Making Coffee on Front Lines Gets Easier

Making Coffee on the Front Lines Gets Easier; Soldiers No Longer Have to Rinse Their Helmets

By DENISE LAVOIE
ABC News

NATICK, Mass. May 16, 2006 (AP)— Soldiers thirsting for a cup of coffee on the front lines of World War II could quickly heat up the beverage inside their "steel pot" helmets that served as both head protection and a handy container for campfire cooking.

That isn't an option for modern-day soldiers, whose Kevlar-fiber helmets can defend against bullets but don't work so well for fixing food.

So researchers at the Defense Department's Combat Feeding program in Natick cooked up another way for troops to make a hot cup of joe: A thick, resealable polyethelyene bag that can be used anywhere.

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Green Mountain Coffee Reports

Green Mountain Coffee Reports 25.6 Percent Net Sales Gain For Second Quarter, Driven By Keurig K-Cups

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. reported net sales for the second quarter ending April 8, 2006 increased 26.5 percent to $46.8 million, up from $37 million in the second quarter of 2005. Total coffee pounds shipped were up 20.6 percent to 5.4 million pounds. Net income increased 33.7 percent to $2.3 million, before recognition of a non-cash loss related to the equity investment in Keurig Inc. After recognition of this investment, the net income was $ 3 million or $0.25 per diluted share, including recognition of a non-cash stock compensation charge of $361,000, or about $0.04 per share. The current quarter net income compares to $3 million or $0.26 per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2005.

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Honduras fears increase in coffee smuggling

Guatemala denies trafficking, but some years export more than they grow

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, - The fact that Central American smugglers are getting wealthy sneaking sack-loads of stimulants across borders in pick-up truck convoys under the cover of night may not be shocking news.

The surprise is the sacks are frequently full of high quality coffee beans instead of raw cocaine.

Smuggling coffee from Honduras into Guatemala to profit from higher prices and tax breaks there has become a serious problem, say Honduran officials, although their neighbors play down the practice.

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China to train 10,000 coffee makers to slake nation's thirst

By Peter Goff in Beijing

For centuries, the Chinese have delighted in the simple rituals of making and serving tea. Now they are having to learn a new skill: the intricacies of producing a state-of-the-art cup of coffee.

So many of China's middle classes have begun drinking cappuccino and caffe latte that the country's labour ministry has declared an official skills shortage.

About 10,000 trained coffee makers and servers are needed in Beijing and Shanghai alone, according to a government survey.

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The coffee connection

Brewed in Louisville, harvested in Guatemala, fair-trade coffee has effect on farmers, environment

NAHUALA, GUATEMALA

Pascual Perechu threaded his way up a footpath shaded by banana and avocado trees, away from his mountain village dotted with rickety houses, pecking chickens, barefoot children and smoky cooking fires.

His sandals slapped the dirt as he walked to his daily destination — dozens of 8-foot-tall coffee trees scattered under a tropical forest canopy full of birds.

Perechu, a 54-year-old Mayan farmer, has spent a lifetime of long days tending, picking and hauling coffee from his tiny plot, ideal for its 3,500-foot elevation, shade and volcanic soil.

Coffee is big business globally, yet most of the small, isolated farmers growing more than half the world's coffee get, on average, just 4 to 8 cents from a $2 cup of retail coffee.

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"Rainforest" seal gets Kraft coffee in more stores

CHICAGO - Kraft Foods Inc. is trying to bring environmentally friendly coffee to kitchens at non-premium prices and is getting its Yuban brand into more stores as a result, the vice president for the company's coffee business said.

The company has received Rainforest Alliance certification for Yuban, a brand that has traditional had most of its sales west of the Rocky Mountains, though it has also been in some stores in the East, Kraft said.

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