Could ultrasonic waves brew your next shot of espresso? Plus, the SCA launches a Master of Specialty Coffee certification, and the latest Coffee Barometer report describes persistent sustainability challenges for the industry.
‘Coffee Barometer 2026 Highlights the Persistent Systemic and Structural Imbalances in the Coffee Sector’ – via Comunicaffe
The latest edition of the Coffee Barometer dropped last week, 20 years after the first report was released in 2006. Produced by the NGOs Conservation International, Ethos Agriculture, Solidaridad Network, and VOCAL, the Barometer shines a light on how the global coffee industry is responding to big issues, from poverty to climate change.
This year’s report reflects on the progress made in the industry over the last two decades. However, despite a rise in corporate sustainability commitments, structural and systemic problems remain.
“Producer incomes still fall below living income benchmarks, labour is poorly rewarded, climate vulnerability continues to deepen, and most value is captured downstream rather than in producing countries,” the authors write in the report’s introduction. The Barometer frames the industry as “a political and economic system” that continues to concentrate power and wealth in consuming countries.
Here are a few highlights from this year’s report:
- Despite record-high commodity prices in 2025, many coffee farmers do not earn a living income. Unpaid family labor continues to subsidize the rest of the industry. The work of women and seasonal laborers remains largely hidden.
- Much of the value of coffee continues to be extracted by coffee conglomerates, their shareholders, and executives.
- While progress has been made in addressing some of the industry’s most pressing issues, approaches to solving major issues are fragmented due to a lack of oversight. Many companies have voluntary sustainability standards and in-house certification programs, which allow them to avoid external scrutiny.
The authors say upcoming regulations, particularly in the European Union, will be a big test for the industry. “Regulation is now imposing from outside what the sector has been unwilling to accept from within, but regulation alone will not be enough,” they write in the report’s summary.
“The sector faces a clear choice: keep managing the appearance of progress, or undertake the structural change a resilient coffee future demands.”
Read more about the state of the coffee industry here, or read the full report here.
‘SCA Launches Master of Specialty Coffee Program’ – via Daily Coffee News
Last week, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) announced a new education program and certification it describes as “the apex of professional coffee education.”
Called the Master of Specialty Coffee, the program aims to offer the coffee industry a credential comparable to a Michelin star or Master of Wine.
To apply, candidates must already possess a Q grader qualification and all four SCA Skills Diplomas: Café, Roastery, Coffee Trade, and Sustainable Coffee. They must also showcase “relevant industry experience” and be able to provide professional references “from respected figures and colleagues.” If eligible, they will then have to pass an entrance exam and interview—and that’s just to join the program.
Those selected—the first cohort will be limited to 15-20 people—will complete a five-day “preparatory program” followed by four final exams. These tests will assess candidates’ “technical knowledge as well as their problem solving strategy and communication skills,” according to the SCA. Applications for the inaugural cohort will open later this year, and the program will take place in 2027.
The SCA didn’t give an amount or the cost of the program. It said on its website that “those who successfully complete the program will become part of a small group of recognized leaders who can help drive our industry and represent it to the world.”
Read the full story on how to become a Master of Specialty Coffee here.
‘Espresso Brewed With Soundwaves Instead of Heat Tastes Just As Good’ – via Popular Science
Espresso machines work fast: you can go from a puck of ground coffee to a delicious shot in 30 seconds. But they also use a lot of energy, mostly because they heat water to pull shots—they’re often a coffee shop’s most energy-intensive appliance. What if there were a more efficient way to achieve similarly tasty results?
A team of Australian researchers says they have done just that, using ultrasonic soundwaves to brew espresso-strength coffee from room-temperature water. They claim the new process reduces energy consumption during brewing by 75% compared to a regular espresso machine.
There is a trade-off, however: using ultrasonic waves takes 2-3 minutes, which any math whiz will tell you is significantly longer than 30 seconds.
The new method is based on a previous experiment conducted in 2024, in which the researchers used sound waves to accelerate the cold-brewing process. The team retrofitted an espresso machine with a device called a “sonic horn” attached to the portafilter. The device sends ultrasonic waves through the portafilter, creating something called “acoustic cavitation,” which causes the rapid formation and collapse of microscopic bubbles near the coffee particles. This process creates a reaction that speeds up extraction.
A group of 100 coffee drinkers was unable to distinguish between espresso shots pulled the old-fashioned way versus those brewed using ultrasonic waves. “These findings showed that using ultrasound did not harm taste, and in some cases even improved it, despite brewing at room temperature and without the heat normally associated with coffee making,” co-author Francisco Trujillo said in a press release.
While it can’t compete with a commercial espresso machine for speed, Trujillo hopes that their creation can be used by companies that brew coffee at scale. “Because the process produces a concentrated, espresso-strength coffee, it can be used directly to manufacture ready-to-drink products, or shipped as a concentrate and later diluted into a range of drinks, including cold brew and milk-based coffee drinks,” he said.
Read more on ultrasonic espresso here.
More News
‘Lavazza Launches Single-Serve Coffee Pods Without Packaging’ – via Food Dive
‘China’s Cotti Coffee Has Been Quietly Growing Throughout the U.S.’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Costa Rica Cup of Excellence 2026 Sees 30 Winners’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Starbucks Said to Weigh Japan Unit Options Including Stake Sale’ – via Bloomberg
‘Nigeria Launches Coffee Revival Plan’ – via Global Coffee Report
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
California-based Highwire Coffee Roasters has been “in turmoil” for the past few months, according to a report by SFGate.
Ariana Bindman writes that the specialty chain’s CEO recently left, while it also abruptly shuttered one of its locations and laid off workers.
In March 2025, workers at all eight of Highwire’s locations in the Bay Area announced their intent to unionize. Organizers said that the company’s rapid growth—Highwire opened three cafes in two years and had plans for two more—led to a decline in working conditions. The company voluntarily recognized the union shortly afterward and began contract negotiations, but the Bay Area Current reported in January that talks had stalled. Highwire hired the “union avoidance” law firm Littler Mendelson, which has also worked with Starbucks.
Bindman reports that Highwire’s CEO, Jeff Weinstein, left the company in late May after about a year in charge. The company closed its Montclair location in March, mentioning the store didn’t have a manager, and laid off all its workers. In a statement on Instagram, the company cited “isolated operational issues” as the reason for the closure and claimed that workers had been offered transfers.
Members of the union also made a statement, shared on its Instagram account. They allege the store was closed on the same day as a deadline the union had set for Highwire to respond to allegations of discrimination and harassment. They also shared a screenshot of an email from Weinstein announcing the layoffs.
Highwire did not respond to several requests for comment from SFGate. Bindman reports that the Montclair location has now reopened, and a union representative said that contract negotiations had restarted as of June 5. “I never wanted any of the stores to shut down,” organizer Scott Schulman told Bindman. “I never wanted financial pain for the owners or the company. All I wanted was fair pay, fair treatment, and a safe working environment.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘Don’t Sleep on Decaf, Say Coffee Experts’ by Julie Wolfson
‘A Decade-Old Kenya Kiriani Showcases the Possibilities of Frozen Coffee’ by Fionn Pooler
