Spent coffee grounds become insulation, the UN recognizes International Coffee Day, and a new data platform tracks global coffee trade.
✉️ Coffee News Club: curated reflection on recent industry headlines.
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‘UN Marks International Coffee Day for First Time’ – via the United Nations
Every October 1 since 2015, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) has marked International Coffee Day. According to the ICO, the day “is a celebration of the coffee sector’s diversity, quality and passion.”
The ICO has used International Coffee Day to promote various causes related to coffee, such as 2020’s “Coffee’s Next Generation,” which aimed to engage youth organizations and encourage investment in younger members of the coffee industry. Last year, the theme was “Embracing Collaboration” across the supply chain.
This year is the first for the holiday to be formally recognized by the United Nations. In February, the UN passed a resolution officially recognizing October 1 as International Coffee Day. The resolution noted coffee’s global economic and social importance, while emphasizing the “urgent need to raise public awareness of the importance of coffee for sustainable livelihoods and to improve the coffee value chain.” As Nick Brown notes in Daily Coffee News, the U.S. was the only UN member to vote against the resolution.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) welcomed the resolution and the official recognition of International Coffee Day, noting the importance of coffee to the livelihoods of millions around the world. “Recognizing the value of the coffee sector will raise awareness about its socio-economic importance and strengthen its contribution to eradicating poverty. We look forward to celebrating the Day and its values,” said Qu Dongyu, FAO director-general, in a statement.
Read more on International Coffee Day here.
‘ICO Launches Free Coffee Market Intelligence Platform for Global Trade Data’ – via Global Coffee Report
Finding reliable data on the global coffee market can be tricky, but the ICO aims to make it easier with the launch of its new Coffee Market Intelligence Platform. Announced last week at a global coffee governance meeting in Switzerland, the tool offers an interactive view of prices, trade flows, and certified stocks, as well as worldwide production, exports, and consumption data.
The platform draws on several ICO sources. They include the daily ICO Composite Indicator Price, which combines futures prices for arabica and robusta, along with export data from ICO members and consumption figures from national estimates. This information is presented in charts and graphs as well as an interactive globe that allows users to dig deeper into country-specific data.
In a press release, the ICO said the goal of the platform is to make coffee statistics more accessible to stakeholders across the industry. Market data has historically been spread across various publications, databases, and commercial enterprises, the organization said.
“Good data cannot eliminate volatility, but it can reduce uncertainty,” said Vanúsia Nogueira, ICO executive director, in the press release. “When stakeholders work from a shared and credible evidence base, they can make better decisions about production, investment, trade, risk management and sustainability.”
Read more on the ICO’s new data platform here.
‘Scientists Turned Spent Coffee Grounds Into Insulation’ – via Food & Wine
Figuring out what to do with all the waste associated with coffee brewing is an ongoing process. Coffee generates a lot of waste—between 15 and 60 million tons of used coffee grounds each year—and much of it still ends up in landfills. Over the years, scientists have investigated repurposing coffee grounds into concrete and biofuels, or using them to create filters for polluted water and air.
The latest innovation: transforming coffee grounds into insulation. Scientists in South Korea turned coffee waste into a porous, charcoal-like material called biochar by heating the spent grounds to extreme temperatures (about 700 degrees Celsius) in the absence of air. After carbonizing the coffee, they combined it with ethyl cellulose, a natural polymer, to create thermal insulation.
The researchers found the coffee-based material biodegrades faster than expanded polystyrene (the lightweight foam used in typical insulation, coolers, and packaging), while insulating about as well. The finished material has a thermal conductivity of 0.04 watts per meter per kelvin, which is comparable to the foam.
“Coffee waste is produced on a massive scale worldwide, yet most of it ends up in landfills or is incinerated,” the researchers said in a statement. “Our work shows that this abundant waste stream can be upcycled into a high-value material that performs as well as commercial insulation products while being far more sustainable.”
Read more on the insulation upcycling here.
More News
‘Repeated Severe Weather Compounds Challenges for Hawaiʻi Coffee Producers’ – via Big Island Now
‘Gen Z Coffee Study Finds Convenience Trumps Sustainability’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Luckin Coffee Weighs Entry Into Middle East Markets, Chairman Tells CNBC’ – via CNBC
‘New Generation Powers UK Coffee Consumption Rise’ – via Global Coffee Report
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
Last week, Starbucks announced it will close 250 North American stores that it considers “underperforming.” According to Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), 20 of those are unionized stores. The union said it has sent a formal request to Starbucks to bargain over the closures and will push for unionized baristas to be transferred to new stores rather than laid off. In a statement, SBWU said the closures were a continuation of the company’s “betrayal of what workers and customers loved about the company.”
A group of Starbucks shareholders has filed a proposal asking the company to reinstate a committee that oversaw labor relations. According to Reuters, the proposal describes the labor issue as one of the company’s “most significant and persistent risk areas,” and highlights the lack of a union contract. Starbucks created the committee in 2023 to oversee its labor relations, then dissolved it in late 2025 and handed its duties to the board, Reuters reports. In a statement, Starbucks expressed confidence that its board “has the necessary skills and experience to effectively oversee our strategy.”
Workers at four Philz Coffee locations in California voted overwhelmingly to unionize last week. The workers announced their intent to organize in September, and will now join the United Food and Commercial Workers. Two locations in the San Francisco Bay area will join UFCW Local 5, while two in Southern California will join UFCW Local 770. According to Philz Coffee United, the union will begin contract negotiations with the company on October 16.
Beyond the Headlines
‘The Coffee Membership Is the New Subscription’ by Garrett Oden
‘Are Low-Waste Coffee Expos a Lost Cause?’ by Melina Devoney
