Monumentally Modest, the Decent Espresso Machine Brings Wave of Innovation

To pull a decent shot of espresso given an adequately prepared basket, the remaining fundamentals are essentially a balancing act between water, heat, pressure and time. But what does it take to monitor each variable in real time, with the ability to fine tune any or all of them individually, for repeatable successful chorus-like profiles that yield consistently exceptional shots, even with the most challenging single-origins and blends? That is the question tackled by the Decent Espresso machine.

John Buckman, co-designer of the Decent Espresso machine that’s currently in production and on track for delivery in early 2017, is sensitive to his company’s position as a newcomer in an industry where reputation counts for a lot. Buckman is also the CEO of the company, which at this point also sells a variety of espresso accessories and tools such as a tamping cradle, digital milk thermometer, espresso scale, pressure-calibrated tamper and more.

Buckman is loath to make too many bold, loud claims about the capabilities of his machine or how it compares to other giants in the industry. Rather, he’s hoping that the sheer litany of advanced features, its performance in the demos he’s currently conducting on a West Coast tour, and that its co-designer is renowned coffee luminary Scott Rao will set the stage for swift adoption and embrace by the very demanding home and professional espressosphere.

The price helps, too. The basic model, which counts an intuitive touchscreen tablet interface and connectivity, pressure profiling, advanced steam-generating technology and the machine’s purportedly “rock solid” temperature stability among its long list of features, will retail for $999. That’s well below the typical price point of a high-end home or prosumer espresso option, and within striking distance of the consumer middle-ground. Meanwhile the “plus” model at $1,999 swells the feature list to include flow profiling, temperature profiling, steam profiling, the ability to automatically detect the end of the preinfusion, and more.

Preinfusion detection and true temperature and flow profiling and monitoring at the coffee bed are only a few of the capabilities offered by the Decent machine that the company says have never before been available on any other espresso machine ever, at any price. Meanwhile other arrows the company claims are in its quiver have to this point only been the stuff of far pricier, highest-end machines, such as a 3-bar blast of dry, endless steam from its insulated wand on a moment’s notice. Its steam-generating technology is akin to that of the Slayer Steam machine, which was itself a breakthrough that launched only about five months ago by one of the kingpins of professional espresso equipment.

“What we’re doing is a new musical instrument, and baristas are the musicians,” Buckman told Daily Coffee News of the machine, which grants unprecedented tweakability to so many variables, and provides so much data to reflect upon, the end result of it all has actually yet to be determined. Though the goal is, of course, better espresso.

While the inner workings and algorithms at play under the hood of the Decent machine are too complex for full explanation here, much of its magic is fostered by hardware that includes two pumps, two thermocoil heaters, two sensors embedded in the “ceiling” of the brew chamber over the bed of ground coffee, and a whole lot of mind-bending digital computation.

Of those two sensors, one detects temperature, the other is an electronic pressure gauge. Data from the group pressure sensor in combination with readings from a flow meter at the pump are what allow the machine to interpret when preinfusion has maxed out.

For near-instantaneous accuracy and stability of water temperature, a boiler of sorts keeps water at 150F at all times, and both the machine’s two pumps draw water from it. One pumps sends water through regular piping that leaves the water at 150F, the other feeds a thermocoil that rapidly heats water to 210F. These two sources combine at the grouphead to balance each other out into exactly the desired temperature, within about 1F degree, confirmed by the group temperature sensor.

This system also comes into play in compensating for the natural drop in temperature that a relatively cool bed of grounds always causes in virtually all other espresso machines to this point. Although if the goal is to mimic the temperature and pressure profiles of other classic electronic or manual-lever machines, a menu of presets in the Decent tablet software comes preprogrammed to do that, too.

The intense steam power, preceded only by Slayer on the professional scene and totally unprecedented on the home front, is achieved by the second thermocoil, which runs at 330F. “This is very energetic steam,” said Buckman.

The Decent’s espresso capabilities, according to Buckman, approach the level of what’s achieved on professional equipment that runs even pricier. “We’ve gone next to a Black Eagle and a Synesso and pulled similar shots, but it’s too early to tell, for me, whether we really can replicate those machines,” said Buckman. “They’re impressive pieces of technology. I don’t want to claim that we can do everything they can, I admire those machines too much.”

Apart from its technological breakthroughs, the Decent offers a material appeal as well. Users need never interact with anything plastic; the Portafilter handle is made of wood, and both its drips tray and its reservoir are hearty cast ceramic. It operates impressively quietly, and occupies an equivalent footprint to any other kitchen countertop machine.

Meanwhile the DE1+Pro model boasts beefed-up hardware, a plumb-in option, higher wattage for faster steam and additional internal fans for greater longevity of its electronics, raising the specs to what Buckman contends is true commercial capability and fortitude. “It’s happiest one shot after another,” said Buckman of the Pro model. “A café is going to buy four of these, so they have a 4-group machine. They’d be looking at somewhere like $11,000 for a 4-group machine, and if one were to break they’d have three groups running.”

As espresso gestalt though it may be, skeptics will inevitably point out that the Decent Espresso’s dependence on such complicated innards and an external tablet to boot is inevitably a sort of technological house of cards, with many more potential points of failure than simpler, albeit less groundbreaking machines. “It’s absolutely true. Basically it’s going to need to be time-tested,” Buckman self-assuredly conceded.

That time-testing publicly begins on the first of February, 2017, at which time the initial run of finished production units begins shipping. Buckman reported that since preorders for the Decent Espresso machine opened November 6 they’ve received about 110 orders. “We’re selling about five per day,” said Buckman, who is currently touring the West Coast performing demos with a beta unit. Scott Rao will join him for the upcoming southern California leg of the tour, after which Buckman will travel to the UK, and then back for more US demo touring into the new year.

HARD ROCK CAFE ATHENS

Located at 52 Adrianou Street in Monastiraki, just a stone’s throw away from the historic city center with stunning views of the Acropolis, the new Hard Rock Cafe Athens is a must-see for both visitors and locals alike.

The Café-Bar area features a beautiful internal atrium area with a sliding roof top. Guests can enjoy fresh, high-quality food from our food menu which includes a selection of our starters and salads, as well as our delicious Legendary burgers, steaks, fajitas and many more. Hard Rock Cafe's food items, are complimented by an extensive, award-winning drinks menu that includes delicious cocktails such as Hurricanes, Margaritas, signature favorites and Alternative Rock (alcohol-free) beverages, all available in Hard rock souvenir glassware. Hard Rock's cocktails are handcrafted, just like its cuisine and as authentic as the memorabilia on the walls.  

Memorabilia from Hard Rock iconic collection adorns the walls of Hard Rock Café Athens, including items form legendary and contemporary musicians from around the world. Fans will be able to see Lady Gaga's silver and black boots worn during a 2014 photo shoot; a black studded bass owned by American rocker, Gene Simmons; an acoustic guitar owned and signed by Chris Martin from Coldplay; and much more.  

The Rock Shop offers rock 'n' roll inspired items, as well as collectible Hard Rock Café merchandise in its exclusive retail location. Hard Rock's Athens-specific merchandise can only be purchased at this location, which offers an exclusive design quality that enhances each item's appeal.

