Coffee News Roundup: Week Ending February 16th
Wearing my VR headset, sipping coffee, looking cool
This week, in coffee news:
Farmworkers are essential actors in the coffee supply chain, but the industry has a long history of labor exploitation and poor working conditions. Costa Rica is trying to change that by establishing a new health insurance system and implementing injury protections for seasonal coffee pickers.
Costa Coffee is increasing barista wages by an average of 9% to keep pace with the United Kingdom’s living wage laws. This is the fifth time that Coca-Cola-owned Costa has raised wages for its staff since 2021.
A labor coalition called the Strategic Organizing Center estimates that Starbucks has spent at least $240 million on expenses related to delaying and discouraging union activity.
Wearing virtual reality headsets like the Apple Vision Pro can be nausea-inducing and dangerous (depending on the activity). However, according to a new study, VR headsets can also make going for a coffee more exciting.
Read the full Roundup over at Fresh Cup Magazine:
In case you missed it, my latest article looks at alternative approaches to coffee sustainability:
And Fresh Cup is republishing some Pourover pieces from the archive, starting with this one about decaf: Decaf Coffee, But Make It Specialty
Until next week, it’s goodbye from Merlin:
