Poor Farmer

Product more attractive as dollar hits new low Reuters via  Gulf News October 23, 2011 New York/London: Arabica coffee futures soared on Friday, posting the biggest jump in 16 months on concerns about heavy rains in Central America, dwindling certified stocks and a lack of producer selling. Sugar and cocoa finished mixed. "One small fundamental factor that is important is the certified [stocks] drawdown. Then you have the macro picture, which is somehow driving things higher with Europe, and then third you have piling on," said one US coffee dealer, referring to buying that was spurred by the rally. In December arabica futures on ICE jumped 13.20 cents, or 5.7 per cent, to close at $2.4485 (Dh8.99) per pound, the biggest daily percentage gain since June 2010. It peaked at $2.4670. Volume rose above 28,000 lots, the highest since September 22, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed. Article continues below Heavy rains in Central America, where ...

By Leslie Josephs The Wall Street Journal October 21, 2011 NEW YORK—Heavy rains and flooding in Vietnam and Latin America drove coffee futures up more than 6%, as concerns grew over the near-term availability of supplies. Arabica coffee for December delivery was up 6.1% at $2.46 a pound in early trade on the IntercontinentalExchange. Torrential rain has claimed scores of lives across Central America, knocked mature coffee berries from trees, and damaged infrastructure across the region, the supplier of 10% of the world's coffee. Heavy rain is also pummeling Colombia, the world's second-largest producer of arabica beans after Brazil, sparking concerns that disease and fungus would hurt this season's crop. Floods in Vietnam may also hurt coffee shipping. "I think people are realizing that the price fall was exaggerated," said Hernando de la Roche, a senior vice president at INTL Hencorp Futures in Miami, referring to a recent dip in prices. Futures f...

By Cherryh Butler QSR Web October 19, 2011 Gourmet coffee isn't new to India, but American coffee chains are just now starting to brew there. As Starbucks closes in on a deal with Indian coffee company, Tata, Dunkin' Donuts is preparing to open the first of its 500 locations planned for the world's second most populated country. The two major coffee peddlers may have a bit of catching up to do, however; Café Coffee Day and other European chains, including Barista and Costa Coffee, have been supplying India residents with their caffeine buzz for several years. "The coffee shop craze has been quite active in India for a while now, and arguably the U.S. majors are joining the party a little late," said Sandeep Malhotra, a project manager with Technomic. The Indian demand for coffee beans has more than doubled in the last 10 years as overall domestic coffee consumption rose to 108,000 metric tons in 2010, up 80 percemt over a decade, according to Zacks Equity...

Ed's Note : This is a direct copy of the brochure, dated 07/06/11, that was prepared by Light Years IP (LYIP) to promote Phase 2 of the initiative. The content of the document cries out for a close scrutiny; therefore, I intend to look into the factual accuracy of the information presented therein and publish a "fact check," along with an independent assessment of the initiative and its plans for the years 2011-2016, and the current state of the Ethiopian coffee sector. To that end, I extend this open invitation to LYIP and Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) to join the conversation. In the mean time, click here to read my latest report titled  the Saga of the Starbucks-Ethiopia affair . --- Ethiopian Fine Coffee (EFC) OVERVIEW: 2004-2011 Picture: Courtesy of LYIP There are about 15 million Ethiopians involved in producing and transporting coffee for the domestic and export markets. With 6000 varieties and 1500 years of coffee production, Ethiopia is the...

By Bloomberg News October 19, 2011 Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee exporters in Vietnam, set to ship a record harvest, are being urged not to sign so-called forward contracts unless they have beans in hand after some companies didn’t honor deals earlier this year as prices jumped. “We have told state-owned coffee companies to not sell forward when they don’t have actual coffee,” Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said by phone today. The Vietnam Coffee & Cocoa Association, or Vicofa, has been asked to give private firms the same advice, he said. Most output in Vietnam, the largest grower of robusta used in espressos, is grown by smallholders, who sell their beans to middlemen and exporters. Shippers delayed or canceled as much as 60,000 tons of exports from the last crop in June and July as prices rose, according to Sucafina, a Geneva-based trader. “The coffee association and the agricultural ministry have told local coffee compa...

CNN/Money and Fortune Last updated September 27, 2011 As Americans get pickier about their beans, small roasters and shops are filling their cups. Cult coffee brands are popping up all over the country. From single-origin batches to the microlots  by which they are artfully, even obsessively, roasted, they pride themselves on their craftsmanship  and small size. (Forget Starbucks: Even Blue Bottle strikes some of these outfits as too  "corporate.") With the help of Ken Davids, editor of Coffee Review, Fortune has mapped some of  the industry's most promising players. 1. Bard Coffee Portland, Maine One café; wholesale The Bard brand can be found across coastal Maine, while the wholesale-only Wicked Joe brand sells to stores across northern New England. 2. Barrington Coffee Roasting Co.  Lee, Mass. Wholesale This Berkshire-based roaster distributes to stores from Montreal to Grand Cayman. 3. Blue Bottle Coffee  Oakland...

News24online.com October 17, 2011 London - Need a cup of hot coffee to make a perfect beginning to your day? Beware, you are more likely to get hooked on drugs, claims a new study. Although not everyone who enjoys caffeine would likely to abuse drugs, the researchers found that people who respond favourably to caffeine are vulnerable to the effects of drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine. The finding, published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, is based on a study of a group people who were asked if they preferred caffeine to a placebo tablet. They were then given a type of amphetamine and asked to rate it. Most who liked the caffeine liked the drugs. Study researcher Prof Stacey Sigmon of Vermont University in the US said:"People differ dramatically in how they respond to drugs." "For example, a single dose of a drug can produce completely opposite effects in two people with one absolutely loving and the other hating the drug's effects," he...