Cup Engineering

The scan

What's new in coffee

Industry news, published research, notable bean releases and equipment launches, gathered by a weekly scan and ranked by how much they should change what you do at the brew bar. Highlighted cards are the must-reads.

AllIndustryResearchBeansEquipment|Must-reads only

Week of Sep 14, 2026

1 item
IndustryCoffee Geography Magazine· Sep 8, 2026T4 · Press

Uganda Signs Robusta Export Deal With South Korea's GVCC

Uganda's Besmark Coffee Company Ltd signed an MOU with Busan-based GVCC Co. Ltd on September 7, 2026, during the Uganda-Korea Trade and Investment Meeting in Seoul, targeting about 3,500 tonnes of Ugandan robusta exports to South Korea annually. Besmark becomes the exclusive Ugandan supplier and GVCC the exclusive South Korean distributor; a first two-container consignment has already shipped, with plans to use Busan as a regional hub to re-export Ugandan coffee into Japan and Southeast Asia.

Why it matters: Opens a new distribution route for Ugandan robusta just as Uganda has overtaken Ethiopia as Africa's top coffee exporter, a supply-chain shift that feeds the robusta blends and instant coffee many drinkers rely on.

Published Sep 8, 2026 · collected Sep 14, 2026

businessgreen-coffee

Week of Sep 5, 2026

8 items
BeansNewsroom Panama· Aug 8, 2026T4 · Press

Best of Panama 2026: 40 winning lots sealed for the 23 September online auction

The 30th Best of Panama announced its 2026 winners on 1 August: Elida Estate took Geisha Washed at 96.25 points, Lérida Estate took Geisha Natural at 95.63, Altieri Specialty Coffee won Varietals at 93.63 and Hacienda La Esmeralda won the Copa Panamá for highest accumulated score. Forty lots are now held under external audit at the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama ahead of the international electronic auction on 23 September 2026. Last year's auction set the all-time record of $30,204 per kg for an Esmeralda washed Geisha.

Why it matters: The auction sets the price ceiling for the whole Gesha market; if you want a 2026 BoP lot, watch roasters like Proud Mary, Archers and Onyx in October to December when the winning lots ship.

Published Aug 8, 2026 · collected Sep 5, 2026

competitionpricesvarietiesgreen-coffee
IndustryDaily Coffee News· Aug 28, 2026T4 · Press

Hurricane Lala hits Ka'u and Kona coffee farms on the eve of the 2026 harvest

Hurricane Lala passed just south of Hawaii Island on 15 August, triggering a flash-flood emergency in Ka'u that washed out roads, bridges and water systems as farms were starting to pick. Some growers on the mauka side of Holualoa in Kona report losing 20% or more of their trees, mostly to larger trees coming down. A preliminary state tally put Big Island farm damage at $761,150, with 90 farms and ranches across three counties reporting $3.58 million in losses over 380 acres, and USDA has opened disaster assistance for affected producers; many Kona farms were still recovering from the March Kona-low storms.

Why it matters: Expect the 2026-27 Ka'u and Kona crops to be smaller and pricier, and give farms buying-direct a break if lot releases slip; this is the second weather hit to Hawaiian coffee this year.

Published Aug 28, 2026 · collected Sep 5, 2026

climateharvestgreen-coffee
IndustryPerfect Daily Grind· Aug 28, 2026T4 · Press

ICE-certified arabica stocks near 1999 lows while a Reuters poll sees the C price at $3/lb by year-end

Certified arabica stocks on ICE slipped to 226,242 bags in the week to 28 August, just above the November 2023 low of 224,000, and by 31 August had fallen to 223,976 bags, the lowest since 1999. The drawdown is blamed on Buenaventura port disruption after Colombia's earthquake and the slow Brazilian harvest. Separately, a Reuters analyst poll forecast arabica at around $3/lb by year-end and robusta recovering to about $3,900/tonne, and Vietnam reported January-July exports up 21.1% to 1.51 million tonnes with the average export price down 8.1% to $5,313/tonne.

Why it matters: Exchange inventories this thin make the futures curve jumpy even as the fundamental outlook softens, so expect volatility in green pricing for washed Central and South American lots for the next couple of months rather than a smooth decline.

Published Aug 28, 2026 · collected Sep 5, 2026

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BeansDaily Coffee News· Aug 26, 2026T4 · Press

Best of Congo Cooperatives puts 14 traceable DRC microlots up for auction 1-3 September

The 2026 Best of Congo Cooperatives program offers 32 coffees from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: 14 international-winner microlots sold on the M-Cultivo auction platform from 1 to 3 September, plus 18 national winners on an offer sheet. Auction lots run from 86 to 300 kg with bids opening at $13 per kg ($5.90 per lb), and the catalogue spans fully washed, natural and anaerobic-fermentation lots, several produced by women's groups.

