All About Coffee, Technology and the Corona Virus

Working remotely from a coffee shop has become a part of the daily routine for millions of people in various countries worldwide. So much so that the technology that coffee shops use to make this popular has become an important topic in its own right. However, working effectively in this environment can be a challenge for people who have never done it before. Concentrating in what can be a busy and noisy place can be very challenging for some individuals. It’s also essential to have good technology that can be relied upon to make it through the day without causing any difficulties. This article will run through a few hints and tips that can make even a total newbie an effective coffee shop worker.

Get the Right Technology

A new computer can be expensive, which often puts people off investing in the tech they require to get their job done effectively. Fortunately, many options can keep costs low and still make it easy to get work done. One of these is choosing a fully refurbished macbook pro as a laptop. Refurbished products offer all of the advantages of their brand new counterparts. Still, they are generally sold at a much lower price. This often makes it possible for consumers to afford electronic devices that would otherwise have been unavailable to them.

The principle of choosing refurbished options can also be applied to all sorts of other products, from mobile phones to tablets. This can make it possible to kit out a portable office for a surprisingly low amount of money.

Make Sure That You Can Focus

The ability to cut yourself off from the world around you and focus on the work needed is an absolutely vital part of working remotely. This can be far easier with the use of noise-cancelling headphones. These actively reduce the amount of noise that can reach your ears and make even the noisiest of environments an oasis of calm where it is a pleasure to work.

Focus is also easier if you find a coffee shop with a quiet corner where it is easy to work. It will also be possible to work much more effectively if you can be sure of finding a coffee shop with good quality wi-fi and where it is possible to be sure of getting power. Finally, reducing the stresses that go along with work generally leads to far better output.

Coffee shops are an important part of the modern world and are unlikely to disappear any time soon. People enjoy visiting coffee shops for a variety of different coffee and snacks. Catching up with friends, family, and coworkers is also part of the experience. The social nature of this activity means that fashion plays an important role in the coffee shop experience. Here are several fashion considerations.

Consider Seasonal Colours

Consider what season it is before deciding the colour of clothes. Considering seasonal clothes means that a style and colour will conform to the current trends. However, there are many seasonal choices to choose from. Personal choice and an individual’s scene should be considered when choosing a coffee shop outfit.

Sportswear for Coffee?

Some people love to wear leather, pastels, denim and cotton but what about sportswear as a popular item to wear out in public? Fashion forward people can use Aimn to buy their sportswear. Such sportswear has an air of sexiness and comfort which is sure to impress. These clothes are no longer worn only for exercise. Sportwear can also be a comfortable fashion choice that looks casual and chilled. This type of fashion will continue to be worn fashionably in the near future as it becomes more socially acceptable among casual coffee drinkers.

The Shop Policy

Sometimes the coffee shop may have some rules which affect a style choice. Some coffee shops have a “no shirt, no shoes or no service” policy. Being aware of the coffee shop rules will prevent fashion failures.

The Weather

Sometimes the choice of clothing is out of a person’s control because of the weather conditions. This is especially true when the temperature is very hot or cold. Sometimes comfort takes precedence over style. However, it is possible to have a fashionable jacket for a cool and unexpected change. The same is true for great looking clothes underneath winter styles. A fashion lover should come up with their own good balance of feeling and looking good.

Enjoying a coffee with others should be a balance between comfort, fun, and style. Seasonal, weather and shop policies should all be considered before choosing an outfit.

For many people, the first thing they think about when they get up in the morning is their cup of coffee. This trend has allowed coffee to become one of people’s favorite beverages regardless of occupation and in some places, age. As of 2015, coffee was the second most sort after commodity globally after crude oil. According to Business Insider the global coffee industry is estimated to be worth about £89 billion globally. Also, it is worth noting that at least 500 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year, 14 billion of which are espressos originating from Italy.

Suppliers vs Consumer Countries

In as much as developed countries have more significant numbers when it comes to coffee consumption, a considerable percentage of its production is tracked back to developing companies, mostly South America and African countries. The world’s biggest coffee importers include the UK, the US, Austria, Italy, France, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Spain and France.

A total of 50 countries grow coffee, that is, in Asia, South America, Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. 67% of the total production comes from American countries. The industry has been a source of livelihood for more than 20 million people globally, and it’s a source of at least 75% of America’s caffeine. This percentage significantly exceeds any other source of caffeine such as tea, energy drinks or soda.

The Origins of Coffee

Coffee is mostly obtained from three types of beans. These are Robusta, Arabica and green coffee. For a long time, it was more of Robusta and Arabica until people started being more mindful of healthy living when green coffee started showing significant growth of interest. Brazil is the largest green coffee producer in the world, while Indonesia, Ethiopia and Vietnam follow it closely.

Robusta is mostly produced in Central and Western Africa, Brazil and Southeast Asia. East Africa, Asia, Latin America and Arabia are the key producers of Arabica Coffee.

The rise of Niche Coffee Consumers and Consumption per Country

As of 2018 the overall growth of coffee was expected to drastically grow in Panama, Senegal, Kenya, the US and China as more niche coffee shops find their way around the community’s retail markets.

European countries are the most significant coffee consumers. The Netherlands is number one on the list with 260.4 liters per capita, followed by Finland, Canada, and Sweden. If you are a keen follower of the coffee markets, you probably have come across company names such as Kraft Heinz Inc., J.M. Smucker Company, Nestle S.A., Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks Corporation.

