Coffee is increasingly at risk from the climate crisis, and corporate-driven incremental change won’t save it. The theory of degrowth offers hope for a better world and a fairer coffee industry.
For paid subscribers: Coffee is increasingly used to burnish the United Arab Emirates’ international image. Now it is being supercharged by merging with the popularity of the Dubai chocolate trend.
Hello, and welcome to the Roundup. Every week, I read all the coffee news and write about the best bits for Fresh Cup Magazine. Then, I summarise those bits for you in this newsletter.
Efforts are ongoing to figure out the problem of coffee waste—from the millions of tonnes of coffee grounds sent to landfill each year (that are contributing to groundwater contamination), to the millions of tonnes of trashed takeaway cups, to the millions of tonnes of discarded coffee pods, and so on. Now, scientists in the UAE have invented a process that combines coffee grounds and plastic waste and turns them into activated carbon, which can then be used to capture carbon dioxide from industrial emissions.
Workers at Anodyne Coffee in Milwaukee won their union election in June, an election they held because the company's owner, private equity-backed Fairwave Holdings, declined to voluntarily recognise the union. Fairwave, which has been buying up coffee companies throughout the Midwest and beyond, challenged the results, despite every eligible worker voting yes. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board dismissed that challenge.
Coffee is good for you, says a pretty comprehensive review of decades worth of research. The study looked at the results of some 200 studies from around the world that involved millions of participants over several decades. "Overall, the consensus is that moderate coffee intake is more beneficial than harmful across a wide range of health outcomes", the authors wrote.
For more on all these, plus further proof that higher elevation = better coffee, check out the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:
If you missed it, why not check out my latest deep dive, which looks at the latest corporate coffee wheelings and dealings, and what it all means for the future of the industry:
Paid subscribers will receive their customary bi-weekly bonus article this Friday, but until then it's goodbye from a new guest star, Frickle. (Frickle lives in New York and was sent to me by Emma from Bossa Coffee; if you have an adorable cat or dog you'd like to see featured at the end of The Pourover's Monday newsletter, get in touch!)
Thanks for reading! If you'd like to support my work (and get extra bonus articles) why not become a paid subscriber to The Pourover:
I'm a coffee writer and creator of The Pourover. Based in Scotland, I have over a decade of experience in the specialty coffee industry. Ask me about coffeewashing. It's pronounced Fin (he/him)
Fionn Pooler
Fionn Pooler
Fionn Pooler
