Can you taste green coffee defects in your cup? New research suggests you might. Plus, Missouri sues Starbucks over its DEI initiatives, Korea’s budget coffee brands may not be so cheap anymore, and employees allege the workplace has become toxic at Colectivo Coffee.
‘Research Paves Way for Science-Backed Green Coffee Standards’ – via Global Coffee Report
Do broken or chipped beans affect how your coffee tastes? New research seeks to explore the impact of physical defects in green coffee on flavor and aroma.
One of the ways green coffee is graded is by looking at physical defects—things like broken and chipped beans, insect damage, and foreign matter. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has a green coffee grading system folks have used for decades known as the Green Coffee Classification System. The system details the number and types of defects allowable in a given sample for the coffee to be considered specialty.
However, little research has been done into how such defects affect the final brewed coffee. “Current standards are based on tradition, not science,” Peter Giuliano, executive director of the Coffee Science Foundation (CSF), said in a press release. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to change that.”
A new project will look at the impact of defects on cup quality, led by researchers from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), and supported by funding from CSF and the SCA. The project will focus mostly on sensory qualities such as flavor and aroma, but will also involve chemical analysis to determine any possible health risks associated with green bean defects.
“We want to understand how many green coffee beans of a physical defect have an actual perceptible effect on the cup,” said Sebastian Opitz, head of green coffee and project manager at the ZHAW’s Coffee Excellence Center. “Based on sensory data that we will obtain from a larger group of cuppers and laypeople, we hope that we will eventually be able to estimate the sensory thresholds for the different defects.”
‘Missouri Sues Starbucks, Claiming ‘Systemic Discrimination’ via DEI’ – via The Guardian
The Republican attorney general of Missouri is suing Starbucks, accusing the company of relying on “race-and-sex-based hiring practices” that violate federal and state laws.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey alleges in the lawsuit that Starbucks’ diversity, equity, and inclusion policies have led to “systemic racial, sexual, and sexual orientation discrimination” in its hiring practices.
The lawsuit compares Starbucks employment numbers from 2020 to 2024: the percentage of women employees rose very slightly from 69% to 70.9%, while the percentage of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) workers fell by half a percent.
“Despite the figures appearing to show no major changes,” Marina Dunbar reported for The Guardian, “the lawsuit emphasizes that ‘since 2020, Starbuck’s workface [sic] has become more female and less white.’”
Bailey also targeted other initiatives, like how the company tied executive bonuses to achieving specific diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring quotas. It stopped doing this in 2024 after investors voted overwhelmingly to remove it.
The lawsuit also claims that because of Starbucks’ policies, Missouri customers “are required to pay higher prices and wait longer for goods and services.” Bailey’s claim offered no evidence of this.
In a statement to The Guardian, Starbucks called the allegations “inaccurate” and noted that “We are deeply committed to creating opportunity for every single one of our partners (employees). Our programs and benefits are open to everyone and lawful.”
This all comes after U.S. President Trump’s executive order banning DEI programs across the U.S. government, leading major retailers such as McDonald’s, Walmart, and Lowe’s to pare back their diversity initiatives.
Starbucks has long cast itself as a progressive employer, pledging to hire refugees during Trump’s first term and at one point offering what Mary Emily O’Hara in Them called “the most comprehensive trans health policy in the world.”
However, Starbucks’ reputation has taken several hits over the past few years. The company has aggressively fought against its union workers and threatened to remove gender-affirming healthcare coverage for transgender employees at stores that unionized. The chain also recently reversed its open bathroom policy, which allowed non-customers to use Starbucks facilities for free.
‘Soaring Bean Costs Push Up Budget Coffee Prices’ – via The Korea Herald
We’ve been keeping you updated on the ins and outs of South Korea’s fast-growing and hugely competitive coffee sector for several years. And it is very competitive: There are so many cafes in the country that it’s not unusual to see multiple cafes on the ground floor of a single office building.
We’ve also reported on the price wars as hundreds of thousands of cafes compete for market share. But as green coffee costs rise, even budget-conscious chains are beginning to feel the squeeze.
As Ko Dong-hwan reports for The Korea Herald, Compose Coffee, one of the country’s top low-price chains, is raising its prices for the first time in a decade. Compose is specifically upping the cost of its iced Americanos—the drink so popular that it inspired a proverb in Korea: “Even if I freeze to death, iced Americano!”
Compose’s CEO blamed rising prices on the coffee commodity market, which is experiencing its own meteoric rise. He also pointed to cost increases for other ingredients and rising wages as part of the problem.
Whether other budget brands follow Compose’s lead remains to be seen, but higher-priced chains have already hiked their menu offerings. As Ko writes, “While Starbucks and other medium- to premium-quality coffee franchise brands have already raised their prices, it is the first time a budget franchise company here has done the same.”
More News
‘Starbucks Baristas are Already Complaining About Doodling on Your Cups’ – via CNN
‘Top Lot Gets $4,546/lb at Inaugural DMCC Specialty Coffee Auction in Dubai’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘STL Coffee Fest Comes To St. Louis Later This Month’ – via Sprudge
‘Coffee Merchant in Brazil’s Minas Gerais Suspends Operations’ – via Reuters
‘Löfbergs Acquires 100% Stake in Denmark’s Peter Larsen Kaffe’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Nominations Continue For The 16th Annual Sprudgie Awards Presented By Pacific Barista Series’ – via Sprudge
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
It took nearly three years for the 600 workers at Colectivo Coffee to finally negotiate a union contract with ownership. Workers at the Midwest chain, with locations in Wisconsin and Illinois, launched their union campaign in 2020 and finally reached an agreement with the company in 2023.
Now, multiple Colectivo workers have come forward, alleging the workplace was toxic. Employees accused managers at several locations of mistreating employees and were not held accountable when issues were raised with upper management.
Former shift leader Mackenzie Ridenour alleges they were fired for helping a coworker file a complaint against a store manager. “Because I helped someone with an incident report, I’m getting fired,” Ridenour told Casey He and Shreya Srinivasan, who reported this story for the Daily Northwestern. “Not a write-up, not a tsk-tsk. Nothing. Immediately fired.”
Other workers also alleged issues with that same manager.
He and Srinivasan talked to seven current and past employees and reviewed internal documents from Colectivo. They wrote “that the chain has faced a host of mismanagement allegations, including ‘inappropriate’ behavior from the Evanston store manager, a ‘toxic’ workplace culture and a lack of support from upper management.
Ridenour said that these issues were brought to the union’s attention, but that a representative “told them to be careful and avoid putting their employment at risk,” He and Srinivasan report. Neither Colectivo, the manager, nor IBEW Local 1220 responded to requests for comment.
In other union news, workers at Ceremony Cafe in Providence, Rhode Island, announced their intent to unionize with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 328. The 16 workers filed for a union election, and say they are looking for higher base wages, paid sick leave, and better working conditions.
Ceremony owner Michelle Cheng told Maya Kelly and Ethan Schenker from the Brown Daily Herald that she “fully supports” her employees’ right to unionize, but “what I don’t support is the way this situation is unfolding.”
Organizers are asking for a higher base pay, currently $9 per hour plus tips. “We just want people to be paid fairly,” said worker Michael Levesque. “Because people love working there. They value it a lot.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘This Coffee Shop Went Viral. Here’s What Happened Next’ by Haley Greene
‘The Hijacked Load: A Cautionary Tale for Coffee Professionals’ by Zachary Ray
‘Musk and Trump’s ‘Plutocratic Coup’ Could Upend the Coffee Industry’ by Fionn Pooler
‘How Microfinance Helps Women Coffee Producers Thrive’ by Chloé Skye Weiser
