America’s favorite coffee chain? It’s not who you think. Plus, a Hawaiian coffee farm’s lease expiring means over a hundred jobs are at risk, and Starbucks faces another lawsuit over its sourcing practices.
‘Kauai Coffee Warns 141 Workers of Potential Layoffs as Land Lease Nears End’ – via Daily Coffee News
A complicated land lease arrangement stretching back decades has put the fate of a popular Hawaii coffee farm—and the jobs of 141 workers—in peril.
Kauai Coffee Co. produces between one and two million pounds of green coffee each year from four million trees, making it the largest coffee producer in the United States, according to its website. But the company doesn’t own the 3,000-acre plot on which it farms. Kauai Coffee’s lease expires at the end of March, and the company has been unable to come to an agreement with its landlord for an extension.
In the late 1980s, Kauai Coffee began leasing its farmland from a company called Alexander & Baldwin. In 2011, Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA acquired Kauai Coffee, but continued to lease the land from A&B. In 2022, A&B sold a vast tract of land, including the farm, to a Colorado-based investment firm, Brue Baukol Capital Partners (BBCP).
James Priestley, vice president of BBCP, told Kauaʻi Now that discussions over a lease extension began two years ago. “We have been engaging constructively and in good faith with Massimo Zanetti Beverage, and we remain focused on outcomes that serve the best interests of the community,” Priestley said. However, an agreement has not yet been reached.
At a Jan. 7 Kauai County Council meeting, Kauai Coffee Co. senior advisor Wayne Katayama warned of potential layoffs if they can’t come to an agreement with BBCP. On Jan. 14, workers received Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices, which companies must provide to workers if they’re about to be laid off.
BBCP has also hinted that it wants to continue using the land as a coffee farm even if Kauai Coffee is no longer involved. Farm workers could keep their jobs in that scenario. However, Katayama and council members expressed skepticism that continued coffee operations under new management was feasible. “Maintaining a premium specialty coffee business is a challenge,” Katayama said.
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 142 represents 69 of the 141 workers affected. “These workers did not create this situation,” ILWU Local 142 president Chris West told Kauaʻi Now. “They grow, harvest, roast, package and distribute Kaua’i Coffee, a fully integrated agricultural operation built by local people over decades. Yet today, those same workers are being forced to prepare for [an] uncertain future and possible layoffs.”
Read more on the looming layoffs in Hawaii here.
‘Starbucks Sued Over Alleged Chemicals in Decaf Coffee, Farm Violations’ – via The Seattle Times
Starbucks is once again on the receiving end of a proposed class action lawsuit over its coffee sourcing practices.
As Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton reports for The Seattle Times, the lawsuit alleges that Starbucks misled consumers through its “Committed to 100% Ethical Coffee Sourcing” pledge. The ethical sourcing pledge features prominently on Starbucks packaging and in marketing materials, but investigations by reporters, government bodies, and worker advocates have repeatedly found alleged human rights violations within its supply chain, the complaint contends.
Additionally, the suit accuses Starbucks of failing to disclose the presence of volatile organic compounds in at least one of its decaffeinated coffee products. The law firm Hagens Berman filed suit on Jan. 13 on behalf of two Starbucks customers.
Starbucks denied the allegations. “We take the allegations raised in the [lawsuit] seriously, but we firmly believe they are inaccurate and misrepresent both our sourcing practices and the integrity of our Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices program,” spokesperson Leandro Cavinato Herrera told The Seattle Times.
Over the past decade, Starbucks has faced several allegations of violating the human rights violations of workers on farms within its supply chain. The lawsuit details several, concentrating on farms in Brazil.
“Those claims included citations for unsafe working conditions in 2015, reports of moldy and pest-infested employee housing in 2018, complaints about 17-hour shifts in 2018, and evidence of illegal underage workers in 2022,” Boyanton writes. Despite numerous reports, Starbucks continues to market its coffees as 100% ethically sourced.
