Coffee Things

A unique investigation into the factors helping people reach 100 years of age has shown that even those with blood pressure concerns are healthier after a daily cup of coffee.

Researchers leading the study at the University of Athens have suggested that the daily consumption of coffee could hold the secret to a longer life. The conclusion has been based on the marked improvement that coffee has on the elasticity of the arteries, helping to prevent their ageing and thereby warding off potential heart disease.

During the scientific investigation, those participants that drank one to two cups of coffee per day demonstrated greater elasticity in their arteries than those who consumed little or no coffee at all. The almost 500 people involved were between the ages of 65 and 100, had diagnosed high blood pressure and were inhabitants of “longevity island” – a small Greek island, Ikaria, where a reported third of people live to reach their centennial birthday.

The island has apparently been a sought after destination for health conscious tourists for a number of years, due to its hot springs fabled for their alleged benefits on joint and skin conditions. This has been supported by the viewpoint of modern day experts who claim that the Mediterranean diet, involving olive oil, local honey and herbal teas, also has a strong part to play in ensuring optimal health, particularly cardiac health.

Since coffee is such a widely consumed commodity in Greece, the Athens-based researchers have turned their attention to the link between coffee and longevity, with their results showing a positive correlation at one to two cups per day.

Photo by mikecpeck

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A new coffee bar called Snakes and Lattes has recently opened in Toronto, Canada. Equipped with a comprehensive collection of 1,500 board games, the outlet is an interesting proposition, however apparently not the first, having been pipped to the post by Vancouver-based Wow Wow.

Arguably more aptly named in line with the concept behind it, the ultimate goal of Snakes and Lattes – which opened on 30 August 2010, is to create the ideal place for experienced board game enthusiasts but also one where non-gamers can enjoy themselves. To this end, catering for all palates, the new venue seeks to offer its frequenters a broad variety of board games to a wide audience.

The outlet’s games collection comprises games ranging from Candyland to Twilight Imperium, with a considerable focus on Euro-Style games and so-called party games.

Serving food as well as a range of coffees and other drinks, the style of cuisine is French-inspired, with Snakes and Lattes open seven days a week. Mid-week, the opening hours are from 11.00-23.00, while on Saturdays and Sundays the venue is open for visitors from 13.00-00.00 and 13.00-21.00 respectively.

Particularly good for groups or parties of people, payment options for the venue include Mastercard and Visa. Having only just opened for business a matter of days ago, the establishment has already created quite a following on the social networking site, Facebook, a fantastic indirect marketing tool that will help raise awareness for the newly-formed company with little additional expense.

Take a look at their Facebook page here

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Recently featuring on the website of online retailer, I Want One of Those (selling “stuff you don’t really need…but really, really want”), the ‘Hot Cold Mug’ claims to eliminate the risk of scalding yourself with too hot a cup of coffee but, by the same token, also save you from the unpleasant experience of picking up a cold cup of your usual brew that had been lying around for a while.

Cleverly designed, the unique coffee mug tells you if the liquid contained within it is hot or cold thanks to the words themselves being emblazoned on the cup and to an interesting reaction that takes place when the vessel comes into contact with hot liquid. Upon this point, the ‘Hot Cold Mug’ changes colour – blue for cold and white for hot.

In other quirky coffee crockery news, a new ‘Labyrinth Coffee Cup and Saucer’ professes to make your regular morning cup of coffee more interesting thanks to the saucer’s hidden maze, solved by tracing any spills around it with subtle tilting.

Meanwhile online design magazine, Beautiful Life, has selected 25 of what it views as the most creative and original mugs, be it for tea, coffee or both. First on its list is a stainless steel offering with a karabiner as its handle, ideal for attaching to your back-pack in preparation for those much needed coffee stops. Also amongst the selection are the Grassroots biodegradable corn coffee mug, the Pura Tea Cup – a fusion of stainless steel and porcelain, the Kedo Tea Code Cup with a button to hold those unruly speciality teabags in place.

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Whilst there has been some concern as to Columbia’s coffee output due to poor weather conditions and tree renovation, local coffee farmers have anticipated a strong harvest for the second half of the year to boost overall performance for 2010.