Don't Miss a visit from Hard Rock Cafe Athens in order to enjoy a memorable experience! #ThisIsHardRock

RESTAURANT HOURS:

Daily: 09.30AM-12.30AM

BAR HOURS:

Daily: 09.00AM- 01.00AM

ROCK SHOP® HOURS:

Daily 09.30AM -12:00AM

GLADLY ACCEPTED

  

Potential mechanisms

Researchers have yet to discover a plausible mechanism to explain the associations between consumption of regular coffee, decaffeinated coffee or tea and a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

A role for caffeine?

Since coffee and tea are the main sources of caffeine in the diet in most countries, it is difficult to directly separate an effect of caffeine from either coffee or tea. However, since decaffeinated coffee is reported to have a similar size association as regular coffee, it is unlikely that caffeine plays a role in the negative association for development of type 2 diabetes.

Paradoxically, acute caffeine intake leads to glucose intolerance and insulin insensitivity, while chronic caffeine has only a small effect on glucose metabolism²³. An acute study tested for the effects of caffeine in women with or without gestational diabetes. Caffeine did not affect glucose and insulin levels in the group without gestational diabetes. However caffeine impaired insulin sensitivity in women with gestational diabetes²⁴.

Other constituents

Other coffee constituents, in particular antioxidants like chlorogenic acid and trigonelline, reduce early glucose and insulin levels at 15 minutes in oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT). Decaffeinated soluble coffee shows no effect in this test²⁵. These observations are in good accordance with the data of a French study reporting the strongest association for coffee consumed at lunchtime⁹.

Coffee could also partly inhibit postprandial hyperglycemia and hence prevent the occurrence of type 2 diabetes²⁶. According to a cross-sectional multi-ethnic study on 954 non-diabetic adults, the effect of caffeinated coffee is positively related to insulin sensitivity while decaffeinated coffee improves pancreatic beta-cells function²⁷.

Effect on subclinical inflammation – a new hypothesis

A Finnish study tested the effects of progressively increasing coffee consumption in obese volunteers in a medium term intervention trial (in the first month, participants abstained from coffee, for the second month 4 cups of coffee were consumed per day and in the third month, participants had 8 cups per day). No effects in the OGTT were seen. Coffee consumption appeared to have beneficial effects on some markers of subclinical inflammation, considered to be risk factors for type 2 diabetes²⁸.

A Greek study, which controlled for oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers, suggested that the inverse association between habitual coffee drinking and diabetes was found to be mediated by serum amyloid A levels (serum amyloid A is a lipoprotein that may be associated with chronic inflammation in the body)²¹.

Because of its high content of antioxidant compounds, coffee could contribute to the total antioxidant capacity of the diet that is necessary to reduce oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can lead to favorable conditions for the development of type 2 diabetes^29,30. This hypothesis has not yet been verified.

Other areas under investigation

Among the other mechanisms studied, a Dutch study did not find that either magnesium, potassium, caffeine or blood pressure were involved in coffee or tea’s association with type 2 diabetes⁸.

One Japanese study reported a link with psychological factors, perceived mental stress in men and Type-A behaviour in women³¹. Interestingly, further research has suggested that coffee consumption was inversely associated with depressive symptoms amongst a group of patients with type 2 diabetes. The authors suggested this might be due to biologically active compounds in coffee in addition to caffeine³².

A US case-control study found a correlation between coffee consumption and plasma levels of sex-hormone-binding-globulin, which directly modulate intracellular signalling of sex hormones that, themselves, play a critical role in type 2 diabetes development. This association was not found for decaffeinated coffee and tea³³.

In 2011, researchers at Harvard conducted a randomized controlled trial looking at the effects of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee on biological risk factors for type 2 diabetes. They compared participants who consumed either 5 cups per day of soluble caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, or no coffee for 8 weeks. Compared with consuming no coffee, consumption of caffeinated coffee increased adiponectin and interleukin-6 concentrations, possibly reflecting anti-inflammatory and insulin sensitizing effects, whilst consumption of decaffeinated coffee decreased fetuin-A concentrations, a biomarker for inflammation and liver function. No significant differences were found between treatment groups for measures of glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. The authors concluded that improvements in adipocyte and liver function, as indicated by changes in adiponectin and feutin-A concentrations, may contribute to beneficial metabolic effects of long-term coffee consumption³⁴.

Coffee consumption has been related to a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus among those with high levels of serum γ-glutamyltransferase. A 2012 study in a Japanese population examined the association between coffee and glucose tolerance and the effect modification of serum γ-glutamyltransferase on this association. These authors found coffee drinking to be protective against glucose intolerance. Furthermore, they suggested that the observed possible effect modification of serum γ-glutamyltransferase on the protective association between coffee and type 2 diabetes warrants further research³⁵.

Coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes

Coffee and risk of type 2 diabetes

One of the earlier studies into associations between coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes was a 2002 Dutch cohort study of 17,111 adults, which showed that those subjects drinking at least 7 cups of coffee per day were half as likely to develop type 2 diabetes⁵. This association was statistically significant. Since then, many other studies have confirmed this finding in other populations.

A 2009 systematic review with a meta-analysis of 457,922 individuals and 21,897 newly-diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes from eight different countries considered a dose response effect⁶. The study showed a statistically significant negative association between coffee consumption and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes, and the dose response analysis concluded that every additional cup of coffee, up to 6-8 cups per day, was associated with a 5-10% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Drinking 3-4 cups of coffee per day was associated with an approximate 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to consuming none or less than 2 cups per day.

Since then, a number of epidemiological studies and reviews published from different countries have also confirmed the inverse association with coffee consumption^7-16.

Adding to the body of data, a 2013 multiethnic cohort study suggested that caffeinated (but not decaffeinated) coffee consumption was much more protective against diabetes in women of all ethnic groups than in men, where the relationship was borderline¹⁷.

Further dose response reviews have also been undertaken. A 2014 study concluded that participants who increased coffee intake by more than one cup per day over a 4 year period had an 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, whilst those who decreased coffee consumption by one cup per day had a 17% greater risk of type 2 diabetes¹⁸. Additionally, a 2014 review suggested a 12% reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes for every additional two cups of coffee per day, and a 14% reduction for every 200mg increment of caffeine per day.  This review also suggested that the effect was stronger for women than men¹⁹. A further 2014 review also concluded that the risk of diabetes was reduced by, respectively: 8, 15, 21, 25, 29 and 33% for 1-6 cups of coffee per day²⁰.

The significance of long-term habitual coffee drinking against diabetes onset was highlighted in a 10 year follow-up study from Greece²¹.

A 2016 review supported earlier research, concluding that there is mounting evidence for a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in those who regularly drink 3-4 cups of coffee per day²².

Taking all the research together, almost all studies reported a statistically significant negative association for coffee consumption and type 2 diabetes. This similar observation in different populations, plus the dose response relation (lower incidence at higher consumption), are strong indications for a true association between consumption of coffee and the lower incidence of type 2 diabetes, with every additional cup of coffee, up to 6-8 cups per day, being associated with a 5-10% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes^6,19,20.

