Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/52159
Sara Lee buys Norwegian coff ee company Move is in advance of next year's spinoff Sara Lee, which plans to spin off its coffee business next year, moved to strengthen that business internationally with a Norwegian acquisition. Sara Lee bought House of Coffee, a leading coffee provider in Norway and Denmark, in a joint venture with Norwegian company Kaffehuset Friele. This move will allow Sara Lee and Kaffehuset (45 percent owned by Sara Lee) to "strengthen their positions across various out-of-home channels in both countries" by introducing popular brands such as Douwe Egberts Senseo pods, Sara Lee said in a statement. The spinoff of Sara Lee's international beverages unit, most of which consists of coffee, is scheduled to take place in the spring. The company has tabbed former Heineken executive Michiel Herkemij as the new company's CEO. Washington State shop where offi cers killed holds tribute Four died in ambush two years ago The coffee shop where four Lakewood, Wash. Mark Your Calendar January 25-26 Coffee & Tea Festival, 7WEST, New York, N.Y., www.coffeeandteafestival.com 9-11 Coffee Fest New York, Javits Center, New York City, www.coffeefest.com 22-24 National Coffee Assn. Annual Convention, Charleston (S.C.) Place Hotel, www.ncausa.org 23-25 Tea & Coffee World Cup, Vienna, Austria, www.tcworldcup.com April 27-29 London Coffee Festival, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, England, www.londoncoffeefestival.com May 4-6 Melbourne Int'l Coffee Expo, Melbourne, Australia, www.internationalcoffeexpo.com 6 | January 2012 • www.specialty-coffee.com March February police officers were killed in a 2009 ambush hosted a day of remembrance on Nov. 29, the second anniversary of their deaths. On that day two years ago, Maurice Clemmons walked into Forza Coffee in Parkland, Wash. and opened fire on four police officers who were working on laptops prior to starting their shift. Killed were Sergeant Mark Renninger and Officers Tina Griswold, Greg Richards and Ronald Owens. Clemmons was shot and killed resisting arrest a few days later. The Forza was packed as music played and patrons remembered the fallen officers or just stopped to pay tribute. "I knew all the officers personally," Forza co-owner Courtney Marshall told KING-TV in Seattle. "It's important to remember what happened and also to use it in a positive light." African farmers: Global warming is burning us Coffee growers make case at South Africa summit Coffee farmers tried to convince attendees at a global summit on climate change to pay attention to the effects of global warming on coffee agriculture. The COP17 (Conference of the Parties) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change met in early December in Durban, South Africa. COP17, comprising representatives from 195 nations, was trying to reach agreement on cutting carbon emissions throughout the world. The conference was working to build on the Kyoto Protocol, the world's only active treaty on climate issues, which is due to expire at the end of 2012. Some Fairtrade farmers have experienced losses of up to 28 percent of yield, which they attribute to climate change. The Fairtrade Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union in Malawi claims that climate change has wiped out nearly half of the 10 million coffee trees its members have planted since 2003. Representatives from Fairtrade Africa spoke at several events at COP17 to address agricultural issues, for coffee and other crops, related to climate change. Coff ee thieves plague Kenya 10 killed in bean robbery attempt Theft of coffee beans is increasingly plaguing the supply chain in Kenya, with high prices the motive. Prices in Kenya hit an all-time high 18-20 India International Coffee Festival, The Lalit, New Delhi, India, www.iicf.in during the 2011-12 growing season. As a result, thefts have been increasing from farms in the western part of the country, as well as from trucks in transit. Roasters and warehouses are also being targeted. In one tragedy in early December reported in the Nairobi Standard, thieves shot and killed three security guards at a roasting plant in Bungoma County in western Kenya in an attempt to steal coffee beans. A mob killed two of the alleged thieves as they tried to escape and lynched the third afterward. Then a local official's bodyguards allegedly shot and killed four members of a mob that attacked police investigating the incident. Many roasters and warehouses have 18-19 Specialty Coffee Assn. of America Annual Exposition and Symposium, Portland (Ore.) Convention Center, www.scaa.org strengthened security, pushing thefts down to the farm level, according to Business Daily Africa. In addition, some roasters are suspected of knowingly buying stolen coffee, or at least not inquiring too closely about a shipment's bona fides. The Coffee Board of Kenya recently warned the country's roasters to be diligent about securing proper paperwork for all their coffee shipments.