If all factors remained constant, the coffee industry should be able to grow thanks to urbanization which has led to an increase in coffee demand.

Even as coffee continues to spread widely across the globe, its origin is often traced back to Ethiopia. In the 16th century, it was a famous attention and concentration booster in the Middle East. London witnessed a social revolution led by women, and coffee was the leading cause.

Goats and Coffee

An ancient tale talks of how coffee was discovered by a lonely goat herder in Ethiopia, around the ninth century, when he noticed some excitement in his goats after eating the berries. He confided his discovery to the abbot of a local monastery who came up with the idea of making a beverage out of the beans when dried. The monks in the area started to realize that the drink kept them awake as they prayed for long hours, and so they spread the word. Soon the popularity of the beverage grew across the peninsula.

Ghothul Akbar Nooruddin also claimed to have discovered the berry during his visits in Ethiopia. He first noticed the berries from several birds that fed on them and upon trying some, he noted the unusual nice effect it created.

Coffee and Islam

Though there have been many studies performed on the beverage, there isn’t much clarity on which part of Africa could be attributed to its origin. With time, coffee became a celebrated drink among Muslims. It was highly associated with Muhammad’s birthday as the Muslims believed he brought them the drink through archangel Gabriel to replace the forbidden wine.

Some scholars trace the knowledge and drinking of coffee to the 15th century. Safi Imam Muhammad Ibn Said Al Dhabhani used to import goods from Ethiopia to Yemen. Haines, a colonial administrator, imported some of the coffee from Berbera based merchants. Later, the British captured and controlled Aden around the 19th century and so controlled the coffee trade as well.

As of the 16th century, coffee was a popular choice in Egypt, Turkey, Persia and Syria. As pilgrims visited Mecca for religious reasons, they interacted with the ‘wine of Araby’ and soon spread it all over the world, especially during Muslim ceremonies. Surprisingly, coffee was also considered a forbidden drink by the zealots of different religions due to its alcohol-like effect. In 1511, scholars and jurists met in Mecca with an attempt to ban coffee drinking. Some early communities even named it ‘the devil’s cup.

Even with the many myths and religious misconceptions of the beverage, coffee has come a long way in recent years. The 20th and 21st century have experienced significant growth in coffee distribution, mostly thanks to popular coffee chains, restaurants, and brands. Lately, independent coffee distributors are also making a killing in the industry. A significant percentage of this growth is related to technological factors.

Firstly, customer convenience and experience has dramatically improved, thanks to technology. People pick up a cup of coffee on the go as they head to work, which means that services need to be offered at high speed to satisfy a customer. Ordering and payments also need to keep up with the pace. With messaging software such as Apple’s iBeacon, Starbucks has been able to remain relevant in its marketing campaigns that have led to better coffee sales. With the chain’s own app, ordering and paying for drinks is also faster and less intrusive. This comes at a time when mobile payments are rising at a very fast rate, meaning that more people will need reputable and secure mobile payment methods to keep up with financial transactional changes.

Technology is also proving to be quite impactful outside the shops and cafes. Third Wave is a coffee movement seeking to raise coffee’s prestige to a level as high as wine. This movement uses technology such as Cropster to collect and share data that tracks its production line. It is then used to perform quality analysis from seed to cup. Such technological changes will help bridge a cultural gap between farmers and roasters, especially when farmers start to realize the kind of value increase it can cause.

Technology and the coffee industry are moving closer together, thanks to IBM’s Thank My App. This app allows IBM to coordinate with coffee makers to help track sourcing and the entire production chain. Using the app, consumers can track and learn more about coffee movement from the farmer to the cup and even directly support the farmer. It helps make communication along the coffee production chain much more straightforward.

History of the Project

This platform was a project under the IBM Blockchain. Organizations such as the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), Beyers Koffie, Sucafina, RGC coffee, among others were significant contributors to the success of the project. Blockchain uses a transparent and distributed ledger which makes cryptocurrencies possible. With such secure identification on products, problems such as counterfeiting and fraud will be handled easily.

According to IBM, with more people taking coffee, and more bodies securing distribution certificates, many farmers are still not getting as many profits as they ought to. This is mostly because of insufficient or lack of accountability and knowledge. The coffee supply chain is too large, which makes it hard to trace it from both ends. Hopefully, IBM’s food trust will help bridge such gaps.

Over 3 billion people use mobile phones globally with China, India and the US being the leading countries with the highest number of mobile phone users. With such a vast distribution of mobile technology, it is impressive how mobile technology can be used, especially in the coffee industry. The best part is that even developing countries are not being left behind.

Coffee farmers and mobile technologies

Getting farmers to onboard technology in this industry has not been easy. Hopefully, as innovators continue to persist, and the benefits become more evident, more farmers will support different technologies. This resistance is more so as a result of the age gap, which tells why younger farmers are more adaptive to change compared to their older counterparts.

A great example of how mobile technology can be of use with coffee farming is the app by WeatherSafe, which helps coffee farmers gain essential information on climate changes. Since this is an aspect that significantly affects coffee harvest, cooperatives, the government and researchers can help farmers prepare accordingly using the app and a corresponding software available to higher institutions.