If you want to know what it feels like to experience deja vu and see double in one day, call up the McDonald's corporate office. 17 years after the Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain lost landmark tort case Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants and was forced to pay $160,000 to a woman who was scalded by its coffee, the fast food giant has been targeted by not one, but two more hot coffee lawsuits. Chicago Business reports that, oddly, both suits were filed last Thursday in a court in Cook County, Ill., which comprises Chicago and its environs. One case involved a four-year-old girl, Lynn Abdelal, who was given a cup of blisteringly hot coffee to give to her grandma, and suffered a second-degree burn when its lid fell off. Her grandmother had not intended for her to carry coffee in the first place; she had asked her granddaughter to throw away the empty cup. Part of the complaint -- which asks for $4 million in damages -- is based on the fact that the McDonald's employee
2012-04-01 13:08:48 UTC
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They seek it here, they seek it there. Cafe culture is everywhere. Every Canberra suburb boasts one. Commuters are seen carrying plastic cups to their workplaces. Hip politicians are seen carrying their brew into party room meetings. Few can do without this heart-starter. Our economy, the human capital part of it at least, is powered by gallons of caffeine. Business deals and networks are forged over a cup of coffee. ''Having a coffee'' is where one meets a prospective partner. For others, wanting time out from the rat-race, $3.50 will do the trick. Those who need their fix at home can turn on one of those automatic expresso coffee machines, one of the most popular Christmas gifts last year. The enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee pervades shopping strips and malls. Even walking through the portals of many Australian university libraries one is greeted by it. Students queue up for their flat white or cappuccino between
2012-03-31 07:19:19 UTC
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Although earlier studies had linked coffee to an increased risk for psoriasis, a large new study finds no such evidence. Psoriasis is a common skin condition that causes skin redness and irritation. Most people with psoriasis have areas of thick, red skin with flaky, silver-white patches called scales. "Our hypothesis was whether caffeine would lower the risk of psoriasis because there are hypotheses in the past that caffeine might be an anti-inflammatory," said lead author Dr. Abrar Qureshi, an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "However, we found there was no association between coffee intake and the risk of psoriasis," he said. These findings agree with other studies that found no association between coffee and this skin condition, the researchers noted. The reason that there has been an association of psoriasis with coffee may have to do with
2012-03-30 12:51:06 UTC
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Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world, so when big trends come along that shake the dynamics of this industry, investors need to tune in. The two biggest trends to be aware of right now are single-serve brews and falling commodity prices. The former was brought to its current zenith by Vermont-based brewer Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and it's not done growing. 35% of single-serve brewers were sold in the past six months. Unfortunately for Green Mountain, the party may be over as other companies are starting to come out with their own comparable devices, specifically frienemy Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX). The other must-watch trend is falling Arabica coffee prices. Arabica is the higher-quality, more expensive bean compared with robusta beans. This creates opportunity for expanding margins or lower end-prices for coffee brewers. Starbucks likely stands to benefit the most, as it was able to successfully pass along higher prices when Arabica beans recently
2012-03-30 12:49:44 UTC
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The latest retreat in arabica coffee prices signals the tightly supplied coffee market is not running out of beans yet, but the outlook for sub-optimal harvests and faster consumption indicate that by next season it could come close. A tour of coffee areas in the world's top arabica grower, Brazil, showed a good but sub-optimal crop on the way. But in Colombia, output has dropped sharply and poor harvests have become almost a chronic problem. On the demand side, things remain tight, with stocks in the United States and Europe totaling just about a month's worth of global demand. Despite the tight market, prices of coffee futures on ICE have been hovering near a 17-month low hit on March 12. "There is a bit of supply available but you have a deficit year coming so we have to be awfully careful here and not be too bearish," said Eric Nadelberg, Senior Vice President at Jefferies Bache, LCC in New York. "There is not a lot of coffee and as we move forward this will
2012-03-27 20:01:40 UTC
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A large Brazil coffee harvest will keep coffee futures prices in a range of $1.80 to $2 per lb for the next six months at least as the market eyes a large Brazil harvest, the head of Italian coffee roaster Illycaffe said in Sao Paulo on Thursday. Andrea Illy said he expected coffee production from Brazil's upcoming 2012/13 coffee crop to reach 55 million 60-kg bags, the same estimate he had given late last year for the harvest in the world's top coffee producer that starts in around two months. "Brazil's harvest will be good in terms of quality and quantity," Illy said. The consensus among exporters and analysts is for a large harvest this year, but one likely to be smaller than the last 'on year' crop of 2010/11 due to two prolonged dry spells during the crop's development. The 2012/13 harvest is in an on-year, in which trees' output surges in between years when trees recover by producing less. The previous 'on year' in 2010/11 turned out
2012-03-27 09:19:35 UTC
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"Colombian (coffee) exporters have been hard hit by the appreciation of our currency and the weakening of the dollar," said Luis Genaro Munoz, head of the coffee federation, during an event in the province of Huila, which recently overtook Antioquia to become Colombia's top coffee-producing region. "We are sure that government representatives in the central bank received the instructions to revise the effectiveness" of raising rates, he added during the inauguration of a mill with capacity to process 400,000 60-kg bags. The Colombian peso has appreciated 9.35 percent so far this year and 6.7 percent in the last 12 months driven partly by the strong foreign direct investment. The Andean country is the world's top producer of high-quality Arabica beans. The central bank in February raised its benchmark interest rate for the second consecutive month, boosting the lending rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent. The next rate-setting meeting is Friday.
