Fionn Pooler

Scotland

Coffee Writer at Freelance

Writing about coffee.

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Articles

Starbucks Decides Staffing is Key To Customer Experience

1 week ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. Since September 2024, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has been pushing a set of initiatives to turn things around as the chain struggles with declining sales and lower foot traffic. The plan, which he called “Back to Starbucks,” aims to return the brand to its “coffeehouse roots” with more comfy chairs and less focus on mobile ordering and drive-thrus.
The SCA Makes Deal with Colombian Coffee Federation to Promote New Cupping Standards

1 week ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. Last week, the Specialty Coffee Association hosted its annual trade show in Houston, Texas, one of the biggest global coffee events, drawing thousands of attendees. On April 24, the day before the show opened, the SCA dropped industry-changing news: they would be taking over the professional sensory evaluation certification known as the Q Grader program.
Indonesia is the Fourth Largest Coffee Producer-They May Have to Start Importing Beans

1 week ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. Indonesia is the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world, but falling yields and rising domestic consumption are making it increasingly difficult for the country to produce enough coffee to meet demand.
Coffee News Club: Week of May 5th

1 week ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

Starbucks’ latest innovation: cut back on innovation. Plus, the Specialty Coffee Association pushes forward a partnership with Colombia to advance its new quality assessment protocols, and Lavazza ads get pulled from the air because their compostable pods are not quite as compostable as they suggest.
Coffee Techs Launch Cooperative to Boost Standards for Equipment Maintenance

2 weeks ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. Finding a good technician to service coffee equipment is a hugely important and often underappreciated aspect of running a coffee business. To help with this, a group of U.S.-based techs have joined together to create the Service Layer Cooperative (SLC), a nationwide network of independent coffee equipment technicians.
Starbucks, Other Coffee Giants Sued Over Alleged Forced Labor in Brazilian Coffee Supply Chain

2 weeks ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer, and much of that coffee ends up in the United States. Now, Ephrat Livni for the New York Times reports that two advocacy groups have filed a pair of legal challenges, alleging that some of the Brazilian coffee purchased by large U.S. brands is produced using forced labor and human trafficking.
Coffee News Club: Week of April 28th

2 weeks ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

Why is the SCA taking over the Q grader exam? Your guess is as good as ours. Plus, Starbucks is accused of using forced labor on its coffee farms, and a network of coffee technicians takes a stand on ethical coffee equipment repair. ‘The SCA Just Took Over The Q Grader Exam’ – via SprudgeIn what the two organizations are calling “a historic partnership,” the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is taking over management of the Q Grader program from the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI).
SCA Sparks Uproar, Confusion with Takeover of Q Grader Program

2 weeks ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

✉️ This story was featured in this week’s Coffee News Club👋 Get the Coffee News Club newsletter in your inbox weekly—sign up. In what the two organizations are calling “a historic partnership,” the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is taking over management of the Q Grader program from the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI). For over two decades, the CQI has administered the Q Grader program.
A Glasgow Guide For The 2025 Glasgow Coffee Festival

3 weeks ago | sprudge.com | Fionn Pooler

What a difference a decade (and a year) makes. Back in 2014, while England boasted renowned coffee companies like Prufrock, Hasbean (now Ozone), and Square Mile, you could count the number of specialty roasters in Scotland on one hand. The first Glasgow Coffee Festival that year was a small gathering—to make up the numbers, founder Lisa Lawson of Dear Green Coffee invited a barbershop to give haircuts to attendees—but it helped kick off a coffee movement north of the border.
Coffee is the Most-Consumed Beverage in the US, Report Says

3 weeks ago | freshcup.com | Fionn Pooler

Twice a year, the National Coffee Association releases its National Coffee Data Trends report, which looks at how Americans consume coffee. We’ve been keeping you updated on key findings from the report for a few years. Although trends and consumption patterns change, the main takeaway year after year seems to be that coffee is very popular. This year’s report, published on April 15, is no different.