Reading Time: 6 minutes That coffee you grab to start your day represents more — way more — than something to wake you up. As you sip your favourite morning brew, you probably aren’t thinking about what type of beans were used, where they were grown, who farmed them or how they arrived at your breakfast table or drive-through […] Read more
Coffee, from the ground up
When Canada’s farmers get together over coffee, maybe the coffee should do more of the talking
‘Containergeddon’ drives sugar, rice shippers back to bulk vessels
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Food traders are switching from containers back to dry bulk vessels to transport refined sugar and rice, hoping to avoid shipping delays caused by container shortages and port congestion the industry is calling “containergeddon,” according to traders. Container-based transportation has been hit by sky-high costs and delays amid booming shipping […] Read more
Restaurant Brands to boost outlets by 54 per cent within 10 years
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Restaurant Brands International said on Wednesday it plans to expand all three of its brands to more than 40,000 restaurants globally, a 54 per cent jump, over the next decade. Big fast food chains, including McDonald’s and KFC owner Yum Brands, have been aggressively expanding their international operations to counter slowing growth in […] Read more
Tim Hortons to enter China
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Canadian coffee-and-donut chain Tim Hortons will open 1,500 outlets in China over the next decade, capitalizing on a growing cafe culture in the world’s second-largest economy, the chain’s parent Restaurant Brands International said on Wednesday. Restaurant Brands shares rose almost three per cent after the company announced the Tim Hortons move into China […] Read more
Chickens culled as Brazil truckers disrupt commodity exports
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Striking truckers in Brazil have disrupted supply and exports of farm produce from one of the world’s agricultural commodity powerhouses. Brazil is the top global exporter of soybeans, sugar, coffee and chickens. The strike over high fuel prices has paralyzed Latin America’s largest economy, emptied Brazilian roadways and left major […] Read more
Second Cup to set up cannabis lounges in West
Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated, April 13 — Canada’s No. 2 specialty coffeehouse chain has a partnership deal in place to convert some of its outlets in Western Canada to recreational cannabis shops and lounges. Second Cup on Thursday announced a “strategic alliance” with National Access Cannabis Corp. (NAC) to roll out a network of NAC-branded recreational cannabis dispensaries, […] Read more
Coffee may profit more than soy in Brazil’s new farming frontier
Reading Time: 2 minutes Luis Eduardo Magalhaes, Brazil | Reuters –– Farmers tending vast, flat soy and cotton fields that spread as far as the eye can see in northeastern Brazil are finding that coffee crops might provide higher profits in the country’s agricultural frontier. More coffee farms are being developed in the western part of Bahia state, which […] Read more
Can coffee cause cancer? Only if it’s very hot, says WHO agency
Reading Time: 3 minutes London | Reuters — There is no conclusive evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency said Wednesday, in a reverse of its previous warning, but it also said all “very hot” drinks are probably carcinogenic. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had previously rated coffee as “possibly […] Read more
Colombia’s coffee sector seen needing complete overhaul
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bogota | Reuters –– Colombia’s coffee sector needs a complete overhaul to recover from a huge loss of global market share, says a government-commissioned report, seen by Reuters, in which the recommendations include deregulation of exports and the introduction of a minimum price. Despite the undisputed quality of its mild arabica coffees, Colombia now supplies […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