Decaffeinated coffee and tea and risk of type 2 diabetes

As with caffeinated coffee, the majority of published studies that have evaluated the relationship between decaffeinated coffee or tea drinking and risk of type 2 diabetes have reported similar negative associations.

In a 2009 meta-analysis, similar statistically significant negative associations were found for the consumption of decaffeinated coffee and tea and risk of type 2 diabetes⁶.

A French study⁹ and a large US study with African-American women¹¹, also looked at the association for decaffeinated coffee. One of the two studies confirmed an association⁹; the other did not see a correlation¹¹. Additionally, a 2014 review concluded that in addition to an effect with caffeinated coffee, an 11% reduction for every 2 additional cups of decaffeinated coffee a day was also observed¹⁹.

Five of the epidemiological studies also looked at tea consumption^7,8,10,11,12. Two confirmed the negative association^8,12. The other three did not observe an association for tea consumption^7,10,11.

highlight of the week

The scientific evidence indicates that moderate coffee consumption is statistically significantly associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This has potentially important implications in light of the already high and increasing prevalence of this disease.

The association is well-documented in several different populations and shows a consistent dose response, i.e. lower risk at higher consumption levels. Drinking 3-4 cups of coffee per day is associated with an approximate 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to consuming none or less than 2 cups per day. Every additional cup of coffee, up to 6-8 cups per day (regular or decaffeinated) is associated with a 5-10% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Moderate coffee consumption is typically defined as 3-5 cups per day, based on the European Food Safety Authority’s review of caffeine safety.

The statistically significant association, in combination with the consistent dose response relationship, is a strong indication for a true association between moderate coffee consumption and the lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. What is still lacking is a plausible mechanism to explain this association. There is no clear consensus on a potential mechanism, although observations of beneficial effects of coffee consumption on some markers of subclinical inflammation are promising.

The association between coffee/caffeine consumption and diabetes is specific to type 2 diabetes only. For more information on the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, please refer to the media facts and figures section.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. It usually occurs in adults, but is increasingly seen in children and adolescents. In type 2 diabetes, there is a combination of inadequate production of insulin and an inability of the body to respond fully to insulin (insulin resistance). Being overweight is a main cause of type 2 diabetes, which is also influenced by lifestyle factors such as poor diet, lack of physical activity, and excessive alcohol consumption.

 

In 2015, it was estimated that 415 million adults around the world were living with diabetes (types 1 and 2 collectively). This number is predicted to increase to 642 million by 2040¹. In Europe, about 60 million people have diabetes, or about 10.3% of men and 9.6% of women aged 25 years and over¹. It is estimated that this figure will reach 71 million by 2040².

In Europe, diabetes caused 627,000 deaths in 2015: about one quarter (26.3%) of those deaths were in people under the age of 60. Estimates indicate that diabetes was responsible for 9% of total health expenditure in Europe in 2015, equivalent to USD 156 billion¹.

Age is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In Europe, 30.8% of the general population were aged between 50 and 79 in 2015, and this percentage is expected to increase to 35.6% by 2040¹. To a large degree, the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance are a consequence of the ageing of Europe’s population. However, diabetes is now increasingly affecting adolescents and children and the highest increase is in the 30-40 year old age group³.

The twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes already represent the biggest public health challenge of the 21st century. It is estimated that at least half of all diabetes cases would be eliminated if weight gain in adults could be prevented⁴.

The Confluence Rise to Prominence Continues with Huge New Production Plant

Images courtesy of Confluence Coffee Co.

Last time we checked in with RTD cold brew-monger Confluence Coffee Co. they were just growing out of the 80-square-foot space of the shared facility in which they’d started, into a 1,600-square-foot former home of Blanchard’s Coffee Roasting, whose roasting services they continue to utilize today for their primary ingredient. That was barely over nine months ago, yet once again they’re on the move, this time to another larger facility of about 10,000 square feet.

“We’re really trying to expand our capacity to the point where we’re not limited at all in the deals we’re able to do with larger grocery stores,” Confluence Coffee Co. Co-founder Mike Woitach told Daily Coffee News. “We’re trying to have the space to fill things out for the next three years.”

At the new facility at 2522-F Hermitage Road in South Richmond, about six miles from the previous spot, Woitach said they’ll initially be swelling their monthly production capacity from 35,000 cans per month up to 135,000, with the ability to add additional tanks as needed for the foreseeable future. The boost will help them meet the demand of their new relationship with UNFI, which Woitach said is the largest natural foods distributor in the U.S..

“That will open up a lot of opportunity for us to ship to different parts of the country,” said Woitach, who hopes to see Confluence grow into a nationwide brand. The company will also endeavor to expand its own direct distribution efforts, aiming at offices and more unique accounts such as golf courses or other facilities not typically serviced by a standard grocery distributor.

Woitach said that canning will be brought in-house, which means some of the new space will be used for warehousing packaging materials, while they’ll also begin a private-label brewing and canning service for a couple new clients within the next six months to help fill out the capacity of the new plant in the short term. Said Woitach, “We’re investing a lot of money into the equipment and things, so if we can work with other companies that don’t necessarily want to do that but want to take advantage of the research and work that we’ve done, we’re happy to help them.”

Batch sizes on the initial array of new equipment will double from the current 472 gallons. Woitach said the company is currently seeking both organic and vegan certifications, while their inventiveness with sophisticated and subtly-applied flavorings continues, including a new maple toasted-coconut-infused nitro cold brew that is replacing an orange-infused nitro, Woitach said.

Confluence hopes to be up and running in the new facility by the middle of next month. From there, Woitach anticipates some “tap takeovers” and a pop-up tour to continue spreading awareness of the brand, confident that the new expansive digs will accommodate growth without issue. “It should give us a nice buffer, and hopefully we can just focus on growing the Confluence brand of craft beer-inspired coffee products, and getting it through new and different channels

Milk Delivery and Auto Tamping with Barista Technology’s Moobar and Puqpress

Advancements in barista tools and tech don’t increase the comfort and convenience of barista work merely for pleasure’s sake. While the best tools for the job can aid in worker satisfaction and physical wellbeing, promoting short-term retention and long-term career aspirations of professional baristas, they can also improve product consistency, waste reduction and service speed — all positively contributing to a café’s bottom line.

One innovative tool spotted at select booths around the SCAA Expo in Atlanta back in April is the Puqpress, an automatic, programmable tamping machine that quickly provides a precise, user-settable amount of pressure to a dosed portafilter. In little more than one second, the Puqpress applies a perfectly level force of anywhere from 20 to 60 pounds of pressure, either with a flat-bottom or other style tamper surface available in various diameters, according to the manufacturer.

The Puqpress

The device also accounts for the distribution of coffee inside the basket. “If the coffee is distributed unevenly, the water will seek the way of least resistance,” Puqpress marketing director Sander Peterse told Daily Coffee News. “To minimize this problem, we manufactured the Puqpress in such a way that it actually tamps twice. Once softly, mainly to distribute the coffee but not yet compress, and the second time forcefully to actually compress the coffee.”

