For paid subscribers: Coffee is increasingly used to burnish the United Arab Emirates’ international image. Now it is being supercharged by merging with the popularity of the Dubai chocolate trend.
The coffee scene in Dubai is thriving, and the city is set to welcome the Specialty Coffee Association’s World of Coffee event next month. But underneath the glitzy facade and marketing buzz lies a moral quagmire.
It was a particularly busy week for coffee news, so much so that I didn't manage to include everything I wanted to (looking at you, story about Singapore banning a Malaysian instant coffee product after finding that it contained an erectile dysfunction drug).
However, I did find room for the following:
A former executive at the specialty chain Gregorys Coffee filed a lawsuit against its eponymous founder and CEO, Gregory Zamfotis. Among other accusations, the lawsuit alleges that he "denigrated and mocked Black employees, paid them thousands less than their white colleagues, and in one instance, fired an assistant manager for no reason other than the color of her skin".
Coffee is getting so expensive that green beans are being stolen during transport. Fake transportation companies in the United States have committed "dozens of thefts in the last year", according to Todd Costley of Hartley Transportation.
A new report alleged that Starbucks avoided more than a billion dollars in taxes over a decade by using a Swiss subsidiary to handle its green coffee purchasing. Without ever receiving delivery, the Swiss company bought and then resold the coffee to other Starbucks subsidiaries at a markup, the profits from which were taxed at the lower Swiss rate. None of this is illegal, mind, and Starbucks said that it "is in full compliance with tax laws around the world".
There's lots more, including the hip new trend sweeping Europe—early morning coffee raves—as well as coffee unionising, competition, and health news. For all that, check out the full roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:
If you missed it, you can read my article on the Chilean Starbucks union and how it offers hope for U.S. organisers in their struggle for a first contract:
Paid subscribers will receive a bonus article this Friday (sign up here if you'd like to read it too) but until then it's goodbye from my sister's cat Maru:
I'm a coffee writer and creator of The Pourover. Based in Scotland, I have over a decade of experience in the specialty coffee industry. Ask me about coffeewashing. (he/him)
Fionn Pooler
Fionn Pooler
