Get out your glowsticks and grab a latte at your local coffee rave. Plus, there’s a new U.S. barista champion, Starbucks is allegedly avoiding taxes, and green coffee hijackings are on the rise.
‘Kay Cheon Of Dune Coffee Roasters Is The 2025 US Barista Champion’ – via Sprudge
Last weekend, the 2025 United States Barista Championships took place in Raleigh, North Carolina. Baristas from across the country competed to earn the title (and giant tamper trophy) of the nation’s best barista and the chance to represent the U.S. on the international stage in October at the World Barista Championships in Milan, Italy.
Kay Cheon of Dune Coffee Roasters in Santa Barbara, California, emerged victorious with a performance Zac Cadwalader, reporting for Sprudge, described as “a refined master class in technical prowess.” Cheon placed in the top six three times prior.
2023 U.S. champion Isaiah Sheese of Archetype Coffee in Omaha, Nebraska, came second, while Jason Yeo of San Francisco’s Saint Frank Coffee placed third.
Congratulations to Cheon, all the finalists, and everyone who competed!
‘Gregorys Coffee CEO Accused of ‘Overt’ Discrimination Against Black Employees and Women’ – via The Independent
A former executive at the specialty chain Gregorys Coffee has filed a lawsuit against its eponymous founder and CEO, Gregory Zamfotis, accusing him of “overt” racial and gender-based discrimination.
As reported by Justin Rohrlich for The Independent, the New York-based coffee brand’s former vice president of people, Jessica Day, alleges that Zamfotis “denigrated and mocked Black employees, paid them thousands less than their white colleagues, and in one instance, fired an assistant manager for no reason other than the color of her skin.”
According to the lawsuit, Day claims she warned Zamfotis on multiple occasions that “he was engaging in ‘textbook examples of what is against the law,’” but Zamfotis ignored her. Day eventually resigned, giving her resignation to Zamfotis in writing. She specifically cited the “overt bias, favoritism and discrimination within the organization as a direct result of you, your conduct, your words, and your actions.”
Gregorys Coffee opened in 2006 and has grown to 50 locations nationwide. The company’s branding and public image are tied to Zamfotis—its logo features his thick glasses—and he has been covered as a style icon in GQ and Esquire. Zamfotis declined to comment for the story.
‘Coffee Theft Surges in the US as Prices for the Beans Soar’ – via Reuters
Coffee has become a target for theft as the commodity price surges. Six months ago, we brought you news of coffee cherries being stolen right off the branch in Uganda—now shipments of green coffee are being targeted.
For Reuters, Marcelo Teixeira reports that green coffee bags have been stolen during transport in the United States while people are taking coffee directly from farms in Vietnam and Brazil.
In January, 500 bags of coffee worth over $200,000 were stolen from a farm in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. In the U.S., fake transportation companies have committed “dozens of thefts in the last year,” according to Todd Costley of Hartley Transportation—the fraudulent companies claimed they could transport coffee cheaper than competitors.
“Importers should be careful about who they hire,” Costley said. “Once they get the coffee, they disappear.”
In February, Zachary Ray of Desert Sun Coffee Roasters in Colorado tried to arrange a coffee delivery to Desert Sun’s roastery. The delivery was intercepted by an individual pretending to be a broker, he wrote in a story for Daily Coffee News. The broker hijacked the order and essentially held the coffee delivery hostage, attempting to extort money from Ray.
Teixeira reports that some importers are putting tracking devices on their shipments. Ray advised roasters to remain vigilant when planning transportation, make sure insurance coverage is current, and have written agreements with brokers.
‘Starbucks Likely Avoided Taxes on $1.3 Billion in Profit Using a Swiss Subsidiary, a New Report Finds’ – via Business Insider
A report by a corporate tax research center alleges that Starbucks used a Swiss subsidiary to avoid taxes on more than a billion dollars in profit over the past decade.
The Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research, or CICTAR, showed that Starbucks purchased green coffee using the Starbucks Coffee Trading Company (SCTC), a subsidiary based in Switzerland. Without ever receiving delivery, SCTC then resold the coffee to Starbucks subsidiaries in other countries at a markup. The report alleges that profits from those markups were taxed at a lower rate in Switzerland than they would have been in the receiving country.
This technique is known as “profit shifting” and is commonly used by multinational corporations to move profits from the countries where they produce and sell goods into a tax haven. While most such strategies are not illegal, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) describes them as “undermin[ing] the fairness and integrity of tax systems.”