Negating potential inconsistencies and saving both the time and the repetitive physical strain related to tamping, adoption of the Puqpress has been swift, as the company reported that since its product launch in 2015, distribution has extended to 41 countries. It is currently available in the United States through Chris Coffee Service, with a sticker price ranging from $855 to $879, and tamping diameter options ranging from 53mm to 58.3mm.

Barista Technology, parent company of the Puqpress brand, was founded in Amsterdam, The Netherlands by Puqpress inventor and CEO Laurens Pluimers in 2011. “Somehow people on the internet think we are Norwegian, though nothing could be further from the truth,” Peterse clarified. “We are founded in the Netherlands, designed by Dutchmen and the Puqpress team is 100 percent Dutch as well.”

Adding to the confusion somewhat is Barista Technology Australia Ltd., founded by coffee entrepreneur Brett Bolwell in 2015 as the Australia-based distribution company for Puqpress. Bolwell comes to BTAU after having spent eight years at the helm of automatic coffee machine business Espresso Essential, and then several more years at various roasting and espresso-related businesses. BTAU is now also launching an innovative product of its own, unrelated to the Puqpress, developed in collaboration with beverage dispensation company Andale: Moobar, an automatic café milk delivery system.

The Moobar milk delivery system.

The Moobar officially launched in Australia last month after about a year of research and development. Despite apparent similarities, it has no connection to the Juggler, another coincidentally Australia-born milk delivery system that launched in 2013. Moobar purports to increase productivity by up 30 percent while cutting plastic and other milk-carton material waste, particularly in high volume cafes.

The system can be programmed for up to five precise dosages of milk and delivers two different milks to a single spout. It requires cleaning only once a week thanks to refrigeration of its delivery lines. Spout heads are available in custom colors, installation is compatible with existing under-counter fridges, and its countertop build includes a pitcher rinser.

Bolwell reported that the company is currently taking inquiries for distribution opportunities internationally. He projected that the Moobar will be available in the U.S. by the middle of 2017. “Barista Technology [AU] is currently working on a number of new products, such as an automatic counter top milk frother, and an automatic coffee puck remover due for release mid-2017 also,” Bolwell told Daily Coffee News.

Peterse meanwhile reported that Puqpress is also currently at work on the second generation of their product, which includes such improvements as a further enhanced distribution solution and technology to address factors related to static discharge. They’re also developing another auto-tamping model in collaboration with Mahlkonig/Ditting, a flat-surfaced variant designed to fit perfectly underneath Mahlkonig’s K30 grinder.

“It is kind of a special project, which is why I can’t tell you much more about it yet,” said Peterse, though he did project a estimated launch of Spring, 2017. There is no date yet for the second generation of the universal Puqpress.

Colombia - May coffee production shows first y-o-y decline in 14 months

Production of washed arabica coffee in May 2016 amounted to 1.163 mln 60-kg bags, up from 1.043 mln in the preceding month but fractionally below 1.165 mln in the same month last year, the National Coffee Growers' Federation (Fedecafe) reported.

Given that there was no year-over-year growth for the first time since March 2015 the data reflect that the country grapples with drought conditions caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has  affected nearly half of the country's growing regions and is expected to curtail output in the mitaca harvest now underway.

This brought output in the first eight months of 2015/16 (Oct/Sep) to 9.526 mln bags, still up from 8.308 mln one year earlier because of strong output growth earlier in the season.

Exports in May amounted to 920,000 bags, up from 906,000 in April but down from 1.006 mln one year earlier. Exports in the first eight months of  2015/16 are 8.582 mln bags, up 9% from a year ago.

Good Food Awards Alters Coffee Criteria to Require Certification for 2017

With the entry period for the 2017 Good Food Awards beginning in less than three weeks, the group has announced it has changed its sustainability criteria in the coffee category to require entries to carry certification from one of a handful of identified agencies.

The GFA’s sustainability criteria — which complement the quality-focused criteria in which coffees are selected for “sweet, clean, well developed body, balanced acidity and phenomenal aromatics” — has always emphasized fairness and transparency throughout a given coffee’s supply chain.

In previous years, roasters whose prize-worthy coffees were not certified by a third party were given opportunity to submit evidence for how their coffee met the GFA’s coffee standards for traceability back to the farm level and for equity and fairness throughout the chain.

“In the past we’ve allowed producers to submit a strong and detailed case for non-certified coffee, we’ve found that sustainability vetting of nondomestic farms is tricky at best; and at the strong encouragement of the Roasters Guild, we think entrants are most fairly served if we utilize reliable third-party certifications,” the group recently announced, referring to roasters as the “producers” in the context of the awards program.

For this year’s awards, eligible coffees must reflect certification from one of the following agencies or programs: NOP Organic, Fair Trade (FTUSA or Fairtrade International), SMBC Shade, Rainforest Alliance, C.A.F.E Practices, 4C/CAS (Global Coffee Platform) or Demeter Biodynamic.

The 2017 Good Food Awards entry period will open from July 5 through July 31, 2016, and entrant information will be updated here. The awards program typically results in 20-30 coffee finalists, with a majority of those named winners, who are annually honored at an awards gala in January in San Francisco.

Η νέα αυτοκρατορία του καφέ απειλεί τη Nestle

 
O όμιλος συμμετοχών JAB Holding, ο οποίος διαχειρίζεται την περιουσία της γερμανικής οικογένειας Ράιμαν, ύψους 16 δισ. δολ., επιδιώκει να δεσπόσει στον κόσμο του καφέ. Και αυτό ευθέως σημαίνει πως απειλεί τον εδραιωμένο κολοσσό της ελβετικής Nestle. Τελευταίο δυναμικό βήμα της JAB Holding προς την επίτευξη του στόχου της ήταν και η απόκτηση, έναντι 14 δισ. δολ., της Keurig Green Mountain, που κατασκευάζει μηχανές καφέ. Πρόκειται για τη μεγαλύτερη μέχρι σήμερα εξαγορά στον κλάδο. Τα τελευταία τέσσερα χρόνια διεξάγεται μια μεθοδική εκστρατεία συλλογής περιουσιακών στοιχείων στην Ευρώπη και στις ΗΠΑ.
Συνολικά 30 δισ. δολ. διοχετεύθηκαν από τους Πίτερ Χαρφ, Μπαρτ Μπεχτ και Ολιβιέ Γκουντέ, τους τρεις έμπειρους μάνατζερ της JAB Holding με πολυετή θητεία στα τρόφιμα και ποτά, στις εξής εταιρείες παραγωγής και επεξεργασίας καφέ: την D.E. Master Blenders 1753NV, μονάδα της ολλανδικής πολυεθνικής Mondelez International, και την αλυσίδα καφέ και τσαγιού με χαρμάνια πολυτελείας Peet’s Coffee & Τea στις ΗΠΑ.
«Η JAB εφαρμόζει μια πολύ ευρύτερη στρατηγική, προκειμένου να αναδειχθεί στην Budweiser της αγοράς καφέ», επισημαίνει στο ειδησεογραφικό πρακτορείο Bloomberg o Πάμπλο Ζόνικ, αναλυτής της Susquehanna Financial Group, αναφερόμενος στον διεθνώς μεγαλύτερο όμιλο ζυθοποιίας Anheuser - BuschInBev NV με την πολύ γνωστή μπίρα Budweiser/Βud. «Οπως συνέβη η συσπείρωση δυνάμεων στην μπίρα υπό την Βud, σε κάτι ανάλογο προσβλέπουν και στον καφέ».
Πέραν της στρατηγικής επένδυσης στον καφέ, oι Χαρφ, Μπεχτ και Γκουντέ τοποθετούν τα κεφάλαια της πάμπλουτης οικογένειας Ράιμαν και σε μια ευρεία γκάμα εταιρειών καταναλωτικών ειδών, από την αρωματοποιία Coty μέχρι τη Reckitt Benckiser με τα προφυλακτικά Durex, τα απορρυπαντικά πλυντηρίου πιάτων Finish και τα παυσίπονα Neurofen. Αξίζει να αναφερθεί πως οι τρεις μάνατζερ έχουν υλοποιήσει και άλλες μεγάλες εξαγορές πέραν της Keurig Green Mountain, όπως της ζυθοποιίας SABMiller από την ΑΒ ΙnBev έναντι 110 δισ. δολ. και μερικών σημάτων ομορφιάς της Procter & Gamble από την Coty έναντι 12,5 δισ. δολαρίων. Οι αδελφοί Ράινμαν (Ρενάτε, Βόλφγκανγκ, Στέφαν και Ματίας), οι οποίοι δεν επιζητούν δημοσιότητα, μετέφεραν την έδρα τους από το Λουντβιχσάφεν της Γερμανίας στη Βιέννη για λόγους φορολογικούς.

