Welcome DR Wakefield’s monthly newsletter: a round-up of our own news plus insights on the wider coffee industry. Both at DR Wakefield and beyond, there’s been plenty going on over the last month, as you’re about to find out…
DR Wakefield: Where we’re going, and where we’ve been…
HUGE NEWS: DRW is heading East! Eastern Europe specifically. We’ve really proud to have recently opened a brand new warehouse in Lithuania; a really exciting move for us and one which means we can better serve our Eastern European customers.
Next month, Will and MT are heading out to Russia for the Moscow Coffee & Tea Expo, taking place from October 5th to 8th, to make ourselves known! Keep an eye on our blog when they get back, they’ll tell you all about it.
Beans, Beers & BBQ (and coffee)
There are still a few remaining tickets to our BBQ event on the 17th of September. Don’t be put off by the recent rain, we’re having an Indian summer. It’ll be boiling. Fact! (if not, we have umbrellas and booze to keep us dry and warm.)
Get in touch for tickets
Industry News
UK specialty coffee segment to grow 100% by 2020
According to an Allegra World Coffee Portal report entitled The Future of Coffee, things are looking good for the UK specialty coffee segment. While the UK coffee market as a whole, says the report, can expect 10% year-over-year growth, this figure rises to 13% for the UK specialty sector – defined as “coffee with a distinctive character and no primary defects, scoring 80 or high in the SCAA cupping protocol”.
The report highlights the fact that there are now 180 specialty coffee roasters in the UK, with the specialty green coffee market in the UK now estimated at €40m per year – a figure that is expected to double by 2020.
Coffee production falls in Hawai’i
The final 2014-2015 estimates for Hawai’i’s coffee market are not positive: reports reveal a marketing figure of 7.5 million pounds, which is 11.5% lower than that reported for the previous year. Both crop acreage and harvested acreage figures have fallen by 400 acres when compared with the previous year, while the average yield per acre also fell by 60 pounds.
This news meant that prices showed an increase over the last year, rising from $6.20 per pound in 2013-2014 to $6.80 per pound in 2014-2015. Total revenue for 2014-2015 has been estimated at $50.3 million – a fall of 4% compared with the previous season.
Could waste coffee be used for fuel storage?
Waste coffee grounds have already been shown to have a multitude of uses, from a wealth of applications in the garden to, bizarrely, making furniture. Now, scientists from UNIST, South Korea, have developed a process that allows them to treat coffee grounds in order to enable them to store methane, giving yet another way of recycling used grounds.
By capturing methane, scientists can reduce the amount of the harmful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and can also convert the methane to a fuel that is far cleaner than other, alternative fossil fuels. The next step for the UNIST researchers is to identify whether they can use coffee grounds to store hydrogen in the same way.
World of Coffee Europe host cities announced
The SCAE has now announced the host cities for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 World of Coffee Europe events, with a competitive tender process having taken place to decide on the locations for the next three years of this top specialty coffee festival.
After next year’s festival in Dublin, 2017 will see Budapest playing host, before the festival moves to Amsterdam in 2018 and Berlin in 2019. Never before has the WCE been hosted in any of these three cities – and, excitingly, the decision to use Budapest in 2017 means an Eastern European debut for the festival.
New arrivals
Ethiopian Forest Coffee
The long-awaited and much-anticipated Forest Coffee has finally arrived! Don’t miss out on this unique and truly wild coffee. We are the only company in the world sourcing coffee from this very special project, and look forward to helping the wild coffee farmers of Ethiopia to flourish. With the essence of Belgian hot chocolate and a syrupy LBV port finish, this coffee is truly exceptional and will leave you yearning for more.
Ethiopia Limu
We think that this has been a particularly good year for coffees from Limu, Ethiopia, and our latest arrival is no exception. Ripe with sparkling acidity with a very sweet finish, this classic coffee from Ethiopia is now available. Fantastic as a single origin and perfect for an espresso blend, this versatile coffee should be a staple in any roaster’s inventory.
Coffees to get excited about
Peru Café Femenino Project
We’re very proud to be the importer of Café Femenino coffee to the UK. It’s a cause that we have been supporting for many years, and Santiago and Henry were out visiting the producers in Peru last month. The quality of this year’s crop is excellent, and the project is going from strength to strength. Think rich chocolate with bright berries in the cup!
PNG Elimbari A Reserve
Since our fearless leader Simon ‘cut his teeth’ in PNG, we have been privileged to bring in this special coffee. It’s full of summer fruits with a jammy cup profile and we’re very excited about its imminent arrival on the cupping table!
Brazil Capoeria
Last month, Simon and Priscilla made the trip to visit this estate and its proud owners. As expected (we wouldn’t think otherwise), this season’s quality is fantastic. This estate is relatively new to our offerings here at DRW, but we’re very happy with the creamy body and rich chocolate and hazelnut flavours that it brings with it.