Expecting a total output of 10 million 60kg bags for the year, Columbia – the leading producer of high quality washed Arabica coffee, is predicting that it will be able to achieve an ambitious 6 million bags in the latter half of 2010, potentially one of the best harvests in several years.

This view has been backed through interviews with numerous coffee operators in addition to a visit to a coffee plantation in central Columbia, where farmers such as Victor Alvarez proudly showed their ripe fruit-bearing trees, soon be harvested.

Since the country’s output for the first half of 2010 was only 4 million bags, some coffee exporters and industry analysts were fearing that the second half year harvest would at best reach 5.5 million bags, however there is increasing support for the figure of 6 million bags, 9 per cent higher than originally expected.

Coffee growers’ representatives in the provinces of Quindio, Caldas, Antioquia, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca, which together account for almost two thirds of the country’s total production, have expressed their confidence in this target. With growers in these central regions harvesting their main second crop of the year during from October to December and their first between April and June, warmer weather in the more southern of the provinces may allow for an additional collection between now and the end of the year.

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Managing Director Mohammed Alnassar of MEFranchising has communicated news of its collaboration with Swedish company Wayne’s Coffee, which will help the chain to build new partnerships and strategies for expansion.

The announcement followed news of the eagerly-awaited opening of Wayne’s Coffee Panorama Mall in the city of Riyadh, the Scandinavian business’s second outlet in the Saudi Arabian market this year.

As a result of its partnership with MEFranchising, Wayne’s Coffee will be able to strengthen its position as the first Swedish beverage and food industry operator to establish in the Middle East. The company also hopes to set up a new enterprise within the region this autumn.

According to MEFranchising’s Alnassar, the Swedish-, Italian- and North American-blended coffee sits well with coffee enthusiasts in the Middle East and, being able to leverage the strategic knowledge and franchising expertise of the local business, launching Wayne’s Coffee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was apparently a seamless excercise.

This latest outlet is an important strategic step for Wayne’s Coffee in consolidating its presence in the region. Not only this, but it also provides a strong precedent for other Swedish businesses considering entering the market, particularly given that the geography’s franchise market is predicted to grow 27 per cent annually, far faster than in other parts of the world.

Swedish Ambassador in the country, Jan Thesleff – who hosted the opening ceremony for Wayne’s Coffee’s newly-unveiled premises, commented “Saudi Arabia is the biggest market in the region and a success in Riyadh means a vast increase for success elsewhere in the region.”

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US-based Healthy Coffee International has unveiled 100 Mercedes Benz cars in a 100 day promotional drive.

Having made the qualifying requirements easier for its distributors, the health coffee company hopes that this will result in its business being promoted in style, further communicating what its enhanced coffee propositions stand for and the additional benefits they profess to bring.

The Californian company’s proprietary formulas cleverly fuse the health benefits of ginseng and reishi mushroom in addition to other quality ingredients with what are purportedly the world’s finest coffee beans.

The resulting products are a health-inspired range of gourmet instant coffees, which position the company at the crossroads between three multi-billion beverage sectors, namely those of coffee, wellness and energy drinks.

Healthy Coffee International (HCI) has offices in 14 countries and is able to distribute to 29 others through its marketing subsidiary, Healthy Coffee USA.

In other HCI news, the company is reportedly in the process of rolling out a new platform that is expected to see its global sales explode, involving multiple meetings and weekly training sessions by its founders.

In other purportedly healthy coffee news, an intriguing blend of ingredients positioned as a cure-all for burnt out students has come to light. Based on two cups of chilled coffee, the recipe for the young adults’ elixir advises combining this with one cup of 100 per cent coconut water, a banana, ice (as desired) and one scoop of whey protein (optional), all blended together and poured into a portable vessel for consumption on the move (to those early lectures).

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Nescafe, whose infamous five year-long advertisements of the 1980s involved a blossoming relationship between Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan over a shared passion coffee, is set to invigorate the category with a 3in1 version of its single serve original formulation.

Combining coffee, whitener and sugar in a single package, it is hoped that the convenient, sweet and creamy tasting coffee will increase the product’s appeal to a wider, younger audience.

Due to hit the shelves in autumn – from the end of September, the Original 3in1 offering is being introduced at a time where the demand for convenient, no-hassle coffee formats is increasing its momentum. Its packaging will be aligned with the rest of the original instant coffee range that has already become so ingrained in consumers’ consciousness, encouraging brand loyalty amidst the onslaught of competing choices.

