You oughta know #42

In this issue: Coffee is the most expensive it has been since 1977; Paddy Gower finds our southernmost coffee shop; A tree that smells like dung - the next alternative to coffee?

Nau mai hoki mai - welcome back to You Oughta Know, your regular coffee news hit to the veins.

This is the last You oughta know for the year. Next week is my 2024 coffee year in review, and then it’s basically Christmas. WHAT?!

So kick back, grab a coffee and check out the latest in coffee news.

In this issue: Coffee is the most expensive it has been since 1977; Paddy Gower finds our southernmost coffee shop; A tree that smells like dung - the next alternative to coffee?; The 2025 Regional Coffee Champs - dates/locations announced.

The commodity price of coffee is at record highs

As reported in, well, everything, but specifically in Fresh Cup, “Coffee prices for arabica and robusta have soared over the past year, with arabica reaching highs not seen since the late-1970s.”

The price, as at 3 December, was around $2.95 USD per pound - around 71% higher than in 2023.

For context, specialty coffee goes for around $30.00 USD per pound.

While most of the money I spend on coffee goes to specialty coffee, most of the world drinks commodity grade coffee - and many cafes across the country and most of the supermarket coffee uses this. This means the price for coffee will likely be going up. Canadian coffee gurus, Buy the Drip notes that:

While high prices can offer short-term relief for farmers, they also come with increased costs and risks. For roasters, managing margins becomes a tightrope act, and consumers must weigh whether to absorb higher prices.

Expensive cafe coffee might be turning people to making espresso at home. At least that is what market analysts Aussie are thinking.

Citi have suggested that Australia’s Breville Group, makers of really good at home espresso makers, may benefit from high coffee prices as people look to save money by making coffee at home.

Might be time to jump on Sharesies… and get down to your local home-wares shop for a bargain.

NB - Briscoes currently has the Breville Barista Express for nearly $1,200 - yet only 2 days ago it was around 650. Moral of the story - don’t buy anything from Briscoes and defo don’t trust their sales.

Stuff: The southern most cafe in New Zealand (by a few hundred meters)

Paddy Gower is a national treasure and somehow he still has a job and that job means he gets to go around the country telling awesome yarns.

This story is about a couple who moved to Steward Island to open The Snuggery, New Zealand’s southern most cafe.

It’s a great yarn.

A local alternative to coffee? Zoffee

As reported by Radio NZ, there is a new company hoping to create a coffee alternative from a native New Zealand plant.

Zoffee is a company that is looking to create a commercial operation out of a coffee relative, Coprosma.

They are trying to ”create a product which tastes similar to coffee, gives you a similar experience, has human stimulants, tastes really good but is actually a bit healthier and has other medicinal properties in it as well.”

The name, Coprosma, or Karamū, means' “smelling like dung” so I’m not sure we’ll want to live around these plantations, but apparently early Māori used to use all parts of the tree - the fruit, the leaves and the bark - so it must be good.

It’ll be interesting to see if a commercial operation gets off the ground and how it takes off. The first production run is expected in mid-2026.

2025 Regional Barista Champs are coming back!

Hot off the press - the locations for the 2025 Regional Barista Champs have been announced!

• Christchurch: C4 - Sunday 30 March

• Wellington: L'affare Roastery - Sunday 6 April

• Auckland: Havana HQ - Sunday 13 April