The world’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks Coffee Company, announced today plans to introduce wine, beer and “premium food” to a handful of its stores in the United States by the end of 2012. Starbucks stores in Atlanta, California and Chicago, have been “carefully selected” in response to “customer feedback for more options to relax in the evenings” for the new menu additions. These stores, along with several others recently announced for the Chicago area, will be the first stores... ...Read more »

Whilst growth in the iced coffee market continues to be dominated by Asia, levels of interest elsewhere in the world appear to be growing according to figures released today by international research body, Innova Database. According to Innova, the demand for iced coffee drinks appears to be growing, not only geographically, but also beyond its original home in the foodservice sector of many countries, particularly the USA. Innova Database’s research found that Asia accounted for nearly three-quarters... ...Read more »

The world’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks Coffee Company, announced today that it has bought American-based premium fruit juice company Evolution Fresh for US$30 million (A$29 million). Announcing the takeover deal today, Starbucks’ President Howard Schultz unveiled plans to establish a chain of juice bars. He said, “With Evolution Fresh, Starbucks will bring a unique, premium juice product to the marketplace, similar to what Starbucks did 40 years ago with coffee. “Not only are we able... ...Read more »

As part of an international study, researchers from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) claim they have identified a gene that plays a role in influencing how much coffee people drink. Dr Enda Byrne from QIMR said the study, published today in Molecular Psychiatry journal, shows that there is a small genetic variant in the population that determines how people react to coffee and therefore explains why some people will consume coffee at higher levels and why others won’t drink it... ...Read more »

One of Australia’s largest home-grown café groups, The Coffee Club, has bought Australian steakhouse chain Ribs and Rumps. The café group plans to open ten new Ribs and Rumps restaurants each year for the next ten years. Since opening its doors in Brisbane 21 years ago, The Coffee Club has grown to 273 stores. In 2008, hospitality and leisure company Minor International took a 50 per cent stake in The Coffee Club, fuelling future growth. This is the group’s first acquisition. The Coffee Club’s... ...Read more »

British researchers claim that the caffeine ‘fix’ that many coffee-drinkers seek may be obtained equally by a decaffeinated placebo. Researchers from the University of East London studied volunteers who were provided decaffeinated coffee but were told their drink contained caffeine. A report on the research study was published this week in the international research journal, Appetite. The volunteers who drank decaffeinated coffee proved quicker in performance than those who were given... ...Read more »

News that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of skin cancer has sent a buzz through the world’s media over the past 24 hours. Australian Food News has been investigating how this media storm was brewed. Meanwhile, other very serious skin cancer breakthrough stories appear to have been left unstirred. The news kerfuffle about coffee and skin cancer appears to have begun with the release in August 2011 of a research paper, published by the National Academy of Sciences (NAC) of the USA. This was... ...Read more »

Scientists at the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, have found that the antioxidant properties of decaffeinated coffee may benefit drinkers’ mood and cognitive state, even though the beverage contains no caffeine. The scientists conducted a pilot study on healthy elderly people to compare the cognitive and mood effects of soluble decaffeinated coffee with those of soluble caffeinated coffee and a coffee placebo. The decaffeinated beverages contained variable amounts of chlorogenic... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest cafe group, The Coffee Club, will enter the emerging Chinese coffee drinking market this month, opening a cafe in the Yuexiu District in Guangzhou, with a major franchise license sold to the Guangzhou Golden Swan Enterprise Co. John Lazarou, Director of The Coffee Club, said now is the perfect time for the business to enter China, with a strong coffee culture growing in the country despite most Chinese traditionally drinking tea. “With over 1.3 billion people, a growing middle... ...Read more »

Cafe chain The Coffee Club has announced new additions to its menu for the cooler months, with the ‘Greatest of Britain’ menu featuring a range of hearty British meals. The new menu features meals inspired by traditional British recipes using seasonally-available ingredients, and will be available from May 9 to June 19. The ‘Greatest of Britain’ menu includes a traditional British Beef Pie with mushy peas, mashed potato and gravy, a chicken and mushroom filo, a bacon and zucchini quiche,... ...Read more »