So as to cater directly for specific distribution channels, the instant coffee sachet will be sold in two different formats – in ten sachet packs for the retail channel at a recommended retail price (RRP) of £1.99 and in single units for the convenience channel, retailing at £0.25 apiece. This flexibility is designed to reinforce consumers’ brand integrity and repeat purchases as well as growing incremental sales and increasing profits, both for retailers as well as the soluble coffee giant itself.

Already available elsewhere in Europe since 2003, the UK launch of the 3in1 instant coffee proposition will be supported through a significant through-the-line campaign, according to the company.

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Instant coffee brand, Via Ready Brew from Starbucks, is set to become available in the Philippines, the fourth market of distribution for this soluble offering and the second Asian country to become part of the product’s retail network.

As of September 2010, some 160 outlets in the country will carry the instant coffee mix in Columbia, Italian and Decaffeinated Italian Roast variants.

Starbucks is confident that Via Ready Brew will prove a success in the Philippines, since almost 100 per cent of retail coffee sales come from soluble coffee products, according to the business’s chairman, president and CEO.

Focusing on raising awareness and trial of its fast-popularising coffee sachets to broaden its customer base in the US and its international markets, Via was introduced to the Japanese market in April 2009 and has already secured sales of 10 million sachets, with plans underway to expand into grocery and trade channels.

Instant coffee, also known as soluble coffee or coffee powder, is a beverage that is derived from dried coffee beans. It is commercially prepared by one of two methods, either freeze-drying or by spraying, after which point the coffee can be rehydrated.

Advantages over and above speed of preparation for instant coffee formats include lower shipping weight, volume and therefore costs, in addition to possessing a longer shelf life.

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With more and more coffee outlets offering juice and an increasing diversity of soft drink options to cater for all palates, US-based Fine Concepts LLC has announced the acquisition of seven local Jamba Juice stores through its The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf business.

Announced by company CEO Jeffrey Fine, the deal reportedly includes a commitment to further the Jamba Juice brand by establishing eight new outlets in the Las Vegas area.

Fine also revealed intentions to expand the Jamba brand through non-traditional channels, such as Las Vegas Strip’s Fashion Show Mall as well as in the casino environment to keep fashionistas and casino players hydrated and fuelled for longer.

The company has also announced the appointment of a chief operating officer, Philip Patent, who has already been directing operations for the 15 The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlets and will manage the expansion of both aspects of the newly-merged business.

Patent commented on the latest development, “We’ve been looking for a brand leader within this segment to compliment our other enterprises and we are excited that Jamba Juice was refranchising this particular market.”

He asserted his belief that the Jamba brand is a natural and logical compliment to what is viewed as a super premium brand in the segment. Additional mention was given to the opportunity enabling the company “to target some larger footprints in more desirable locations that both concepts can fit into side-by-side.”

In other Jamba Juice news, its outlets were on Thursday this week offering its coffee and tea smoothies for a bargain price of US$1 a piece to customers.

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An Italian coffee machine manufacturer has created a commotion in London’s upmarket lingerie store, Rigby & Peller, with the launch of what is positioned as the UK’s first aphrodisiac coffee.

Launched in the high-end lingerie outlet by a scantily-clad underwear model just this week, the new coffee got temperatures rising, as the woman seductively sipped on the espresso in the central city store. Shoppers themselves were apparently only allowed a single cup each to keep the atmosphere under control.

Called Amore del Caffe, the new coffee reportedly combines a rare Indian coffee bean with libido-enhancing oyster essence. However the aphrodisiac blend comes at a price – a whopping £39 per 100g bag, but all proceeds are being donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Meanwhile another Italian coffee machine producer has agreed to acquire a seven per cent share in US company Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) for a reported US$250 million. Set to be approved by US authorities in September, the two companies will work together to build and market espresso machines as well as single-serve capsules, as a statement by the Italian firm revealed.

Representing the largest deal the family-owned, Milan-based company has ever made abroad, the move forms part of its aggressive push into new markets, with other acquisitions made in India, Brazil and Argentina over the past four years.

GMCR sells over 100 speciality coffee brands in its domestic US market as well as in Canada. The company is also positioned amongst the leading espresso machine suppliers in North America.

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