James Hoffmann launches ‘most ambitious project to date’, Scottish dairy farm unveils ‘UK’s most expensive flat white’, Nespresso serves up New Zealand tennis coffee sponsorship, Korea Post stamps out coffee capsule waste and Milklab enrolls two World Barista Champions as Brand Ambassadors
James Hoffmann has 2.2 million YouTube subscribers | Photo credit: James Hoffmann
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James Hoffmann launches The Decaf Project
Coffee expert, entrepreneur and author James Hoffmann is launching a major new project exploring how how different decaffeination processes impact specialty coffee. Billed as the ‘world’s largest live coffee tasting’, The Decaf Project invites participants an educational journey to compare a Colombian specialty coffee split into four lots, one caffeinated and three decaffeinated using the CR3 – Carbonic Natural CO2 Process, Coffein Compagnie – Ethyl Acetate/Sugar Cane Process and Swiss Water’s Swiss Water Process.
Project partner Caravela Coffee sourced 16 tonnes of coffee from Guadalupe, Colombia, which is being sent to over 50 participating specialty coffee roasters across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific ahead of the live tasting on 15 December 2024. Hoffman, who will broadcast The Decaf Project to his 2.2 million YouTube subscribers, has previously hosted two World’s Largest Coffee Tasting events in 2019 and 2020. However, he said The Decaf Project is his ‘biggest, most ambitious project to date’. Roasting partners signed up to the project include the UK’s Square Mile Coffee Roasters, Germany’s 19 Grams, US-based Anthology Coffee and Australia’s Coffee Supreme.
Scottish farm champions sustainable dairy with
A Scottish dairy farm has unveiled the ‘UK’s most expensive flat white’ to highlight the benefits of sustainable agriculture and raise funds for its new zero-waste facility. Mossgiel Farm owner Bryce Cunningham said the farm is on ‘a mission to challenge the dominance of big dairy’ by eliminating single-use plastics, increasing renewable energy use and prioritising animal welfare. The £272 ($343) flat white will be available at 13 coffee shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Ayrshire on 23 November 2024. Customers will receive 34 shares in Mossgiel Farm as part of a Crowdcube investment campaign, which surpassed £125,000 ($156,000) on 22 November 2024.
Previously, the most expensive coffee in the UK was a £265 flat white at Shot London in Mayfair, made with Japanese Typica beans and served in an elaborate gold-plated V60.
A passionate advocate for organic farming, Cunningham was the only dairy CEO to accept an invitation to go head-to-head with Oatly in a debate on climate footprint labelling in October 2023. Mossgiel lays claims to being the first UK dairy farm to eliminate single-use plastics. Its trademarked ‘Cow with Calf’ programme allows cows to raise their calves naturally, rejecting industry practices that separate calves from their mothers at birth.
Nespresso NZ serves up ASB Classic sponsorship deal
Coffee pod giant Nespresso has become the Official Coffee Sponsor of the 2025 ASB Classic tennis tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Nespresso NZ will use the event to showcase its cold coffee capsule range, which includes Iced Coconut Lattés, Iced Mochas and Iced Coffee Refreshers.
Nespresso branding will feature on the Centre Court umpire chair and ASB Classic’s televised advertising during the event, which runs from 30 December 2024 – 5 January 2025. Nespresso will also host a customer activation event at the ASB Tennis Arena’s hospitality and entertainment venue, The Serve.
Korea Post launches coffee capsule recycling programme
South Korea’s national postal service has launched a nationwide aluminium coffee capsule collection and recycling service. In a press release, Korea Post said the programme was part of efforts to tackle the growing challenge of single-serve coffee waste while improving recyclable material collection. Consumers can now return empty capsules in special postal collection bags at any mailbox across South Korea, where they will be collected and delivered to recycling facilities for processing into reusable materials. The South Korean coffee capsule market has almost doubled in value to ₩400bn ($2.8bn) since 2020, with capsule waste presenting a growing environmental challenge. A University of Modena study from 2021 estimated that 576,000 metric tons of coffee capsule waste is generated globally every year — the combined weight of about 4,400 school buses.
Australia’s Milklab taps two World Barista Champions for Brand Ambassador roles
Milklab has announced a new collaboration with World Barista Champions (WBC) Anthony Douglas and Mikael Jasin, who will represent the Australian dairy alternative brand at coffee events across Asia. The pair, WBC winners in 2022 and 2024 respectively, will curate specialty coffee beverages using Milklab’s oat, almond, soy, coconut and macademia dairy alternative products. Douglas kickstarted his Brand Ambassador role for Milklab at China’s Lujiazui Coffee Festival and South Korea’s International Café Show in October and November 2024 respectively. Jassin will represent Milklab at Thaifex in Thailand in March 2025.