Features
Tapping Tea for Private Label in Foodservice
With tea growing in popularity as a meal accompaniment, should foodservice establishments create tea house brands? Linda R. Villano, co-founder of SerendipiTea, explores the benefits and challenges of developing private label tea programmes in foodservice.
Posted 15 May 2017
Piracy at Sea and the Looming Dangers for Coffee Cargo
Piracy and cargo theft has long been a concern in both the shipping business and the subsequent coffee supply chain, which depends on the safe and timely delivery of the beans.
Posted 15 May 2017
Keeping Direct Trade Transparent
Part one of this series, Adding Value to the Supply Chain (March), discussed value migration in coffee towards traceable products linked to a single producer or facility. This direct connection with the source is made possible through education, travel and branding individual farms and mills.
Posted 13 April 2017
Adding Value to the Supply Chain
The first of this two-part series examines new categories of added value associated with specialty coffee, particularly specialty coffee sourced directly from individual farms in small lots through a transparent and traceable model.
Posted 2 March 2017
Coffee in the Arctic, Rich in Pride and Traditions
In Greenland, every happening in life is celebrated with coffee from a boy’s first successful seal hunting expedition to the start of the new school year. In Arctic neighbour Iceland, it’s common to start off dinner with coffee before cocktails.
Posted 6 February 2017
The Complexities of Climate Change
Many may feel that the topic of climate change has been discussed ad nauseam.
But the conversation needs to continue because the impact of climate change on both tea and coffee plantations is real. Both industries need to explore strategies to combat the effects of climate change. These strategies include product diversification, agroforestry and better farming practices.
Posted 18 January 2017
Scandinavia: A Growing Market for Tea
Although the Nordic people are the world’s most avid coffee drinkers, they have recently started to embrace quality teas, attracted not only by the novelty but also by the wellness and health benefits of this alternative hot cup.
Posted 18 December 2016
Peet’s Coffee: Influencing the Industry for 50 Years
One man’s vision was the catalyst for the craft coffee movement in the United States. As Peet’s Coffee celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, we look back to its beginnings with Alfred Peet’s quest to improve the quality of coffee in America that led to the development of company’s uncompromising standard of hand-crafting specialty coffee, and its lasting commitment to influence the coffee industry to honour Alfred Peet’s legacy.
Posted 18 November 2016
In Brazil’s Southern Minas, It’s All About Cooxupe
The 12,000 members of the Cooxupe Cooperative–the world’s biggest coffee cooperative–grow more coffee than the Central American countries of Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua combined.
Posted 13 October 2016
The Art of Tea Tasting & Blending
Tea tasting and tea blending are a combination of knowledge and artful skills. Highly sensitive sensorial capacities and years of training are required before mastering the art of tea tasting and blending the various teas for creating or maintaining quality cup profiles. By Barbara Dufrêne.
Posted 13 October 2016
Single-Serve Brewing: Untapped Potential
There’s been ample debate within the last year about the state of the single-serve category. Has the novelty worn off? Is it a category on the decline? Or is there still room for growth?
Posted 29 September 2016
Tea in South America: Key Markets and Major Regional Trends
Tea is not a primary beverage of choice throughout most of Latin America, but consumption is growing and its popularity continues to rise.
Posted 9 September 2016
From Rio to Sao Paulo, Hopes are High in Brazil for an Abundant Harvest
It’s not a random coincidence that Brazil dominates the global coffee industry—each region on its own is bigger than most other coffee-growing nations in the world.
Posted 9 September 2016
Sustainable Packaging: How Far Have We Come?
Packaging must–first and foremost–protect the product inside. However, consumers today want packaging that is more environmentally friendly. Sustainability in packaging is a complex issue where the needs and demands of consumers are not always aligned with manufacturing and recycling recycling facilities.
Posted 9 August 2016