Sugar jumps on short-covering with more rain headed for Brazil

NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE surged more than 3 percent on Tuesday, taking back much of the prior week's losses in a flurry of short-covering as the currency in top grower Brazil firmed and rain in the country's main cane region hindered harvest.
Cocoa futures were little changed, hovering below 4-1/2-year highs reached last month, while arabica quietly extended losses after Monday's 3.4 percent tumble with rains in Brazil expected to improve the outlook for next year's crop.
ICE March raw sugar futures settled up 0.51 cent, or 3.4 percent, at 15.44 cents a lb. The move caused the March/May spread's discount to narrow for the fourth straight day to as much as 0.45 cent, a contract high.
Initial market weakness was spurred by data released late Monday showing speculators had sharply boosted their net long position to the highest since records became publicly available in 2006.
Forecasts for continued rain in Brazil, which will slow mills' pace of crushing and possibly lower the sugar content, combined with the firming real, brought heavy short-covering into the market, traders said.
"The fresh fundamental news is strongly in favor of the bulls with heavy rains forecast in early December over harvest areas in center-south Brazil," Thomas Kujawa, co-head of the softs department at Sucden said, adding there were also concerns about dry weather in South Africa and Australia.
Producer hedge-selling was seen taking advantage of the rally, traders said.
ICE March white sugar futures rose $11, or 2.7 percent, to settle at $414 per tonne.
For arabica coffee prices, these forecasts for rains in Brazil contributed to a decline in prices as the much-needed precipitation is expected to help cherry development.
"One factor weighing on prices is the prediction of further rainfall in key growing areas in Brazil," Commerzbank said in a daily market report.
"This will help the coffee berries to develop, which are due to be harvested from April 2016."
ICE March arabica coffee futures closed down 0.25 cent, or 0.2 percent, at $1.199 per lb.
January robusta coffee rose $12, or 0.8 percent, to close at $1,490 per tonne, recovering after hitting a contract low of $1,467.
London March cocoa settled down $2, or 0.1 percent, at 2,279 pounds per tonne, while New York March cocoa futures finished down $2, or 0.06 percent, at $3,337 a tonne.

Coffee Drops As Higher Production, Currency Pressures Hit Market

Coffee futures dropped sharply as trading picked up following the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Arabica coffee for March delivery dropped 4.1% to $1.185 a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, the largest percentage drop in a month-and-a-half.
Several bearish factors for coffee compounded at once last week. Rains in Brazil, the world's largest growing region, became more widespread in previously dry areas, boosting production ideas. Colombia, the second-largest producer of the mild-flavored arabica bean, released data showing production is up over last year. Vietnam, the largest producer of robusta beans for instant coffee, is exporting at a faster rate than last year.
A strong dollar also weighed on commodities across the board.
"Usually coffee doesn't like to act before a long weekend," said Hernando de la Roche, senior vice president at INTL FCStone in Miami. "The market was very slow. People came back from the holiday and they started selling the market to be in line with what happened with the commodities last week."
Mr. de la Roche said a move downward in the Brazilian real against the dollar is also adding pressure to prices. The real was down 1.3% recently against the dollar, trading at a one-month low. When the real is weak against the dollar it encourages sales of dollar-denominated goods like coffee as producers take advantage of the favorable exchange rates to recoup higher profits in their local currency.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission released data showing that hedge funds, speculators and other investors were shorting the market by the highest margin so far this year, with bearish bets outweighing the bulls by 27,700 contracts as of Nov. 17. ED&F Man's Volcafe said a bout of futures buying to cover short positions slowed losses.
In other markets, cocoa for March was up 1.1% to $3,347 a ton, raw sugar for March lost 1.1% to 14.80 cents a pound, March cotton dropped 0.5% to 63.64 cents a pound and frozen concentrated orange juice futures rose 0.3% to $1.4365 a pound.
Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
This item was corrected 12:35 p.m. ET because it misstated the dates covered by the CFTC data in the seventh paragraph.

Tzoumerka Mountains

Coffee, Water and Pope Francis’ Revolutionary Take on the Environment

In May, Pope Francis published Laudato Si (Praised Be), his encyclical on the environment. This treatise is the continuation of a body of teachings on critical social, political and economic themes by Popes that form Catholic Social Teaching. The first encyclical (Rerum Novarum) was published in 1891, and dealt with capital and labor. Laudato Si is brilliant and practical — 150 pages, 250 paragraphs.
Here I’m pasting sections from the chapter called Integral Ecology.
What’s this have to do with coffee and water? Everything. Coffee and water are part of an integrated social and natural system, where the interaction of people with their environment directly affects the “ecosystem services” that flow from coffeelands, including both coffee and water.
As I share parts of the letter, many people — Catholics and non-Catholics alike — are surprised that this was written by a Pope. But while Francis’ letter is revolutionary, it is not actually a departure from Catholic Social Teaching. In fact, it explicitly builds on the writings and speeches of John Paul II (e.g. paragraphs 5, 64, and 85), Benedict XVI (e.g. paragraphs 6, 109, and 206) and the Catholic Catechism (e.g. paragraphs 92, 50, and 69). That said, the letter is radical in that it calls for fundamental and urgent shifts in our lifestyles, economics, and politics.

Integral Ecology

Laudato Si – Chapter Four

Part I. Environmental, Economic and Social Ecology

Paragraph 137

• Since everything is closely interrelated, and today’s problems call for a vision capable of taking into account every aspect of the global crisis, I suggest that we now consider some elements of an integral ecology, one which clearly respects its human and social dimensions.

