Who Will Fund the Future of Coffee?
For paid subscribers: some thoughts on the loss of USAID funding for coffee research, and the possibly misguided hope that corporations will step up.
Starbucks launches a Howard Schultz original, the Oleato (basically just adding a spoonful of olive oil to various drinks) in an attempt to woo skeptical Italian customers. Meanwhile, coffee harvests in Central America are at risk due to lack of workers, and Intelligentsia closes two recently-unionized cafes in Chicago citing slow business and expiring leases.
Read the whole thing over at Fresh Cup Magazine:
I’ll be back with a new feature on Friday, but until then it’s goodbye from a very determined-looking Merlin:
Receive a new longform article every other Friday and a weekly coffee news summary every Monday, direct to your inbox