2012-03-26 15:09:11 UTC
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What if a sustained focus on safety changed everything in a sagging business? That's what happened at Alcoa, when Paul O'Neill took over in 1987 and it's one of the most fascinating chapters in the "The Power of Habit -- Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business," a book by New York Times writer Charles Duhigg. Investors at an initial meeting with O'Neill were confused when he started talking about worker safety. At the meeting, some started asking the usual questions about inventories and capital. One analyst immediately called his clients and suggested they sell the stock. "I'm not certain you heard me," Duhigg wrote, quoting O'Neill. "If you want to understand how Alcoa is doing, you need to look at our workplace safety figures. If we bring our injury rates down, it won't be because of cheerleading or the nonsense you sometimes hear from other CEOs. It will be because the individuals at this company have agreed to become part of something important: They've devoted
2012-03-26 10:06:45 UTC
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After CEO Howard Schultz acknowledged four years ago that Starbucks had lost its edge, the company heads into its shareholders meeting Wednesday with its stock high and a recovery stronger than many expected. In the four years since Howard Schultz swooped in to rescue it, Starbucks has grown up. Back then, with the stock and housing markets bombed and people eating meals and drinking coffee more at home, Starbucks' future was in question. Sales were sliding, and the stock sank so low that the Colombian National Coffee Growers Federation called for coffee-producing nations to make a bid for it. Shortly after returning as CEO, Schultz stood before shareholders drawn and contrite. "We have kind of lost our edge," he said at the company's March 2008 annual meeting. "I promise you, this will not stand." He was right on both counts. Starbucks ultimately closed nearly 1,000 cafes worldwide and slashed tens of thousands of jobs. It spruced up remaining stores and lowered the cost of
2012-03-26 09:01:52 UTC
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A Global Conference on Women in Agriculture has called for ergonomically designed agricultural implements to reduce drudgery of farm women. The three-day conference which began here yesterday is being jointly organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (AAPARI). About 450 participants including researchers, academicians, research and development managers, experts and women innovators from more than 50 foreign countries are attending the conference. Addressing the conference Smt. Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand suggested for specially focused capacity building programmes for women in agriculture to refine skills with appropriate technologies. She said, women should be empowered with farm knowledge through distance education, community radio and other effective means. She suggested that laws banning women from performing operations like stone breaking, pulling carts,
2012-03-26 08:54:01 UTC
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"Colombian (coffee) exporters have been hard hit by the appreciation of our currency and the weakening of the dollar," said Luis Genaro Munoz, head of the coffee federation, during an event in the province of Huila, which recently overtook Antioquia to become Colombia's top coffee-producing region. "We are sure that government representatives in the central bank received the instructions to revise the effectiveness" of raising rates, he added during the inauguration of a mill with capacity to process 400,000 60-kg bags. The Colombian peso has appreciated 9.35 percent so far this year and 6.7 percent in the last 12 months driven partly by the strong foreign direct investment. The Andean country is the world's top producer of high-quality Arabica beans. The central bank in February raised its benchmark interest rate for the second consecutive month, boosting the lending rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent. The next rate-setting meeting is Friday.
2012-03-21 11:02:19 UTC
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The Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) 24th Annual Exposition & Symposium will be held in Portland, Oregon this April 19-22, 2012. At the annual Exposition thousands of coffee professionals from more than 40 countries will converge at the Oregon Convention Center to focus on specialty coffee, learn about the latest innovational trends and products in the coffee marketplace, and engage with fellow industry professionals for the ultimate purpose of delivering a better experience for coffee drinkers. Locally based Event sponsors and SCAA member companies have events planned around the city to celebrate the first time the Exposition has come to Portland. The 2012 Host sponsor, Boyds Coffee, will be hosting a guided tour of their expansive roasting facility. "We're thrilled that the SCAA has chosen Portland as the host city and Boyds Coffee as the host sponsor," said Katy Boyd Dutt, Director of Marketing. "Portland is well known as one of the best coffee cities --
2012-03-20 23:16:55 UTC
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