Posted by TheShot on 25 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends, Starbucks
Reading the papers, for many mainstream consumers, you’d think that the current economic slowdown marked the return of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. However, you could argue that we’ve witnessed the necessary bursting of the real estate bubble, the correction of stupid money that pumped up the sub-prime loan debacle, rising food prices that [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 09 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew
According to yesterday’s Daily Telegraph (London), the tiny Sicilian town of Partinico has defined a social ritual to counter Italy’s struggles with the rising price of coffee: Italians share coffee to beat price rise - Telegraph. Because of the higher prices, and the Italian need for several cups of espresso a day, some Italians have [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 10 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Roasting
Walking in to a Peet’s Coffee & Tea last week, I noticed they are once again offering their supply of Panama Esmeralda Geisha as a roast-dated “Reserve” coffee. We wrote about this coffee varietal last month (and also in 2006). It has consistently sold at record auction prices, and it has won numerous awards for [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 31 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: Café Society, Foreign Brew
All is not well in the Italian Peninsula, and there are few things that can inspire Garibaldi’s Redshirts to go marching again like the price of that all-important daily staple of life: the espresso. This week, the Milan-based national paper, Corriere della Sera, reported on the shocking surprise many Italians received upon their return from [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 20 Jul 2007 | Tagged as: Quality Issues, Starbucks
Starbucks executives bristle at the suggestion that their corporation represents the fast food of coffee. (This despite lamenting memos from the chairman to the contrary.) But when was the last time Starbucks made a corporate decision that favored quality over quantity?
Case and point … the new chocolate partnership Starbucks announced this week: Starbucks, Hershey to [...]
Posted by TheShot on 18 Jan 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Robusta
A Reuters poll expects coffee prices to remain elevated over worldwide supply concerns. Supplies are generally expected to rebound in the next crop year as regional markets recover from hurricanes and drought and Brazil eases the throttle on production: POLL-Funds, supply worries seen buoying coffee in 2006.
But to give you a sense of just how [...]
Posted by TheShot on 08 Jan 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade, Robusta
According to the VietNam News, the average price of wholesale coffee in Vietnam has risen up to 80% in the past year due to a regional drought in 2004-5. Coffee supplies are estimated at 30-50% lower than normal: Coffee prices surge on demand.
Given the awful, mass production quality robusta beans that largely come out of [...]
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