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Consumers Expecting A Lot From Coffee Industry In 2015
Coffee at the tipping point – Nation’s Restaurant News
Consumers’ growing interest in artisan craftsmanship has taken hold in the coffee category, as high-end 
independents lead a migration toward quality and as coffee drinkers express more interest in the sourcing and production behind their daily cup of Joe.
Observers expect mainstream coffee operators to continue to cater to those trends in the year ahead, but operators also will focus on staying relevant to the average everyday coffee drinker who is more interested in convenience.
Coffee continues to be an area of strength in the foodservice industry. Both bakery cafes and coffee cafes experienced 9.3 percent growth in sales from 2012 to 2013, according to Chicago-based Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.
Tastes and preferences within the coffee category are shifting, however, as many coffee drinkers — particularly Millennials — are looking at the brewed beverage in a new way. They are gravitating toward authenticity and quality, and placing a high value on attributes such as ethical sourcing and sustainability.
It really speaks to the whole coffee culture that has developed in kind of the same way that wine has. I see that propelling the upscaling of coffee beverages.
2015 Guide To Kona Coffee
2015 Guide to Kona Coffee – Craft Beverage Jobs
It’s probably fair to say that Kona Coffee is the first American “craft coffee”.
Hawai’i, which became a US state on August 21, 1959, is the only state that grows and cultivates the coffee bean. As
Guide to Kona Coffee
one of the state’s most popular exports, authentic Kona Coffee originates from a very small region of the western facing slopes on the Big Island of Hawai’i. The Kona district is a 22 x 2 mile section on the north and south side of the island that rest on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa volcanos. The unique weather patterns and rich heritage of its family owned farms has given birth to the superior coffee that is Kona Coffee.
There is a lot of varying information online about Kona Coffee. It’s a highly marketable commodity, so you may be surprised to learn that what you think is “Kona Coffee” not always is Kona Coffee. From information about growing conditions and bean characteristics to de-mystifying labeling and coffee classification, the below guide is intended to help you make more informed decisions when purchasing your next cup of Kona Coffee.
Guide Table of Contents
- The History of Kona Coffee
- “The Champagne of Coffee”
- Contributing Factors to the Kona Coffee Profile
- Kona Coffee Growth Calendar
- Processing Kona Coffee
- Authentic Kona Coffee vs Kona Blends
- Kona Types & Grades
- Buy 100% Kona Coffee
- Kona Coffee Producers
- Protecting the Kona Coffee Heritage
- Other Coffee of Hawai’i
Arabica Coffee Concerns In Brazil
Arabica Coffee Rises as Traders Worry About Brazil Rains, by Alexandra Wexler – The Wall Street Journal
Investors are going back for a second cup of coffee.
Arabica-coffee prices have risen 8.7% this week and 5.1% this year in the futures market, as dwindling rains in Brazil, the world’s largest grower, spur traders to once again bet on higher prices. Only silver has performed better this year among the 22 commodities tracked in the Bloomberg Commodity Index.
Coffee was the top-performing commodity in 2014 and one of just a few to post a gain amid steep drops in prices for crude oil, natural gas, copper and soybeans. Arabica prices jumped 50% last year after Brazil experienced its worst drought in decades. Futures soared above $2 a pound, forcing big roasters such as Starbucks Corp. to raise prices. Arabica is prized for its mild flavor and used in gourmet blends.
The 2014 coffee harvest in Brazil, which produces a third of the world’s supply, was the smallest in three years. This year is an off-year in Brazil’s two-year coffee cycle, meaning production would already have been lower without the unusual weather. Colombia, the world’s No. 2 arabica grower, has been ramping up production, helping to alleviate some of the concerns about global supplies. But Colombia only produces about a quarter as much coffee as Brazil.
2015: Look For Ethiopia & Kenya To Dominate
Ethiopia and Kenya Coffees Dominate 2015 Good Food Awards List, by Nick Brown – Daily Coffee News
The 5th Annual Good Food Awards Ceremony took place last night in San Francisco, honoring coffee roasters alongside craft producers in categories such as beer, cheese, spirits, oils and preserves. Sixteen winning single-origin coffees from 16 U.S. roasteries were deemed award-worthy out of a pool of 24 finalists. All but two coffees, both from Panama, came from either Ethiopia or Kenya.
The awards program has become one of the most influential in the coffee world, giving winners a chance to market the GFA seal and trumpet their coffees as the best of the best, both in terms of cup quality and sustainable and responsible practices. As its influence has grown and the growing program has gotten more competitive, so too has it taken some criticisms. (See our companion piece with GFA coffee awards committee chair Jen Apodaca to discuss how the program operates and what changes we might see moving forward.)
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Featured photo credit: H.K Nilsen via photopin cc
