BREW NEWS
Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing technology for "biorefining,
waste into salable material. The organization, headed by Carol Lin, a scientist from the City University of Hong Kong, seeks to use fungi and bacteria to transform carbohydrates in food waste into succinic acid, a chemical used in products including plastics, medicines and laundry detergent. Lin told an audience at a recent
" a process for transforming
National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society that Starbucks Hong Kong stores discard close to 5,000 tons of coffee grounds and uneaten baked goods a year. Starbucks Hong Kong has agreed to cooperate and donate a portion of the proceeds from its sales of what it calls "Care for Our Planet Cookies." Lin said that the next step is to scale
up the biorefining process in a pilot plant, both locally and in an existing pilot plant in Germany.
KONA FARMERS STILL AT ODDS WITH SAFEWAY They say stores don't live up to labeling promise The tiff between grocery giant
CONTEST WINNER: BACON-FLAVORED COFFEE Takes $10,000 prize from Seattle's Best A bacon-flavored coffee drink won
Safeway and farmers of Hawaiian Kona coffee is far from over. The farmers have been complaining
that Safeway and other retailers have been selling coffee labeled "Kona blend" that has as little as 10 percent Kona. Safeway promised the Kona Coffee Farmers Association last year that it would start specifying on its packaging the amount of Kona used in such blends. But the association said recently that
Safeway stores on the U.S. mainland still have packaging with the old labeling. It also said Safeway has not kept a promise to sell 100 percent Kona products. A Safeway spokesperson said the
the top prize in a consumer contest sponsored by the Seattle's Best unit of Starbucks. The drink, called "How to Win a Guy with One Sip," features
pumpkin-pie spice with bacon-based syrup, garnished with candied, oven-baked bacon bits impaled on a toothpick. It was developed by Eileen Gannon, a financial advisor from Des Moines, Iowa, who won $10,000 for her efforts. The competition was the Red
chain intends to live up to its promises, and that the supply chain has not yet been purged of the old Kona packaging.
Cup Showdown, hosted by Seattle's Best, which will feature the drink at participating outlets throughout North America. Runner-ups in the competition included a "Café Mocha en fuego,
cinnamon and cayenne, and a raspberry-flavored chocolate coffee. SCR
" spiced with chili powder,
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