Why it matters: Congo remains one of the least-seen East African origins on roaster menus; lots bought here will surface as single origins in October to November, so it is a chance to taste Kivu coffees outside the usual Rwanda and Burundi rotation.

Published Aug 26, 2026 · collected Sep 5, 2026

competitiongreen-coffeesustainability
ResearchBeverage Plant Research· Jul 7, 2026T1 · Peer-reviewed / standard

Anaerobic natural processing enriches the most flavour precursors in Catimor green beans

Haohao Yu and Faguang Hu's team at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences split one batch of Catimor cherries from Baoshan, Yunnan, into four treatments (washed, natural, anaerobic-then-washed, anaerobic-then-natural), ran untargeted metabolomics on the green beans and cupped the roasted coffee. Processing method reshaped the green-bean metabolome, and the anaerobic natural treatment showed the strongest enrichment of amino acids, nucleotides, organic acids, flavonoids and tannins; 75 metabolites (including D-mannose, D-glucose, L-lactic acid, GABA, caffeic and sinapic acid) correlated with sensory attributes and were flagged as flavour precursors. Anaerobically fermented lots scored higher than conventional ones on dry/wet aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body and balance, while washed coffee scored higher on cleanliness and lower on sweetness. Caveats: a single variety, farm and season; the article gives correlations, not causal links between named compounds and cup attributes; the journal is a newer, lower-profile title.

Why it matters: When a bag says 'anaerobic natural', expect more sweetness and body and a busier aromatic profile than the washed lot from the same farm, and treat 'clean' washed coffees as a different, not lesser, target; it also explains why anaerobic Catimor from Yunnan is turning up on specialty menus.

Published Jul 7, 2026 · collected Sep 5, 2026

processingfermentationsensorygreen-coffeevarieties
BeansSprudgeT4 · Press

Presta Coffee Roasters releases three lots from Yemen's Al-Khanshali Estate

Tucson's Presta Coffee Roasters has released three separate lots from Al-Khanshali Estate, the Yemeni farm project started by Port of Mokha founder Mokhtar Alkhanshali after eight years working with Yemeni growers. The lots are from the 2025 harvest, sold in 4 oz bags at $30 to $40 each or as a three-lot set for $95; one lot is described as ripe pineapple and chocolate-covered strawberry opening into hibiscus with a creamy body.

Why it matters: Yemen arrives in consuming countries this quarter and estate-level, lot-separated Yemeni coffee is still very rare; the 4 oz format makes a side-by-side of three lots affordable.

Publication date unknown · collected Sep 5, 2026

green-coffeeharvestprices
IndustryOhio's Country JournalT4 · Press

Colombian coffee stocks stay tight after the August earthquake, with no real replenishment expected before November

Nearly a month after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake of 10 August, exports through Buenaventura, which handles roughly 60% of Colombia's coffee, remain constrained by landslide damage on the Buga-Buenaventura corridor, and the FNC has suspended much of its operations in Caldas and Risaralda, departments that produce about a quarter of the national crop. Exporters are rerouting through Cartagena, Santa Marta and Puerto Antioquia, but market commentary now expects Colombian supply to stay short until the main harvest arrives in November.

Why it matters: Fresh-crop washed Colombians will be scarcer and more expensive this autumn, so lock in favourite lots early or lean on Central American and Peruvian alternatives for a few months.

Publication date unknown · collected Sep 5, 2026

harvestgreen-coffeec-market
ResearchCrop ScienceT1 · Peer-reviewed / standard

First field trial of arabica in South Florida reports 3-6 kg of cherry per tree in year three

A University of Florida IFAS team (Suela and colleagues, Tropical Research and Education Center, Homestead) planted 48 arabica seedlings of four cultivars (Fronton, Limani, Typica and Obatã) in May 2023 and tracked them through 2025, the first year the trees were mature enough for representative yield data. Average fresh-cherry yield ranged from roughly 3 to 6 kg per tree across cultivars, and the beans showed some favourable physical and chemical traits, while the paper flags climate, soil, labour and management hurdles for any commercial Florida coffee. Caveats: a single lowland subtropical site, a tiny plot, one harvest, and no reported cup scores from a calibrated panel.

Why it matters: Do not expect Florida coffee in your grinder soon, but this is the first peer-reviewed yield data for arabica grown at sea level in the continental US, and the cultivars chosen (rust-resistant Obatã, Puerto Rican Fronton and Limani) hint at what 'climate-adapted' specialty varieties may look like.

Publication date unknown · collected Sep 5, 2026

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