While the report found no indication of illegality, Jason Ward, principal analyst at CICTAR, told Alex Bitter at Business Insider that these actions go against Starbucks’ reputation as a progressive company. “Starbucks is different in that it really does bank on its image of social responsibility,” Ward said.
Starbucks responded to the claim, which was included in CICTAR’s report. They say the findings “fail to accurately reflect our business model and how different parts of our business contribute to the company’s success.” A spokesperson told Business Insider that the company “is in full compliance with tax laws around the world.”
‘Coffee Raves Turn Russian Cafes into Morning Party Destinations’ – via Reuters
As aging Millennials, we here at the Coffee News Club are always looking for ways to have fun that don’t involve staying up late. If they also include coffee, all the better.
Others like us, rapidly approaching middle age, had the same idea: “coffee raves” are the new trend sweeping Moscow’s cafes after becoming popular in cities like London and Amsterdam. As Lucy Papachristou writes for Reuters, “Many enjoy the chance to socialise with friends in a party-like atmosphere – without the brutal hangovers that result from traditional drug-dominated nightclub culture.”
The rave crowds in Moscow are a mix of younger people and families looking to “dance in the morning, drink delicious coffee and go somewhere else in a great mood,” as one attendee put it.
More News
‘North America Coffee Industry Seeks Answers Amid Trade War’ – via Reuters
‘World Coffee Roasting Championship to Make US Debut’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘African Coffee Growers Visit India to Enhance Robusta Quality’ – via Communicaffe
‘Vietnam’s Coffee Output Dips on Drought, Adding to Crunch’ – via Bloomberg
‘“Cultivar,” the New Book from Rob Hoos, Offers a Practical Approach to the Roast’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Singapore Bans Malaysian Coffee After Detecting Erectile Dysfunction Drug’ – via The Independent
‘Europe Overtakes US as Largest Export Market for Costa Rican Coffee’ – via World Coffee Portal
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
As negotiations over a first union contract drag on, Starbucks Workers United held strikes at stores in six cities in the leadup to the company’s annual shareholders meeting. In Pittsburgh and Chicago, workers and customers were arrested after staging sit-ins inside stores.
“We’re out here trying to make some noise to get them to listen to us yet again,” said RJ Simandl, a shift supervisor in Chicago. Simandl told Talia Soglin at the Chicago Tribune that customers and workers risked arrest “to send the message to our shareholders that we’re done messing around.”
In addition to the strikes, the union and supporters hosted over 100 solidarity events called “sip-ins” at Starbucks locations nationwide. “It’s disappointing to see Workers United disrupt our stores and undermine the ongoing mediation process for single store contracts,” Starbucks spokesperson Phil Gee said in a statement.
Starbucks has also been ordered to rehire two baristas in North Carolina whom a National Labor Relations Board judge found had been unjustly fired for their unionization actions. The judge, Paul Bogas, ruled that Starbucks violated labor law by terminating the two workers, who had posted supportive union messages on social media and started a strike fund.
“The right to strike to protest working conditions is the most fundamental of rights guaranteed to employees,” Bogas said in the ruling. “[Starbucks’] arguments threaten to squeeze employees’ right to strike without management permission out of existence.”
Is Coffee Good For You?
Coffee, along with various fruits, chocolate, and wine, could reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke, among other diseases, by 23%.
Coffee is one of several foods high in polyphenols, bioactive compounds with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Researchers in Brazil explored whether these compounds could protect against metabolic syndrome, a group of health conditions such as high blood pressure and high blood sugar that increase the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes and stroke.
For the study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, the researchers used food intake answers from a long-term Brazilian health survey, comparing participants who consumed polyphenol-rich foods with those who developed metabolic syndrome. The researchers estimated that the groups that consumed the highest levels of polyphenols had a 23% lower risk of metabolic syndrome.
“This is good news for people who like fruit, chocolate, coffee and wine, all of which are rich in polyphenols,” study co-author Isabela Benseñor from the University of São Paulo’s Medical School said in a statement. “Although the link between consumption of polyphenols and a reduction in the risk of metabolic syndrome had already been identified in previous studies, it had never before been verified in such a large study sample [6,378 people] and over such a long period [eight years].”
Beyond the Headlines
‘During Ramadan, the Yemeni Coffee Shop Is Jumping by Luke Fortney
