STiR coffee and tea magazine

22 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2017 (August / September) US Fully Compostable Vented Bag A Chicago-based company has devel- oped what they say is the first fully compostable vented coffee bag. Elevate Packaging now sells the silver one-pound bag made with bioplastic film. The material is certified home composta- ble and has received the OK Compost seal from third-party certifier Vincotte thus meeting European biodegradability standards, the company says. "The bags have been engineered and tested with leading roasters' cupping tests to prove that they perform on par to conventional high-barrier metalized film pouches," Elevate said in a statement. The bags are available with or without a valve. The company now delivers the bags with its fully compostable label products and it says custom-printed bags will be available later this year. Learn more: www.elevatepackaging.com Starbucks Expands in Georgia Starbucks plans to double the size of its facility in Augusta, Ga., and hire as many as 100 employees once construction is completed. The $120 million project announced in early July will add another 140,000 square feet to the company's Augusta soluble plant. Work is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by late 2019. The plant's two roasters help produce Starbucks' VIA instant as well as the coffee base for blended beverages and many of its bottled and canned beverages. Six new whole bean roasters will be added. Starbucks Augusta plant expansion The facility now employs 185 people, the company said in a prepared state- ment. Another 80-100 new positions will serve a variety of roles. The location is a 20-minute drive from Fort Gordon, a US Army base, and Starbucks works closely with Army officials to hire veterans and military spouses. "Because of the technical nature of our business here, we have recruited heavily for automation specialists, operators, mechanics, and technicians," plant director Tim Filipowski said. "Generally, the folks coming out of the service have some or all of those experiences." Stumptown Founder Starts Anew Duane Sorenson, founder of Stumptown coffee, is returning to the coffee industry with a new roastery and café in Portland, Ore., according to the Oregonian newspaper. The café, called Puff, is expected to open this fall. Sorenson sold his iconic Portland business to JAB Holding in 2015. That sale included a two-year non-compete clause and time has expired. During the two-year coffee hiatus, Sorenson opened a successful chicken restaurant called the Woodsman Tavern. Puff will be located behind the Woodsman and will serve as a dance and concert space for local musicians. JAB Holding now owns Keurig, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee, Intelligen- tsia, Panera Bread, and Krispy Kreme. Hawaiian Farmer Deported Magana Ortiz, a well-known Hawaiian coffee farmer, was deported by the United States government in July after 28 years living in the country. Ortiz, 43, had fought deportation since 2011. Ortiz came to the United States from Mexico as a teenager in the hands of human traffickers, according to pub- lished reports, and established a successful coffee career. He started by picking coffee as a migrant worker in Kona and after 10 years of saving money, he finally bought his own farmland. He expanded his busi- ness and, in 2010, allowed the US Department of Agriculture to use his farm at no cost to conduct a study in destructive insect species. The government determined in 2011 that Ortiz was eligible for deportation but he was granted stays in 2014 and 2015. Remaining in the US are his wife, an American citizen, and three children, all born in the United States. Wilbur Curtis Gifts UC Davis Wilbur Curtis Co., has pledged $250,000 to the University of California, Davis to support the university's expanding Coffee Center. The donation is the first to a major academic institution by the manufacturer of coffee and tea brewing equipment. The UC Coffee Center will be the first multidisciplinary university research center in the world devoted to post- harvest research of coffee. By applying a rigorous academic framework to research and education in coffee science the center is slated to elevate the entire coffee industry. "With more than 75 years of coffee knowledge under our belts, we know that, with the help of UC Davis, the next 75 years will bring us an enhanced under- standing of coffee that will continue to revolutionize the industry and benefit our customers," said Patrick Curtis, the company's business development manager. "We are excited to partner with the UC Davis Coffee Center to help advance our knowledge of the most popular beverage on the planet." The gift will contribute to the renovation of a 6,000-square-foot building for the new Coffee Center, which will include a pilot roastery, an experimental green bean storage facility, a sensory analysis laboratory, advanced analytical labs, as well as classroom and office space. An outdoor patio event space, intended to host coffee tastings and coffee-industry events, will be named in Curtis' honor. The Elevate bag

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