo, Miranda, Ryan Delany, there’s, Michael Hoffmann, “, Brazil sneezes, Delany, Arabica, ” Neil Rosser, Lavazza, Miranda Edelmann, Giuseppe Lavazza, Nestle, Sharon Zackfia, William Blair, Rosser, ” Delany, you’re Organizations: CNN, Coffee, International Coffee Organization, United Nations, Coffee Trading Academy, Cornell University’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, US Department of Agriculture, Commodities, Financial Times, Nestle Locations: Chiapas, Mexico, Brazil, Arabica, Vietnam, Ukraine, Red

☆ Finding Great Coffee in Ho Chi Minh City
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Seth Sherwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Other than Brazil, no nation produces more coffee than Vietnam. Introduced by French colonists in the 19th century, the country’s coffee crop is now a $3 billion business and accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global market, making Vietnam the java giant of Southeast Asia. Quality, however, has only recently begun to catch up with quantity, mainly because farmers have begun augmenting Vietnam’s longtime cultivation of cheaper, easy-to-grow robusta beans with a connoisseur’s favorite, arabica. A major beneficiary has been the cafe scene in the country’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Thanks to direct crop-to-shop supplies, the retail business of coffee is booming as increasing numbers of indie roasteries and specialty coffeehouses sprout up around the city’s French colonial opera house, amid the megamalls and boutiques of fashionable Dong Khoi Boulevard, and in the shadows of the high-rise towers in District 2.

Locations: Brazil, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, Dong, District

☆ Climate Change Made Their Homes Unsafe. Who Pays for Their Move?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Nicholas Bariyo | Photographs Badru Katumba For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

BUDUDA, Uganda—On a steep slope dense with coffee and banana plants, farmer Irene Muyama starts each day by carefully checking a 5-inch-wide crack that recently appeared on a path her children take on their way to school. She has packed the family’s meager belongings into a pile of handwoven baskets, preparing to move to a new, safer home. The fertile highlands of Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano straddling Uganda’s border with Kenya, have become too dangerous for people to live and farm on, the Ugandan government says. The mountain has long produced some of the world’s finest Arabica beans for U.S. brands like Starbucks and Blue Bottle Coffee. But a series of deadly landslides that climate scientists say were caused by extreme changes in local rainfall patterns have thrust this mountain—and the people who live here—to the center of one of the most divisive battles in international climate negotiations.

Persons: Irene Muyama, Mount Elgon Locations: BUDUDA, Uganda, Mount, Kenya

☆ Kahlúa created a $105 fragrance that smells like an espresso martini
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —For those that can’t get enough of espresso martinis, there’s now a gift that smells like the iconic cocktail that’s experiencing a resurgence for its 40th birthday. Absolut Vodka and Kahlúa coffee liqueur, two spirits that are often mixed to create an espresso martini, are releasing a $105 fragrance called “Blend No. The espresso martini is a mix of vodka, coffee liqueur and espresso. The rise of espresso martinis has made the 87-year-old brand more appealing to younger drinkers, according to Rima Sawaya, Kahlúa’s brand director. “The elegance of the espresso martini elevates your cocktail experience at a bar or restaurant, and it also serves as an impressive after-dinner cocktail when entertaining guests at home.”

Persons: there’s, Absolut, ”, McDonald’s, Dick Bradsell, Pernod, Rima Sawaya, Lisa Hawkins Organizations: New, New York CNN, KFC, Pernod Ricard, “, CNN, Council Locations: New York, London, Manhattan

[1/3] Atomo Coffee's 'beanless coffee', which uses superfoods and upcycled ingredients to mimic the molecular structure of coffee, is seen in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on September 29, 2023. "Coffee is causing deforestation at a pretty alarming rate - almost up to ten (New York) Central Parks a day," said Atomo's CEO and co-founder Andy Kleitsch ahead of the firm's beanless coffee launch at the New York Coffee Festival on Friday. Atomo says its initial "proof-of-concept" cold brew beanless coffee caused 93% fewer carbon emissions and used 94% less water than regular coffee. The firm expects to see similar figures for its new hot beanless coffee which is also made using mostly upcycled ingredients like date pips, which tend to be discarded in the commercial production process. However, Atomo says it is in talks with most of the world's major coffee firms about how it might scale up and supply them.

Persons: Andy Kleitsch, Atomo, Maytaal, Mark Potter Organizations: Reuters, Atomo, REUTERS, Acquire, baristas, Central Parks, New York Coffee, Time Magazine, Thomson Locations: Seattle, New York, Central

☆ Starbucks is developing climate-proof coffee
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Coffee is a finicky crop — arabica coffee, the most popular variety, in particular. Joshua Trujillo/StarbucksSo Starbucks, which says it purchases about 3% of all the world’s coffee, is developing new arabica varietals that are specifically cultivated to hold up better on a warming planet. They, along with other coffee farmers across the globe, are struggling to adapt to global warming. But arabica coffee, the only variety used by Starbucks, is especially at risk. Starbucks has been working on developing new coffee varietals.

