Coffee may help treat memory loss, a major symptom of Alzheimer's disease - study

By Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Besides giving you that morning boost, coffee may actually boost your memory as well, helping to keep memory loss at bay.

That mug of morning coffee may do more than keep you from falling asleep at your desk. New research shows it could also help treat or stave off memory loss, a key symptom of Alzheimer's disease.

Studies have found that giving lab mice the equivalent of 500 milligrams of caffeine per day had a positive impact on their memory, according to CBS' The Early Show.

The researchers found that the caffeine had "a very positive effect on their memory and thinking actions over a two-month period," Dr. Jennifer Ashton told The Early Show. "So put another one in the column of a good effect of caffeine."

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Costa Rican coffee production expected to rise

By Adam Williams
Tico Times Staff | awilliams@ticotimes.net

Costa Rican coffee production is forecast to rise 5 percent during the 2009-2010 cycle, the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE) reported. The next production cycle, which begins its harvest in October, is expected to generate 1,671,270 bags of coffee.

“Each season we have a technical management team that visits each region where coffee is produced,” said Ronald Peters, ICAFE's executive director. “They visit the fields and make an estimate for the next year. They expect that we will experience (an increase in production) in the coming year.”

The 2008-2009 harvest produced 1,591,477 bags, 60 kilograms each, falling short of the 1.595 million prediction for the year. Peters said the dry summer season and excessive rain in early May slowed production more than anticipated. The 2008-2009 harvest was 15 percent below the 2007-2008 crop, which produced 1.876 million bags.

“Production depends on many things,” said Peters. “If weather is uncooperative or production prices increase, numbers fall. It's normal. We anticipate that this year we will have more favorable conditions.”

According the ICAFE, Costa Rica exports 86 percent of its total coffee production.

Source: Tico Times

Green Mountain Coffee has magic touch

Waterbury business charts remarkable growth

By Molly Walsh, Free Press Staff Writer • July 5, 2009

WATERBURY — Five years ago, no one knew quite what to do with the decrepit train station in the center of this small town. Then came local employer Green Mountain Coffee Roasters with a plan to help renovate the 1875 building and lease a portion for a cafe and company visitors center.

The venture proved to be a success, like just about everything the company has done lately, and these days the restored building bustles with coffee-sipping tourists, local residents and passengers waiting for trains that still stop at the station.

At company headquarters just across the tracks, Green Mountain Coffee is brewing a much bigger success story and doing so despite a deep economic recession. Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 were up more than 60 percent over the same quarter in 2008, and net income climbed 118 percent. Company stock spiked from $25 a share last June to $93 this June before the company delivered a three-for-two stock split to shareholders.

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McDonald's coffee initiative brings bean grower, roaster to front burner

Distant Lands' decision to become lead supplier has rewards, challenges

By Mike Hughlett | TRIBUNE REPORTER

TYLER, Texas -- Every day at the Distant Lands roasting plant here, a river of green coffee beans is transformed into espresso, fuel for McDonald's Corp.'s boldest gambit in decades.

Distant Lands' Russell Kramer was skeptical at first that it would ever happen. Could the burger giant really be serious about slinging cappuccinos and mochas? A dirt-bike ride with a McDonald's executive through the coffee-tree-studded mountains of the Indonesian island of Sumatra helped convince him it was.

And Kramer knew that signing on as McDonald's lead espresso provider meant hewing to rigorous rules aimed at making sure the world's best-known restaurant chain never suffers a supply-chain breakdown.

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Hawaii Coffee Association to hold annual trade show on Maui

The Hawaii Coffee Association's 14th Annual Conference and Trade Show July 9 to 12 will offer what sponsors say is the first state-wide "cupping" competition at Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu, Maui.
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Highlights include evening dinner receptions, workshops, trade show, silent auction and farm tours. Funded in part by the state Department of Agriculture, this is the inaugural year for a competition where coffees are evaluated and scored by professional judges based on characteristics that include flavor, aroma, mouth-feel, acidity, sweetness and aftertaste.

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Canadian coffee giant set to open in Big Apple

Janet Whitman, Financial Post

The Naked Cowboy in New York City's Times Square. How will he take his Tim Hortons coffee?Mario Tama/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Naked Cowboy in New York City's Times Square. How will he take his Tim Hortons coffee?

After a 25-year battle to make inroads in the biggest fast-food market in the world, Tim Hortons Inc. is set to open up a new U. S. front in August when it takes its double-doubles into the heart of New York City's coffee wars.

The iconic Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain plans to have three stores up and running in the Big Apple, including a location in Times Square -- its first foray into Manhattan -- the Financial Post has learned.

More New York City store openings are likely to follow in the coming months if the three test locations are deemed a success against already entrenched rivals including Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's, with its heavily hyped McCafe espresso drinks.

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