Paragraph 138.

• Ecology studies the relationship between living organisms and the environment in which they develop…

• It cannot be emphasized enough how everything is interconnected. Time and space are not independent of one another, and not even atoms or subatomic particles can be considered in isolation…

• Just as the different aspects of the planet – physical, chemical and biological – are interrelated, so too living species are part of a network which we will never fully explore and understand…

Paragraph 139.

• When we speak of the “environment”, what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it. Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it…

Paragraph 140.

• Due to the number and variety of factors to be taken into account when determining the environmental impact of a concrete undertaking, it is essential to give researchers their due role, to facilitate their interaction, and to ensure broad academic freedom… Ongoing research should also give us a better understanding of how different creatures relate to one another in making up the larger units which today we term “ecosystems”.

• Each organism, as a creature of God, is good and admirable in itself; the same is true of the harmonious ensemble of organisms existing in a defined space and functioning as a system. Although we are often not aware of it, we depend on these larger systems for our own existence. We need only recall how ecosystems interact in dispersing carbon dioxide, purifying water, controlling illnesses and epidemics, forming soil, breaking down waste, and in many other ways which we overlook or simply ignore.

• Once they become conscious of this, many people realize that we live and act on the basis of a reality which has previously been given to us, which precedes our existence and our abilities. So, when we speak of “sustainable use”, consideration must always be given to each ecosystem’s regenerative ability in its different areas and aspects.

Ethiopia Commodity Exchange Launches $4.5 Million Traceability System

Photo by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange.

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) has officially launched its IBM-enabled national traceability system, known as eATTS. With numerous industry partners in the large-volume green coffee trading and buying segment, as well as collaboration with USAID, the $4.5 million (USD) program is rolling out in pilot format with this year’s harvest season.
The ECX, formed in 2008 to help centralize the country’s coffee trade to mixed results, says the traceability system will “soon cover all of Ethiopia’s coffee growing regions, which encompass over 5 million smallholder farmers.”
Through cloud-based IBM technology, coffees tracked in the system for trade through the ECX will be tagged with geo-referencing to more than 2,500 washing, hulling and cleaning stations in the country’s main coffee regions. The tags will include embedded information such as photos of the individual stations, and names and contact information for station managers.
Casting so wide a net, time will have to tell whether the system actually does strengthen value throughout the production chain as the ECX and its partners hope. If so, it could prove a model for other countries in essentially de-commoditizing coffees for larger buyers seeking differentiation through origin, certifications and/or quality in exceedingly crowded consumer markets.
“True traceability goes beyond the commodity’s type or origin to tracing where the commodity has been,” said ECX CEO Ermias Eshetu “We wish to track the footprint of our coffee and where and when it was washed, stored, who sampled and graded it, and when it was shipped. All of these facts will help improve our ability to move commodities traded within the exchange and create premium value for all stakeholders in the value chain.”
The ECX said the tech-based system is a response to the demand among commodity buyers. Said ECX:

Buyers of commodities have become more discerning and willing to pay for quality, environmentally-friendly and origin-specific commodities. Additionally, international buyers demand transparency and accountability within supply chains, so as to ensure the quality, consistency and safety of their products. To meet these demands, ECX and partners are implementing a wide array of activities, including electronic tracking of bags, innovations in washing and processing, and streamlined storage and transportation processes.

ECX’s private industry partners in the product include some of the world’s largest buying and trading organizations. Nestlé, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Mother Parker’s Coffee & Tea and The Sustainable Trade Initiative jointly contributed $1.3 million through the Sustainable Coffee Program, a public/private consortium supported by numerous multinational corporations invested in the coffee trade.

Florence and the Machine - Drumming Song (Live on KEXP)

Brazil to resume auctions of government coffee stocks in coming weeks

SAO PAULO - Brazil crop supply agency Conab said on Friday it plans to auction off 300,000 to 400,000 bags of arabica coffee by the end of the year in biweekly auctions.

Brazil holds 1.56 million 60-kg bags (94,000 tons) of arabica coffee in government-controlled warehouses, which it acquired in past years to support domestic prices during harvest.
Conab had been selling lots of 9,000 to 40,000 bags in periodic auctions earlier in 2015 but stopped in recent months. Demand in the auctions was checkered due to the pricing of the coffee on auction. Traders said they considered prices high at the time for the quality of coffee on offer.
Dates, prices and exact volumes of coffee to be auctioned later this year have yet to be defined by the Agriculture Ministry.
Current-crop good cup arabicas are quoted as low as 465 reais a bag ($0.93/lb) at hinterland warehouses.
In September, Brazil finished a disappointing harvest of 43 million to 50 million bags, depending on the forecast, and privately held stocks for the commodity are expected to fall to extremely low levels in the second quarter of 2016.
Drought in early 2015 in Espirito Santo, Brazil's main robusta growing state, slashed output by 20 percent to 30 percent to roughly 11 million bags and has caused prices for the bean on the local market to rise, hurting margins for local roasters.
Brazil's smaller robusta crop is almost entirely consumed on the domestic market and the auctions of old crop arabica beans are expected to help ease prices for local roasters, which have reported using more of the milder bean in their blends.
Conab did not say whether the auctions would continue into 2016.

Meet the American Press: Immersion and Pressure Combined

All images courtesy of American Press.

When water and coffee are combined for an active method of brewing, it’s usually the water that’s moved through the coffee and not the other way around. Yet with a novel new brewing system called the American Press, the opposite is true: grounds contained in a sealed filter basket are manually pushed through the water, which presents an intriguing new set of variables to consider.
Factors such as water temp and input ratio are familiar, while the relationship of dose and grind with brewing duration and water pressure as manipulated in real time by the user’s manual pressing technique — the pushing of the coffee basket down through the water — constitutes a new and unexplored interplay in the brewing process. So while the American Press looks very much like a French press, it actually has more in common with Aeropress and espresso in terms of fundamental brewing principles.
The production process for the brewer is only just approaching its pre-manufacturing fundraising stage, having achieved certain social media goals prior to a scheduled Nov. 9 soft-launch of a formal IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign that kicks off in earnest the following day. Yet the device itself and the product rollout plan have been in steadfast development for more than four years.

The American Press has gone through several rounds of prototyping and already appears in several polished-looking promotional videos. Its inventor, Alex Albanese, has taken it to various roasteries and cafes in the Detroit area for taste and experience testing among professionals and consumers alike. He believes that the American Press will hit a sweet spot between usability and innovation, having an Aeropress-caliber impact on the connoisseur demographic while also appealing to coffee novices with its familiar form, simple process and easy clean-up.
The brewing carafe is a double-wall insulated Tritan, which is the same clear, resilient, BPA-free and dishwasher-safe co-polyester resin used in Vitamix pitchers, CamelBak bottles and other popular vessels. The top cap, handle, plunger and filters are all solid stainless steel, including a pouring spout designed to be drip-free. The structure of the filter basket is also Tritan. The seals around the filters are silicone, which fit tightly enough to direct positive water pressure but are smooth enough for easy operation.
The lower filter is wider gauged for better water flow into the coffee, while the steel mesh upper filter is spec’d to a filtration fineness of 150 microns, which is finer than the Able Disc Fine though not as fine as the 60-micron wire-mesh Kaffeologie S Filter. Albanese has stated that if demand is there, an optional super-fine filter can be designed and included later, as the filters are easy to install and remove from the device.