Persons: IADB, Joshua Trujillo, Michelle Burns, Carlos Mario Rodriguez, Suzanne Shriner, Shriner, ”, “ we’re, Miguel Gomez, it’s, Monika Firl, Burns, Cornell’s Gomez Organizations: New, New York CNN, Inter, American Development Bank, Starbucks, Lions, Coffee Research, Cornell’s Dyson, Applied Economics, Management, Fairtrade Locations: New York, America, Caribbean, Hacienda Alsacia, Costa Rica, Hawaii

But some of its beans, known as unwashed or 'natural' arabicas, have not previously been used for high-end benchmark coffee contracts around the world. Unwashed coffee is so-called because its fruit is left to dry whole before the bean is extracted. He added that relatively little Brazilian coffee ends up in ICE warehouses because it usually fetches higher prices in the physical markets. The two companies declined to comment on whether they had got a mix of semi-washed and unwashed beans certified by ICE. Zooming out to inflation adjusted terms however, coffee prices in 1980 were equivalent to about $8 per lb - a whopping 500% higher than they are today, according to Reuters calculations.

Persons: Juan Carlos Ulate, Dagoberto Suazo, unwashed, Marcio Ferreira, Cecafe, Ferreira, Louis Dreyfus, Pedro Mendoza, Maytaal Angel, Gustavo Palencia, Marcelo Teixeira, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Workers, REUTERS, LONDON, Agricultural, Intercontinental Exchange, Reuters, Producers, IF IT, ICE, Central, Thomson Locations: Grecia, Costa Rica, TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Brazil, America, Africa, Cafetaleras, Colombia, Central America, Peru, Europe, Swiss, Sucafina, U.S, London, Tegucigalpa, New York

☆ Breakingviews: El Nino will brew up potent new economic storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

It looks likely that the El Nino weather phenomenon has returned, according to both the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Reuters GraphicsBy one reckoning, a single El Nino event might seem manageable. The direct impact of El Nino- and La Nina-affected weather on sowing, growing and harvesting is not the only economic consideration. On June 8 the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center issued an advisory that El Nino conditions “are present and are expected to gradually strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter”. The highest temperature reached in any past El Nino was 2.6 degrees Celsius above average in 2016.

Persons: El, Nina, Gabrielle, It’s, there’s, Peter Thal Larsen, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: MELBOURNE, Reuters, El, U.S . National Oceanographic, Atmospheric Administration, Australian, of Meteorology, International Monetary Fund, University of Dartmouth, El Nino, Nina, Rabobank, Barclays, World Meteorological Organisation, Center, Thomson Locations: India, Thailand, Vietnam, El Nino, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Europe, China, Southeast Asia, United States, Oceania, Australia, Western Australia, Delhi, Ukraine

☆ El Nino will brew up potent new economic storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The benchmark September contract for cocoa in London gained more than 2% on Wednesday to 2,590 pounds per metric ton. Prices are rising in reaction to a tight market for cocoa beans, which are mainly produced in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Arrivals of cocoa at Ivory Coast ports for export are down nearly 5% this season. The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) widened this month its forecast for a global deficit on cocoa supply from 60,000 metric tons previously to 142,000 metric tons. Arabica coffee settled down 5 cents, or 3%, at $1.6195 per lb, while robusta coffee fell $99, or 3.6%, at $2,616 a metric ton.

Persons: Leonardo Rosseti, Rosseti, Maytaal, Mark Potter, David Gregorio Our Organizations: YORK, Intercontinental Exchange, International Cocoa Organization, StoneX, Refinitiv Commodities Research, Thomson Locations: London, West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, West, New York

☆ Coffee research group progresses on naturally decaffeinated varieties
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Roberto Samora | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, June 16 (Reuters) - A Brazilian coffee research institute has started a decisive stage in a two-decade project to develop arabica coffee varieties that are naturally decaffeinated, a development the researchers think could have significant commercial potential. The program is being developed at the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC), a leading coffee research center that has provided many of the high-yield coffee plants that have helped Brazil become a powerhouse in the global coffee market, supplying more than a third of the trade. Companies selling decaffeinated coffee as well could benefit with reduced costs, since they could skip the industrial processes to remove caffeine from regular coffee varieties. Coffee trees usually take two to three years to produce the first fruits, so there are still some years ahead until the researchers can harvest that coffee and test it. Consumption of decaffeinated coffee accounts for around 10% of the market in the United States, according to data from the National Coffee Association (NCA).

