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/73257
Coff ee supplies up, demand down Arabica futures hit two-year low Coffee futures prices dropped during May more steeply than they had in 31 years, reflecting a rise in the supply as demand drops. September Arabica futures dropped 0.7 cents to hit $1.567 per pound, a two- year low. According to coffee importer Volcafe, global production for the current crop year should reach 134.3 million bags, a 1.8 percent increase over the last crop. Meanwhile, world coffee consumption increased 1.7 percent in 2011, which was the lowest rate of increase in 12 years. "Macro-economic uncertainty remains a major driver in the coffee market," a report from Rabobank International stated, citing currency devaluations and general economic malaise, especially in Europe, as depressive factors. Starbucks buys bakery chain Move seen as way to shore up food menu In its second major purchase of a retailer in a year, Starbucks has bought the parent company of La Boulange, a 19-store bakery chain based in San Francisco. M��� Y��� C������� July The retail coffee giant bought Bay Bread LLC, owner of La Boulange, for a reported $100 million in cash. Starbucks has plans to both expand La Boulange outlets beyond San Francisco and begin selling branded La Boulange products in its own stores. Food has long been perceived as a weak spot for Starbucks, despite its constituting 19 percent of in-store sales and despite its having grown by double digits in each of the company's last two fiscal years. Last November, Starbucks bought the Evolution Fresh retail juice chain for $30 million. Roasters laying on the Robusta? Import imbalance leads to speculation Roasters of mainstream coffee may be putting more Robusta into their blends to cut costs, according to importers and other industry observers. The International Coffee Organization reports that Robusta imports in the first quarter of this year were almost 80 percent greater than the same quarter last year, while Arabica imports fell by almost a third during that timeframe. This has led to speculation that roasters of mainstream grocery blends like Maxwell House and Folgers are adding more Robusta to the mix to keep prices down. (Kraft Foods and J.M. Smucker, marketers of Maxwell House and Folgers respectively, declined to comment to Reuters on the issue.) The motivation to add as much of the lower-quality Robusta to the blend as consumers will bear is strongest when the gap between Robusta and Arabica prices is wide, as it was last year, when it stood at about $1.90 in May. That gap is now down to about 60 cents, but if consumers accept blends with higher proportions of Robusta, that probably won't be reversed no matter what happens to prices, observers say. Colombia looks to Russia, China 2 countries key to increasing exports Colombia, world's the leading 15-21 Roasters Guild Origin Trip, Brasilia, Brazil, www.roastersguild.org August exporter of Arabica coffee, could more than double its exports by 2020 if it can continue making inroads into Russia and China, the head of the country's coffee federation said. Luis Genaro Munoz told Reuters that 16-19 Specialty Coffee Assn. of America, 12th Annual Roasters Guild Retreat, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Wash., roastersguild.org/?p=events&sub=retreat 9-10 Canadian Coffee & Tea Show, The International Centre, Mississauga, Ont., coffeeteashow.ca September 20-22 Pacific Coast Coffee Assn., 81st Convention, The Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Coast, Calif., www.paccoffee.com 17 Third Moscow International Coffee Forum, Moscow, Russia, www.coffeetea.ru 20-22 COTECA Tea Coffee Cocao/Global Industry Expo, Hamburg, Germany, www.coteca-hamburg.com 21-23 Coffee Fest Seattle, www.coffeefest.com October 6-7 Northwest Tea Festival, Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, Seattle, Wash., www.neteafestival.com 6 | July 2012 • www.specialty-coffee.com the country's coffee exports could reach 18 million bags by the end of the decade. Coffee production was 7.8 million bags, a three-decade low, due to a combination of coffee disease and bad weather. Genaro Munoz called Russia and China key to Colombia's future coffee export plans. He said Chinese duties on coffee range up to 30 percent, and so Colombia will seek a free trade agreement with China in talks that are due to start next year. Sara Lee names new coff ee half Int'l coffee business will borrow Douwe Egberts name Sara Lee has announced the name of its new international coffee and tea spinoff: D.E. Master Blenders 1753.