Albanese, also the founder and CEO of the American Press company, is a self-described “washed-up physicist” with a background in applied physics and human-centered design, which is the approach to design from an anthropological perspective, studying closely how people interact with products and looking for unmet needs. As a longtime coffee-lover, Albanese was naturally drawn towards coffee-related products, and found himself studying the way people interact with French presses.
“It’s not that hard to clean out a French press, but people just don’t like doing it,” Albanese observed. So initially the goal was to make a French-press-like brewer that was simply easier to clean, although soon after making his first few prototypes, Albanese realized there was much more to his idea than easy clean-up.
“I try to avoid overstating the ‘easier to clean’ part,” said Albanese, noting that the hands-on nature of the brewing method coupled with its spectacular display of the brewing event are the aspects more central to its appeal. “To see the column of clear water just kind of disappearing and turning into a column of coffee is one of the most interesting things about it. It really is this sort of magical water-to-coffee moment, it’s very visual, it’s very engaging.”
The name came about not in an effort to wave any flags, but as a means to differentiate his design from the French press — which is itself actually Italian — as well as simply due to a distaste for the portmanteaus and made-up words that dominate consumer goods these days. Meanwhile, prior to pursuing the American Press dream, Albanese had put his research skills to work for other heavy hitters in the consumer products industry. This included some consulting work for Dyson, the makers of vacuum cleaners and bladeless fans.
“They’re all about prototyping,” said Albanese of the Dyson company, which imparted in him the importance of investing in pre-manufacturing fine-tuning as he set out to make the earliest American Press prototypes himself. Said Albanese, “I spent four months in a machine shop, walking in initially and not even knowing how to use a drill press. I didn’t know how to use a tool to save my life.”

Albanese considers prototyping to be a form of insurance against problems down the line. “It doesn’t matter who you are, it could be Dyson, it could be Bodum, it could be anybody,” he said. “You don’t know for sure that your first run at tooling is going to work.” Yet while bigger companies have the finances to cover additional runs of tooling if the first run is faulty, the fledgling American Press company does not, which makes the greatest possible extent of certainty an even more important asset.
“What I’ve done with this, in addition to all the other homework, is put a lot of work into prototyping to make as sure as possible that we can just cut a check for tooling and it’s going to come out right the first time around,” said Albanese, “which is also to the point of not just getting the product to crowdfunding backers, but getting it to them as fast as possible.”
The business plan depends on the crowdfunding campaign that Albanese and his team of marketers and consultants have been preparing for months. Albanese’s strategy of Facebook and other social media benchmarks, combining market research with valuable pre-campaign word-of-mouth publicity, calls to mind another recently successful coffee-related project: the Precision Coffee Grinder by Handground, which made concerted social media and publicity efforts prior to launching a campaign that set a goal of $35,000 and netted over $300,000.
Albanese says that after all these years and so much invested in expensive prototyping and other preparations, the friends-and-family money tap has been tightened off, but if the campaign is wildly successful right off the bat, he thinks he might be able to wring out a few more behind-the-scenes loans to cut a check for tooling before the campaign is even over. “I can honestly say that if the campaign blew up the first week, and I could get the folks that have gotten me this far to just cut the check I need for tooling, and everything went really smoothly, then I could potentially get these to people about three to five months after the campaign closes.”
While the likelihood of a first-timer’s manufacturing endeavor going “really smoothly” may seem slim, Albanese is optimistic even there, having pursued factories he learned about through industry connections. Unable to find a manufacturing plant on American soil that could do all that needed to be done, Albanese settled on a factory overseas that has “made stuff for the big boys,” including some well-known and well-reputed brand-name products. “They know what they’re doing, they probably make half the stuff that’s in Bed Bath and Beyond,” said Albanese. “It’s a pretty hardcore, high-end factory.”
“If I were to plan for delays, what I would be telling people is still probably above average,” added Albanese, who believes the worst case scenario would be six months after cutting a check for tooling.
The American Press designer envisions a scenario in which the product is introduced to patrons in service environments rather than to shoppers in retail stores, in hopes that people get to see and experience the brewing process while also learning about coffee in general. “I think it would make a great experience for people at a restaurant or café, and they would walk away with a much more in-depth understanding of the product than if it were just sitting on a store shelf,” said Albanese, who reported having already engaged in extensive discussions with one national department store chain.

Yet he’s averse to going the department store route for reasons beyond the non-interactive nature of a static shelf display. For one thing, cafés see the novelty as exciting and attractive, whereas department stores tend to view innovation as problematic in terms of product recognition and categorization. Moreover, Albanese is reluctant at this point to sign any contracts with retailers whose primary objective seems to be to drive the retail price of a new product down as far as possible, without considering its effect on the quality of the product. Said Albanese, “I really care about this product, I’ve invested a lot of time in it. I have no interest in making a product that I don’t believe in.”
Albanese said that future products and accessories in the American Press line may include additional filters for other applications such as steeping tea, or a glass carafe once there’s money in the budget for further R&D. Before going higher-end, though, he intends to introduce a lighter-weight model that is more geared towards camping and travel, that would also have the benefit of a lower price point. As the current model is essentially a single-serving brewer, he also intends to develop a larger model for multiple servings at once. For now, though, Albanese believes that the ease of use and the enjoyment of the spectacle of the American Press will inspire users to take pleasure in making multiple brews in a row, taking turns watching a magical “water to coffee” moment unfold again and again.

In Duluth, City Girl Coffee is All About Buying From and Giving Back to Women

At 25 years old, Duluth, Minn.-based Alakef Coffee Roasters has not been resting on its laurels in 2015. In fact, the year has seen major changes for the company, including a new owner in Alyza Bohbot, who took over the family business in January after coming over from the beer industry with Samuel Adams maker the Boston Beer Company.
Now Bohbot is overseeing the opening of Alakef’s first branded retail outpost, a small kiosk inside the Super One Foods location at the Kenwood Shopping Center. While that move is sure to raise the profile of the Alakef brand locally after roasting for wholesale, grocery and direct online sales since 1990, the Alakef team is in the process of launching a sister brand, City Girl Coffee.
Already a member of the International Womens Coffee Alliance, which works on numerous fronts to support and empower women throughout the coffee supply chain, and a supporter of the nonprofit Café Femenino Foundation, which provides grants to female producers, City Girl Coffee aims to source coffees from women producers whenever possible, while giving back a portion of the proceeds of its sales to organizations that support women locally, domestically and at origin.

Alyza Bohbot. Photo courtesy of City Girl Coffee.

