Coffee News Recap, Apr 9: Lavazza and Amazon creating Alexa-powered smart pod machine, Costa goes to Japan & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s stories.

• Monday, 5 Apr – Costa Coffee enters the Japanese market. The first two Costa Coffee stores opened in Tokyo and Fukuoka, with the latter offering a limited edition drinks range. Both the Strawberry Iced Latte and Chocolate Cookie Iced Latte are priced at JPY 680 (US $6.18).

• Tuesday, 6 Apr – Straus Family Creamery creates “Organic Barista Milk” range. The newly-released line includes milks with four varying levels of fat, designed specifically for coffee and culinary professionals. The milks are lightly homogenised to evenly disperse fats, producing smooth and longer-lasting microfoam.

• Wednesday, 7 Apr – Colombian President agrees not to impose 19% VAT on coffee. The Colombian government had previously mentioned removing coffee as a basic product for the country’s population, which would increase tax on it. However, President Iván Duque has promised to support increasing domestic coffee consumption.

• Wednesday, 7 Apr – More than 1,500 people attend Virtual Producer & Roaster Forum. Over 1,000 coffee producers attended across both days of the event, and more than 800 companies and organisations were represented by attendees. Alongside attending panels and lectures, guests also used the Speed Networking, Virtual Tables, and Booths. The event has already led to green coffee sales.

• Wednesday, 7 Apr – Starbucks US facing Oatly shortage. After announcing a nationwide partnership with the oat milk brand last month, some of the coffee chain’s stores are running out of stock. Starbucks claims the shortage is temporary.

Here are a few news stories from previous weeks that you might find interesting. Take a look.

• Friday, 2 Apr – Equator Coffees launches giveback programme with Emma’s Torch. For every pour over sold at Equator cafés in April, the roaster will donate US $1 to the New York non-profit. Emma’s Torch provides training and job opportunities to refugees and trafficking survivors through their catering and dining businesses.