News from big roasters, about big plans, with some science and sustainability tossed in.
- Smucker, owner of Folgers, etc., has now purchased Sara Lee’s North American foodservice coffee business. Smucker can now buy even more uncertified coffee.
- And Oliver Strand points out in the NYT that Folgers in K-Cups costs $50 a pound!
- Meanwhile, Sara Lee realizes it neglected the single-serve market, and wants to re-invigorate its Senseo brand. It is already discontinuing marketing Senseo in North America at the end of March, so it looks like this will be a foreign effort.
- Coffee producers in India are asking the national coffee board to provide subsidies for sustainable practices like pulpers that use less water and the preparation of worm composting beds.
- Meanwhile, Starbucks is set to begin opening stores galore in India. There was even a piece on NPR about it.
- And Starbucks is also moving forward in China, partnering to source Yunnan coffee for use in global blends.
- The NYT is also continuing its series Scientist at Work with an update from a researcher looking at mammals on Costa Rican coffee farms; this installment she talks about coffee certifications. Speaking of scientists at work, here’s me, representing.
And finally thanks, Minnesota Zoo, for the shout-out to Coffee & Conservation in your “Do One Thing” campaign.
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