Persons: Julio Cesar Mistro, Roberto Samora, Marcelo Teixeira, Sandra Maler Organizations: SAO PAULO, Instituto Agronomico, IAC, National Coffee Association, Thomson Locations: Campinas, Brazil, Europe, United States, New York

☆ El Nino is approaching and your next cup of coffee could be at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Extreme weather conditions brought on by an approaching El Nino are fueling concerns that robusta beans in major coffee producers like Vietnam and Indonesia could be hit, resulting in soaring prices. "The now widely-expected transition to El Nino conditions in Q323 has stoked fears of reduced output in Vietnam and Indonesia, both major coffee robusta producers," Fitch Solutions' research unit BMI said in report dated May 24. Robusta beans are known for their bitter characteristics and higher acidity, containing more caffeine than their premium and pricier arabica counterpart. El Nino is a weather phenomenon that typically brings hotter and drier than usual conditions to the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Climate scientists are predicting that this year's El Nino could descend in the second half of 2023.

Persons: El, El Nino Organizations: Fitch Solutions, BMI Locations: El Nino, Vietnam, Indonesia, Southeast Asia

☆ Cacti, wild coffee and false bananas: Scientists sketch out the menus of the future
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

While the shortage has more or less abated, it did highlight the fragile nature of our food system and the huge importance of food security. "Between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021," The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report said. In June 2022, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, listed several sources of food that could play a big role in future diets. They include seaweed; cacti like the prickly pear; a type of wild coffee able to cope with far warmer temperatures than Arabica coffee; and enset, also known as the false banana. A fruit tree may also be perennial, he noted, "but it only produces its fruit at a certain time of year — so you either need to consume it then or you need to store it."

☆ African Farmers May Have a Coffee Robust Enough for the Climate Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The two coffee species that most of us drink — Arabica and robusta — are at grave risk in the era of climate change. Farmers in one of Africa’s biggest coffee exporting countries are growing a whole other coffee species that better withstands the heat, drought and disease supersized by global warming. This year, they’re trying to sell it to the world under its own true name: Liberica excelsa. “Even if there’s too much heat, it does fine,” said Golooba John, a coffee farmer near the town of Zirobwe in central Uganda. For the past several years, as his robusta trees have succumbed to pests and disease, he has replaced them with Liberica trees.

☆ Snoop Dogg launches new coffee line INDOxyz inspired by trip to Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg is expanding his business empire yet again, this time branching out into a line of premium coffee products with beans sourced locally from Indonesia. “My relationship with coffee goes way back,” Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, said in the statement. “The many long nights in the studio making hit after hit, coffee provided the fuel which kept us going. Snoop’s coffee beans will be sourced from Gayo, a region in Aceh on the island of Sumatra. In addition to releasing more than a dozen studio albums and receiving multiple Grammy nominations as a rapper, Snoop Dogg has been expanding his business empire.

☆ Starbucks offers a dash of olive oil with its coffee in Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A drink infused with extra virgin olive oil is displayed at a Starbucks cafe in Milan, Italy, February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Alex FraserMILAN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Starbucks (SBUX.O) has launched a new drink that mixes coffee with olive oil, offering it initially in Italy as an alternative to the more standard espresso or cappuccino. The so-called "Oleato" beverages are made with arabica coffee "infused with a spoonful of Partanna cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil," Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, said in a statement. Young drinkers at Starbucks flagship coffee shop in central Milan gave the initiative a qualified approval. Stefania Battagli, 22, said the coffee had a little too much oil for her tastes.

☆ I work at Trader Joe's. Here are 7 things I refuse to buy there—and what to get instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Christian Beltran | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Christian Beltran (left) has been working at Trader Joe's since 2021. I started working at Trader Joe's in 2021. Instant Cold Brew CoffeeWhat to buy instead: Organic Cold Brew Coffee, $5.49Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Photo Courtesy of Trader Joe’s ©2023Trader Joe's Instant Cold Brew Coffee is a fine, dark powder made of 100% Arabica coffee beans. Shredded HashbrownsWhat to buy instead: Hashbrowns, $2.49Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Photo Courtesy of Trader Joe’s ©2023I prefer Trader Joe's hashbrown patties over its shredded version, which tends to clump up in the bag and is more difficult to prepare. Poppy Pinot NoirWhat to buy instead: Loudenotte Cuvée Réservée Pinot Noir, $6.99Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Photo Courtesy of Trader Joe’s ©2023

☆ Lowly, Bitter Coffee Bean Seeks Respect from Caffeine Snobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Jon Emont | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For decades the lowly Robusta coffee bean has been anathema to many American coffee companies. Though less expensive than the cherished Arabica bean, Robusta has a bitter taste that has been likened to burned rubber. No wonder that Peet’s Coffee notes on its website that Robusta has “never been on the menu,” and that Dunkin doesn’t serve it in the U.S. or most international markets. Starbucks says the bean’s “less refined flavor is absolutely the reason we don’t even touch it.”