“As a successful woman business owner in a predominately male-driven industry, I am in an incredible position to do something to make a difference, and with City Girl Coffee, that is what I intend to do,” Bohbot said in an announcement anticipating the City Girl Coffee launch party, taking place Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Muse Center in Minneapolis. Proceeds from the $45-per-ticket event will benefit Chicago-based breast cancer and ovarian cancer detection and awareness group Bright Pink.
Part of the inspiration for the women-forward coffee brand came from Bohbot’s own shock related to statistics from groups like the IWCA and the World Bank related to the quality of life struggles faced by huge numbers of female farmers, particularly in the coffee sector. Said, Bohbot, “On top of the hardships most coffee farmers face, women growers consistently face additional struggles in their fight to maintain a respectable standard of living.”

Synesso Launches Variable, Programmable MVP Espresso Machines

The MVP in stainless steel. Images courtesy of Synesso.

Mavam may have stolen the show at the recent Portland Coffee Fest event, although they weren’t the only Seattle-based machine-maker with something new to share. Synesso, makers of the advanced and popular Cyncra and Hydra paddle-actuated espresso machines, is ready to ship a new line of upgraded machines with its latest technological offering called MVP.
MVP stands for Manual or Volumetric Program. At the core of this advancement are several key new features related to controlling espresso brewing parameters and then repeating an ideal extraction profile. Up to six different shot profiles can be programmed into the system for each individual group, each with extraction time split up into 4 programmable phases.
Users can designate the pressure and volume of water delivered during these four stages of a shot, ramping up to full pressure and then down in however quickly or delicately a curve best suits a given coffee. With each click of adjustment to Synesso’s flow meters representing a fraction of a milliliter difference, extraction profiles can be dialed in with extreme precision. On the MVP Hydra, each grouphead also operates autonomously, with its own pump and motor.

Meanwhile, in Manual mode, a barista can vary the pressure and flow in real time by adjusting settings on the wired controller while advancing the paddle through brew stages in order to experiment during the dialing-in process. “The original premise was to mimic a lever machine,” Synesso Marketing and Dealer Support Representative Katy Kelly told Daily Coffee News, regarding the Hydra and the four-stage pressure-ramping design.
Kelly described a system a based on bypasses that allow or restrict the amount of water being delivered by each pump, from line pressure up to maximum pump pressure. Maximum pump pressures are variable as well, although those must be configured manually on the pumps directly.
All MVP machines can switch back forth from manual to pre-profiled volumetric mode at any time, on any group, with a simple adjustment on the top of the group head. LCD screens display the shot timer, temperature, and a four-bar graph indicating what programmed phase of the extraction is occurring. Synesso’s foundational Cyncra machine will still be available in its original format, as a point of entry to the line. From there the product hierarchy steps up to the new MVP machine — essentially a Cyncra with the MVP upgrade — then the top-of-the-line MVP Hydra.
Early MVP concept machines were on display at the 2015 SCAA Event this past April in Seattle. Production and shipment schedules actually had the finished MVP machines on the ground in Australia for an official global launch of the product in mid October, just a couple weeks before the first official production-line MVP Hydra landed in its first North American café, on the bar at Portland, Ore.’s Case Study Coffee. That one arrived at just about the same time as the Portland Coffee Fest event unfolded, where an MVP machine also quietly debuted before the North American public.

The MVP Hydra in blue.

“We were sort of guest-starring at a booth. We didn’t have our own booth there,” said Kelly. The MVP machine was at the booth shared by Colorado’s Ozo Coffee Company and a new liquid cacao beverage called Cholaca. Baristas and anyone else interested can catch a hands-on glimpse of the new machines in the very space where they’re built this coming November 19, when the Synesso Factory will host a Thursday Night Throwdown latte art competition for the first time.

Coffee Day sells shares to Blackrock, Merrill, Jupiter on eve of IPO

Coffee Day Enterprises started off its share sale at its initial public offering, which could give it a valuation of $1bn, by selling some 10.4m shares to institutions such as Blackrock, Jupiter and ICICI Prudential.

Coffee Day, owner of India's largest coffee chain, said it had raised some 3.34bn rupees ($51m) from an initial sale of shares to so-called "anchor" investors, which also included the likes of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Reliance Life Insurance and Swiss Finance Corp.

The anchor investors paid 322 rupees per share, in the middle of the range of 316-328 rupees at which the company is launching its IPO, which will be opened to other investors for subscription from Wednesday to Friday, ahead of the listing in Mumbai.

The anchor investors would be obliged to pay extra for the shares if the main subscription process allowed a higher price, Coffee Day said in its statement on Tuesday.

Expanding market

The announcements represents the kick-off in earnest of a flotation which has been keenly awaited being the biggest in the local market in nearly three years.

Besides being the owner of the Café Coffee Day outlets, which number some 1,500, the group also owns a coffee vending business with nearly 29,000 machines and a 590-strong kiosk chain, boasts bean roasting and exporting assets, and technology park, financial services and hospitality operations.

However, it is the coffee chain for which the group is best known, being by far India's largest, well ahead of the 180 outlets owned by Barista, the 100 by Costa Coffee, with Starbucks in fourth place with 40 stores as of last year, according to Technopak.

These companies are attempting to exploit an Indian coffee market which is expected to grow from 77bn rupees this year to 151bn rupees in 2020, according to Technopak data quoted in the Coffee Day prospectus.

Of this, coffee chains will account for 54bn rupees as of 2020, up from 26bn rupees this year.

Tough competition

However, despite the strong growth, the market is proving highly competitive, with Gloria Jeans Coffee quitting last year, and both Barista and Costa Coffee rationalising stores.

Coffee Day itself, while opening 730 stores since 2012, has closed 298 over the same period, besides closing a number of kiosks.

The group has defended its large market share, of 46% in coffee chains last year, largely through competing on prices, with its cappuccinos, for instance, selling at 79 rupees, below the 90 rupees at Barista and 120 rupees at Starbucks, according to Technopak.

The group's intends to invest some 877m rupees of its IPO proceeds – pencilled in at 11.5bn rupees -  in further expanding its café and kiosk networks, plus a further 974m rupees on manufacturing vending machines, 606m rupees on repairs and 419m rupees on a second coffee roasting facility.

However, the bulk of the intended proceeds, more than 6bn rupees, has been earmarked for repaying debt.

Broker reaction

The IPO pricing has attracted a mixed welcome from analysts, with ICICI Securities among more upbeat commentators, recommending investors buy in on grounds that the proposed market value suggests that the enterprise value of coffee business would be the equivalent of about 4.3 times sales.

That would be a discount of some 15% to the multiple at which Starbucks trades, the broker said.

However, Sharekhan has taken a more neutral view, saying the IPO values the coffee business at about 25-26 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda), a valuation in line with peers.

Angel Broking also took a "neutral" stance, citing the group's poor record of profitability and complex holding structure, and saying investors wanting to buy might consider waiting for a potential correction in Coffee Day stock.

'Poor returns'

Ambit Insights put an "avoid" recommendation on the flotation, saying that all Coffee Day's divisions "have a history of poor return on capital employed".

"One needs to consider the fact that the company is exposed to not only high competition from global entrants but also to the rising capital/operating costs/needs which will make it difficult for it to post respectable returns on capital employed".