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Following months of speculation, China’s Luckin Coffee has officially opened its first two U.S. locations in New York City, with one coming to Greenwich Village and the other in NoMad, according to a CNN report. The largest coffee chain in China, Luckin Coffee agreed to a $180 million settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over fraud charges in 2020. More recently, the Chinese company has signed massive green coffee supply deals with sector leaders in Brazil. 

The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE) is estimating $22.1 million USD in crop losses in the Los Santos coffee-growing region this season, due in large part to climate change, according to a Tico Times report. “The region’s 13,000 coffee-growing families, mostly small and medium-scale producers, are struggling to stay afloat as harvests shrink and debts pile up,” the report states. 

In January, Repórter Brasil visited multiple coffee farms Antioquia, Colombia, that carried either Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade certifications, finding troubling results. The investigative news group said it found  temporary workers sleeping in overcrowded and poorly ventilated makeshift sheds, while some bathrooms were missing doors or showers. Workers at one farm were also found to not have any formal employment contracts. 

The entry period for the 2026 Good Food Awards opens Monday, July 7, and runs through Thursday, July 31. Early bird pricing runs from July 7-9, and active GFA members get one free entry.

The winners of the “15 Years of Good Food Awards” were named at the Good Food Mercantile in New York City last week. The 55 winning products — all previous GFA winners from past years — represented 18 categories. In coffee, U.S. winners included: JBC Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin; Greater Goods Roasting in Austin, Texas; and Pacific Coffee Research in Hawaii, which won in 2023 with a coffee from Aloha Star Kona Coffee Farm. 

The Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) has renewed its partnership with the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), extending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding shared values and commitments. 

Shareholders of Vanadi Coffee, a small chain based in Alicante, Spain, unanimously approved a plan to invest approximately $1.2 billion USD in Bitcoin. After announcing their plan earlier in June, the chain’s shares more than tripled in a month. The company now holds 54 BTC, having purchased 20 BTC last month, according to The Block’s report.

Indonesian coffee cooperative ALKO Sumatra Kopi recently launched an advanced open-access digital traceability system designed to build trust internationally and enhance visibility for farmers by offering transparent details on every coffee. The platform includes data such as plant treatment, fertilizer use, harvest date and more.

South Florida-based Common Grounds Brew & Roastery announced the opening of its fourth location, coming later this year in the fall. It will mark the company’s second location in West Palm Beach.

Global waste management company TerraCycle just launched CafeCycle in the UK to turn hard-to-recycle waste from coffee shops into repurposed products like outdoor furniture and shipping pallets. 

ICYMI

Here are some of DCN’s top stories from the past week…

A federal judge in Florida issued a $31 million judgment in favor of green coffee trader Neumann Gruppe USA Inc. after hundreds of containers of green coffee from Nicaragua were never delivered… read more

Four new World Coffee Champions were crowned last week in Geneva, Switzerland, following multiple days of competition under the bright lights of the World of Coffee trade event… read more

The Chrysler Building in New York City, once the world’s tallest building and an enduring example of Art Deco, is now home to the second United States location of the UK chain WatchHouse Coffee… read more

A Belgian startup called Koppie is joining the growing coffee substitute movement, developing a proprietary fermented legume-based ingredient that can be roasted, ground and brewed like coffee… read more

A new instant coffee brand called Mad Coffee formally arrived on June 25, with a solution for 3-second hot or cold coffee drinks and commercially compostable packaging… read more

The owners of a Seattle-based cold brew brand called Seattle Strong are fighting back in a trademark dispute with Swiss multinational food giant Nestlé, owner of the Seattle’s Best Coffee brand… read more

At an investor conference today in Amsterdam, executives from the multinational coffee conglomerate JDE Peet’s outlined a new vision for California-based Peet’s Coffee, focusing on omni-channel growth above concepts such as local heritage or premiumization… read more

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