Stop us if you’ve heard any of these headlines before: A coffee group rolls out a new quality tool, a coffee ad disguises itself as a dream coffee job, and a lawsuit challenges charging extra for alternative milks.
‘ASEAN Coffee Federation Launches ACAP Platform for Evaluation, Education’ – via Daily Coffee News
Over the past few weeks, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has been very active. They struck a series of deals with regional coffee associations to encourage the use of the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA), a tool they developed to evaluate coffee quality. They also took over managing the Q Grader training and certification program—a move that has divided the coffee industry.
On May 16, the SCA kept going, announcing a deal with the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia (SCAI) to integrate the CVA within Indonesia’s coffee sector. On the same day, another trade group launched its own evaluation and education framework.
The ASEAN Coffee Federation (ACF), a group of coffee associations from 10 Southeast Asian countries, announced the launch of a new evaluative tool called the ASEAN Coffee Appreciation Protocol (ACAP). Reporting for Daily Coffee News, Nick Brown described the new protocol as an alternative to the CVA, “designed by and for coffee professionals in Southeast Asia.”
The program consists of six modules that cover the coffee journey from production to consumption. One module examines cultivation and processing, while another focuses on roasting quality, and another explores consumer perception. Each module results in a score or flavor profile and can be adapted for use in various settings, such as cafes or competitions.
The new protocol was developed by ACF’s education arm, the ASEAN Coffee Institute (ACI). The ACI describes the new protocol as an “overarching and integrated coffee quality framework” that incorporates “regional values, sensory experiences, and craftsmanship.” The ACI is also expanding its education offerings and debuting its own version of the coffee flavor wheel, which integrates fruits, spices, and ingredients familiar across Asia.
The goal of the framework is to introduce a new perspective to coffee evaluation and education, one that has been lacking in existing Euro-centric approaches. “Southeast Asia has long been a coffee powerhouse. With ACI and ACAP, we are now taking ownership of how our coffee is valued and understood on the global stage,” said ACF president Victor Mah in a press release. “This is a proud milestone in our journey to define coffee excellence through an ASEAN lens – and share it with the world.”
Read the full story about the new coffee platform here.
‘Peet’s Coffee Defeats Alternative Milk Surcharge Bias Lawsuit’ – via Bloomberg Law
One law firm keeps suing over nondairy milk surcharges. The latest target? Peet’s Coffee.
Consumers are pushing back against upcharges for nondairy milk, fueling a wave of lawsuits against coffee companies. One law firm has led the charge, filing numerous cases in recent years. The latest filing against Peet’s Coffee was dismissed by a California judge last week.
Keith Gibson Law, P.C., has filed lawsuits against numerous coffee chains, including Dunkin’ and Starbucks. In the suits, the law firm alleged that the brand’s alt-milk surcharges violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by forcing lactose-intolerant customers to pay extra for their drinks. Peet’s charged up to 80 cents extra to swap nondairy milk for drinks like lattes and cappuccinos.
Like the Peet’s case, previous lawsuits have been unsuccessful. Judge Jon S. Tigar of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said in the most recent ruling that “Peet’s pricing policy is facially neutral and applies equally to customers who are not lactose intolerant but prefer nondairy alternatives in their drinks.”
Interestingly, Peet’s stopped charging customers more for alternative milks in March after facing pressure from the animal rights group PETA. Likewise, Starbucks stopped charging extra for nondairy milk in October 2024 and Dunkin’ in February 2025.
Keith Gibson Law claimed responsibility for Dunkin’s move. The firm issued a statement to USA Today, stating, “We believe our pending lawsuit against Dunkin Donuts and its franchisees played a vital role in forcing the decision by Inspire Brands to eliminate the Illegal Nondairy Alternatives Surcharge.”
Read the full story on the latest alt-milk lawsuit here.
‘Starbucks Seeks Content Creators for Paid International Coffee Adventure’ – via Nation’s Restaurant News
You may have noticed the recent surge of “dream coffee job posting” stories. In 2023, Peet’s posted a job seeking a “Chief Cold Brew Officer,” and Chameleon Coffee looked for people to join the cold brew brand’s “Brew Crew” earlier this year.
Yes, these are clickbait-y job postings designed to garner media attention, essentially serving as free marketing for brands. Media outlets across the world fall for it every time (as does the Coffee News Club—we never claimed to be above such nonsense).
Now, Starbucks is getting in on the “dream coffee job” bandwagon. The megachain is looking to hire “two coffee-obsessed storytellers to travel the world and capture the craft that goes into every cup of Starbucks coffee.”
One hire will be a current Starbucks employee, and the other will be external—their official job title will be Global Coffee Creator. The two will spend a year traveling to 15 Starbucks locations around the world, from Milan to Tokyo to Starbucks’ coffee farm in Costa Rica. The job will be to “highlight the care and craft that goes into every cup of Starbucks coffee as well as the diverse Starbucks experiences in communities around the world.”
The job description specifies that the candidates must be “tech savvy,” know how to create and edit social media videos, and “[align] with Starbucks culture and brand guidelines.” The salary is not listed.
If that’s not your thing, but you happen to be a qualified and experienced pilot, you could also apply to fly one of Starbucks’ corporate jets. The company is hiring a pilot and offering a salary of up to $360,000 for the role, which also includes acting as “a Starbucks ambassador both at home and abroad.”
Read the full story on Starbucks’ Global Coffee Creators here.
More News
‘Robusta Futures Hit Six and a Half Month Lows, First Field Report From Brazil Show Better Arabica Beans’ – via Comunicaffe
‘“Mega Warehouse” to Boost Kenyan Farmer Earnings’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Someone Who Loves Coffee Should Buy David Lynch’s Espresso Machine’ – via Sprudge
Is Coffee Good For You?
Millions of people around the world rely on coffee to start their day. We’ve long assumed that the alertness and buzz we feel after that first sip comes from caffeine. But what if it’s not?
New research from Slovenia found that the anticipation and ritual of drinking coffee have the same effect as caffeine in terms of feeling more energized.
For the study, published in the journal Heliyon, researchers recruited 20 college students who drank coffee and administered a series of tests to assess their baseline cognitive abilities and overall health. They were divided into two groups: one group received regular caffeinated coffee, and the other received a placebo (decaf coffee). After each group drank coffee, the tests were repeated, and the researchers noted no great difference in energy or alertness between the two groups.
“We expected to find significant differences between caffeine and placebo groups across the outcome measures,” the authors wrote. “However … (changes) in cognitive functioning were not significantly different between the two groups.”
This isn’t the first study to show that the act and anticipation of drinking coffee is as powerful as actually drinking a caffeinated beverage. In 2023, we brought news of a similar study that found that decaf coffee could mimic the effects of caffeine. In 1996, meanwhile, researchers at the University of Montana found that subjects’ expectations played a part in their reaction to caffeinated coffee—they expected to get a boost from their coffee, so that’s what happened.
“The effects observed in the placebo group are not significantly different from those found in the caffeine group,” the latest study’s authors wrote. “This highlights the ‘ritual’ dimension of enjoying coffee: Stimuli that closely mimic coffee can produce cognitive and physiological responses markedly similar to those of real coffee.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘Want Your Cafe To Have a Line Out the Door? Make It Worth Waiting For’ by Haley Greene