This isn’t the first time Starbucks has been sued over its sourcing practices. In 2024, a consumer advocacy group sued the coffee giant for false advertising based on its “100% ethical” labelling. In 2025, a different advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit against Starbucks on behalf of eight Brazilian farmworkers who claimed they were trafficked and forced to work in “slavery-like conditions” on farms within the company’s supply chain.
As well as the sourcing claims, the lawsuit alleges that Starbucks failed to disclose the presence of chemicals like benzene, toluene, and methylene chloride in its decaf coffee products. Methylene chloride is a solvent widely used in coffee decaffeination.
This “deceptive omission,” as the suit describes it, resulted in customers buying products they might otherwise have avoided. Starbucks told The Seattle Times that safety and quality are its highest priorities.
Read the full story on the latest lawsuit against Starbucks here.
‘America’s Favorite Chains Taken Over by Fast-Growing Coffee Brands’ – via Nation’s Restaurant News
For more than a decade, the restaurant industry research firm Technomic has published an annual rundown of America’s favorite chains. This year’s list includes three coffee chains in the top ten. It’s the first time so many coffee chains have been in the top ten—and it’s not the chains you might think.
As Alicia Kelso reports for Nation’s Restaurant News, the top 10 list has 7 Brew at second, Scooter’s Coffee in third place, and Dutch Bros in fifth.
The three chains have a lot in common: They are all fast-growing, convenience- and value-focused drive-thru coffee brands. In fact, 7 Brew was the fastest-growing chain in the entire country in 2024, with year-on-year sales up 163%.
“Having three of these chains on the list makes sense because coffee is where most of the industry’s growth is,” Robert Byrne from Technomic told Kelso. “We know consumers still want to spend their money on foodservice, and this is a treat they’re able to justify.”
Interestingly, the three chains scored highly on customer service, despite all being drive-thru brands. Byrne puts this down to training. “They’re not just handing you a drink out of a drive-thru window; there is a person interacting with guests and servicing them,” he said. “It’s not an elevated experience but it’s personal, and if I’m handed a cup of coffee with a smile and a kind word, I’m going to want to come back.”
Read the full story on the booming coffee brands here.
More News
‘IWCA Inks MOUs with Cup of Excellence and ACE to Boost Women in Coffee’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Coca-Cola Scraps Costa Coffee Sale After Bids Fall Short’ – via the Financial Times
‘Rwanda Surpasses US$150 Million in Coffee Exports in 2025’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Study: New Remote Tech Maps China’s Coffee Lands with Near-95% Accuracy’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Caribou Coffee Ends Non-Dairy Milk Charge for All’ – via Global Coffee Report
Is Coffee Good For You?
Researchers in China have identified three previously unknown compounds in roasted coffee that could be more effective than existing medications in treating diabetes.
There has been extensive research on the link between coffee and diabetes. A literature review published last year looked at data from nearly 150 studies, finding that drinking coffee every day could lower a person’s risk of developing type-2 diabetes by as much as 30%. Beyond preventing diabetes, researchers are also investigating its uses in managing the condition.
The study from China focused on Alpha-Glucosidase (or α-glucosidase), an enzyme that helps break down carbohydrates during digestion and impacts how quickly sugars enter the bloodstream. Blocking α-glucosidase helps control post-meal blood sugar spikes, an important element in managing type-2 diabetes.
The study was published in the journal Beverage Plant Research. Researchers, working for the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Kunming Institute of Botany, separated an extract from roasted coffee into 19 fractions. Testing each fraction, they identified three new biologically active compounds known as caffaldehydes A, B, and C. All three of these compounds performed better at stopping α-glucosidase activity than an anti-diabetes drug, acarbose.
According to a press release, the researchers hope that their methods can be applied to other foods to uncover similarly useful bioactive compounds.
Beyond the Headlines
‘The Trader Joe’s Affogato Is Terrible’ by Jordan Michelman
‘When Did Everyone Become A Coffee Consultant?’ by CoffeeTeaLady
