Starbucks to roll out lower-cal Frappuccino

The Seattle-based company, which operates the world’s largest coffee chain, said that its new line of “Frappuccino Light” beverages would go on sale at all of its 6,010 stores the United States and Canada Wednesday.

Starbucks has been working to develop a light version of its popular blended beverages for the past two years and had test marketed the new offering in Sacramento, California earlier this year, a spokeswoman said.

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Spilling the beans on top coffee

By TIM MARTAIN
July 9, 2004

ROASTING coffee is an ancient art form, but James Fox's roasting machines are bringing modern technology into the equation.

The engineer from Howden used to work for the Hydro and has 30 years' experience in designing industrial processing systems.

But since leaving the Hydro seven years ago, Mr Fox has been doing contract work designing specialist machinery and his coffee roasters have generated a lot of interest.

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Duncan Coffee to begin offering Fair Trade variety

The Battalion-Texas A&M University
By Lacy Ledford

Duncan Coffee executives may decide to offer Fair Trade coffee at
Texas A&M, depending on the success of online Fair Trade coffee sales
this summer.

Fair Trade Certified coffee is a partnership between consumers in North America and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean that guarantees small coffee farmers a fair price for their harvest, access to credit and direct access to American markets.

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Coffee Prices Rising?

Prized Specialty Coffee From Panama Sells at High Price of US$21 a Pound During Specialty Coffee Association of America Internet Auction

LONG BEACH, Calif., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In an Internet auction hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), green specialty coffee beans from farmers in Panama sold to roasters for the high price of US$21 a pound, a dramatic increase of 2,000 percent compared to the average price of 73 cents paid for a pound of green coffee at the New York Board of Trade. The winning bid at the "Best of Panama" coffee auction is due to the high quality of this prize-winning coffee, which was sought by several bidders. Specialty coffee is defined as a coffee that has no defects and a distinctive flavor in the cup.

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Coffee's future perking up

BLOOMBERG NEWS

The future may be a little brighter for coffee investors and drinkers.

Coffee futures slid for a fourth day in London yesterday to a two-month low as inventories rose to a record high and mild weather in Brazil eased concerns that frost would damage crops in the world's largest grower.

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Heart Attack Victims Can Have Their Coffee And Drink It Too

Coffee drinkers who suffer a heart attack do not have to worry about an increased risk of dying, according to researchers.

Researchers say previous studies have suggested no effect of coffee consumption on the risk of having a heart attack, however, the effect of coffee consumption after a heart attack is uncertain.

New research by Dr. Kenneth J. Mukamal and colleagues of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests coffee consumption does not increase the risk of dying after a person suffers a heart attack.

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Shade coffee farming preserves diversity

Big News Network.com

U.S. researchers said certifying shade-grown coffee can be used as a tool to preserve biodiversity.

As coffee drinking continues to grow in popularity, it has created a niche market for shade grown varieties. Numerous certification programs now exist for shade coffee grown on farms that protect biodiversity, leaving more plants intact than farming for sun-favoring varieties.

University of Michigan researchers said the certification programs can be linked to conservation efforts such as those protecting butterflies and birds in Chiapas, Mexico.

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Wobblies try to unionize a Starbucks in New York

By Thomas Ginsberg
Knight Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA — Starbucks Coffee, a corporate icon of success and style since the 1990s, is confronting a legendary warrior for labor rights from the 1920s.

The Wobblies, otherwise known as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a leftist labor organization founded in 1905 and now based in Philadelphia, has taken initial steps toward unionizing a Starbucks coffee shop in New York City — the first in the United States.

If it succeeds, the group could score a notable public-relations victory for labor. It might even encourage more organizing in the hard-to-unionize service industry.

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