A few good or at least mildly entertaining stories out there today from all over the world.
First, Ethiopia and Tanzania coffee farmers expect larger than normal crop sizes and prices. Growers in Ethiopia project an increase of 25% over last year’s harvest. BusinessWeek reports on the harvest here:
Volumes of specialty washed coffee traded on the exchange more than doubled last month to 2,173 metric tons, compared with a year earlier, because of the introduction of a new quality- certification system, improved support to farmers from government agents and greater use of the exchange by traders.
Ethiopian farmers can expect better prices this year because of higher global coffee prices and improved quality.
Meanwhile, farmers in Tanzania expect modest growth in coffee prices of about 5% over the prior year.
Then from New Zealand, there’s more coverage of the expertise necessary to craft a quality espresso, and the trainers who bring baristas up to snuff in that country’s demanding consumer market.
Finally, as we all know, loyal customers are the engine that keeps any good café or coffee shop running, but this story out of Toronto takes that sentiment a little too far (to the detriment of the customer’s own job). It seems a local bus driver loves his coffee so much, that he stopped his bus and went to get a cup (Tim Horton’s natch) while passengers waited for his return. As if the trouble with bus rides was that they’re too short.