The additional demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and tighter supplies of piped gas placed enormous strain on the global market, spurring an energy crisis that pushed gas prices to historic highs. Newcastle coal futures have soared almost 140% in 2022, the biggest jump since 2008. U.S. gas futures jumped by more than 20% and Dutch wholesale gas prices rose by almost 8%, both rising for a third consecutive year. Power-generation fuels - coal, natural gas and gasoil - outperform other energy products in 2022 following cut in Russian energy supplies to EuropeBecause Europe will continue to import LNG to rebuild gas inventories next year after winter, gas prices are expected to remain elevated as limited new supplies come onstream. However, a European cap on gas prices starting in February could keep a lid on the market and reduce the volatility seen this year.

Industrial metals, iron ore and rubber are on track to finish in negative territory, pushed down in 2022 by China's strict zero-COVID policy and fears of a world recession. The additional demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) amid tighter supplies of piped gas placed enormous strain on the global market, spurring an energy crisis that pushed gas prices to historic highs. U.S. gas futures and Dutch wholesale gas prices have jumped by more than 20%, rising for a third consecutive year. Power-generation fuels - coal, natural gas and gasoil - outperform other energy products in 2022 following cut in Russian energy supplies to EuropeBecause Europe will continue importing LNG to rebuild gas inventories next year after winter, gas prices are expected to remain elevated amid limited new supplies coming on-stream. However, a European cap on gas prices starting in February could help keep a lid on the market and reduce the volatility seen this year.

☆ Coffee prices are crashing. What it means for your cup of joe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Coffee futures are crashing. “When the dollar goes up, everything measured in dollars, like international coffee prices, tend to go down,” Mera said. In the year through October, not adjusted for seasonal swings, coffee prices jumped 14.8% in the grocery store, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the improved conditions won’t necessarily mean a big decline in coffee prices for consumers, Mera noted. That’s because while coffee prices are falling, other costs, like labor and distribution, are still high for producers.

The defaults, though less widespread than last year, have scrambled the coffee market, leaving traders reluctant to agree to forward sales for next year's crop or the one after. "We've been told to have less exposure with (Brazilian farmers). However, when farmers default, traders do not have the physical coffee to sell to offset the futures market. That's what happened in September, when Arabica coffee futures rose from around 2.16 cents per pound to 2.32 cents late in the month, a 7% increase. A lawyer working for one of the five largest coffee exporters in Brazil said the defaults concerned less than 10% of Brazil's total forward contracts.

☆ How a former freelance journalist emptied her savings and put $20,000 on her credit card to turn a Vietnamese-coffee side hustle into a full-time business
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-11 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sahra Nguyen was a freelance journalist when she started building Nguyen Coffee Supply in 2016. She saw an injustice in US coffee culture because Vietnamese coffee was missing from the market. From journalist to business ownerNguyen started her career as a freelance journalist with a desire to tell stories about the Asian American community. Starting Nguyen Coffee Supply wasn't just about sharing a love for coffee, she added. With Nguyen Coffee Supply, Nguyen said she hoped to spread the word about Vietnamese coffee and, in the process, "elevate the culture and community and products."

☆ Rămășițele celei mai mari rachete chinezești dezintegrându-se în atmosferă; VIDEO
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-09 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +1 min

Sursa foto: digi24.roRămășițele celei mai mari rachete chinezești dezintegrându-se în atmosferă; VIDEORacheta chinezească despre care mulți specialiști au spus că a fost scăpată de sub control s-a prăbușit , duminică în Oceanul Indian, în apropierea insulelor Maldive. Potrivit The Guardian, oameni din Iordania și Oman au surprins în imagini rămășite din racheta chineză dezintegrată în atmosferă. Este clar, China nu respectă standardele rezonabile privind deșeurile spațiale”, a spus oficialul. Racheta se deplasa cu o viteză de 29.000 km/orăZilele trecute, Jonathan McDowell, astrofizician la Harvard, a spus că racheta se deplasa cu o viteză de 29.000 km/oră. Asta însemna că o mică schimbare a orbitei sale putea schimba în mod semnificativ traiectoria.

Persons: Bill Nelson, Jonathan McDowell Organizations: Terra, NASA Locations: Indian, Maldive, Peninsula Iberică, Peninsula Arabică, Iordania, Oman, China, Harvard

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