The October + November 2020 issue of Barista Magazine is out, featuring Lucy Ward of ST. ALi on the cover.
Also included: ‘The Hidden Costs of Coffee: Experimental Processing,’ ‘Ending Workplace Abuse,’ ‘When Gentrification Pours Into the Neighborhood,’ ‘2 to 1 Ratio: Sharing Retail Space,’ ‘One on One with Phyllis Johnson,’ and much more!
BY KENNETH R. OLSON
BARISTA MAGAZINE
We welcome fall with our October + November 2020 issue, and here in Oregon we are extremely thankful for the return of some gray and rainy days. We’ve been through some major challenges this year, and the last month has been no different: Sure we’ve been designated an “anarchy” city by the deeply unpopular, belligerent, and unintelligent goon in the White House, but that, like most things from his lips, is meaningless. The impact of devastating climate change, however, is not. We’ve gone through some of the worst wildfires in our state’s history this year, with millions of acres burned and smoke so bad that Portland’s air was the worst in the world for a week.
The best thing we can do right now is to meet ignorance with action and make sure all who are eligible cast a ballot and vote! November 3 is only weeks away.
Cover Feature: Lucy Ward
Australia, too, has suffered from the effects of the ongoing climate crisis this year as it endured record wildfires earlier in the year. We thought we’d be in Australia in May, and then in November for MICE and the World Barista Championship; however, due to the continuing pandemic, both of those events have gone from rescheduled to canceled.
Lucy Ward, green buyer at Melbourne’s ST. ALi, has been on the frontlines of both events in her country, and she talked with Barista Magazine’s editor-in-chief Sarah Allen about not only how she’s responding to the cataclysms while maintaining relationships with coffee producers around the globe, but also how she got her start in coffee and moved through multiple positions until she got to where she is now.
‘The Hidden Costs of Coffee: Experimental Processing’
Writer Sierra Wen Xin Yeo returns in the October + November 2020 issue with the fourth and final installment in her series “The Hidden Costs of Coffee.” In this piece, she talks with coffee producers about when and why they try experimental processing, the risks they run when they do so, and the costs they incur in the effort. While many buyers are requesting new and different processing methods, they don’t always realize the economic hit producers can take in trying new methods.
‘Ending Workplace Abuse’
Many baristas have started fighting back, either through direct action or social media, when confronted with abusive or unsafe practices in their workplaces, but what are the legal ramifications or remedies for the situations they’re in? Mark Van Streefkerk looks at what avenues baristas have for recourse, what rights they and management have in the workplace, and their responsibilities to each other in “Ending Workplace Abuse” in the October + November 2020 issue.
‘When Gentrification Pours Into the Neighborhood’
Jonathan Rowe grew up in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, and he returned to his old haunts to work in a café. In “When Gentrification Pours Into the Neighborhood,” he writes about the changes he has seen as businesses and people move into older neighborhoods and force established residents out. He provides some potential solutions and concerns to keep in mind while also wondering what role he plays in gentrification himself.
‘2 to 1 Ratio: Sharing Retail Space’
While the COVID-19 pandemic has upended normal operations at cafés around the world, new business models are helping some locations thrive in the midst of all the turmoil. One of the biggest recent trends is sharing retail space. This can be a big boost to small businesses—when they complement each other effectively, they can share costs and bring in new customers to each store. Mike Robinson talks to owners of some shared-space coffee shops to find out what makes them unique and successful, and if there are any lessons that other coffee shops can take from them.
‘One on One with Phyllis Johnson’
Phyllis Johnson, owner of BD Imports, is a trailblazer for Black coffee professionals, a woman who created her own coffee importing business in the face of numerous obstacles. Candice Madison is a coffee professional cut from the same cloth. They had a deeply engaging and enlightening conversation about their time in specialty coffee and share it with Barista Magazine’s readers in “One on One.”
These are just some of the stories you’ll find in the October + November 2020 issue of Barista Magazine. And as always, you have your choice to read it in paper or digital format. You can order a hard copy through our online store here or start a subscription. Of course, you can also read it for free online with our digital edition or take it with you with our free app.
