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Cook County Sheriff’s Office photo.

Illinois Sheriff Seizes $100,000 in Allegedly Stolen Wawa Coffee

The Cook County Sheriff’s Department announced on Facebook that it has recovered about 12 tons of stolen Wawa coffee from a Melrose Park warehouse. According to a FOX 32 Chicago report, authorities say suspects tried to extort the company by demanding payment.

Miami’s Panther Coffee to Close Sunset Harbour Location

Beloved Miami specialty coffee roaster/retailer Panther Coffee announced the company is closing its Sunset Harbour location after 13 years due to a failed negotiation for a new lease. An Instagram post said the company is closing the shop neither “by choice” nor “by failure.” The post states, “One lesson already feels clear, and it stays as unsolicited advice for other small business owners: be choosy when it comes to a landlord. The role it plays in a small business’s longevity cannot be understated.”

Oregon Roasters Backporch and Thump Merging

Oregon roasters Backporch Coffee Roasters and Thump Coffee say they will merge under a new parent company starting Jan. 1, with the brands continuing under their existing names while sharing back-end resources.

Colombian Women Gain Ground in Coffee, but Barriers Persist

A Bloomberg feature says more Colombian women are running farms, forming cooperatives and launching boutique brands, yet structural hurdles such as limited credit access still restrict broader gains.

Tehran’s Cafe Boom Driven by Youth

In a New Lines Magazine feature, Iranian journalist Fateme Karimkhan reports that cafe culture in Tehran has become both an economic opportunity and a social release valve for young people, even as authorities scrutinize spaces that resemble nightlife.

Ethiopian and Chinese Officials Meet at Coffee Trade Conference

Representatives of Ethiopia and China met for an inaugural bilateral coffee trade conference in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, and launched the Ethiopia Coffee China Trading Center. The facility is designed to boost Ethiopian coffee’s presence in the Chinese market, according to an Addis Standard report.

Puerto Rico Bill Proposes Coffee Tourism Route

Puerto Rico Sen. Jeison Rosa-Ramos has introduced Senate Bill 878 to create a “Coffee Tourism Route and Coffee Haciendas of Puerto Rico,” positioning coffee as an agro-tourism driver across 22 municipalities,according to a TTW report.

Happy Bear Coffee Company Coming to Philly Navy Yard

Happy Bear Coffee Company, an online specialty coffee retailer, has signed a lease for its first brick-and-mortar location at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, a flagship cafe and curated wine bar slated to open in early 2026, according to an announcement from the property developers.

Current Crop Roasting Shop Adds In-Store Espresso Bar in New Orleans

Current Crop Roasting Shop, the brick-and-mortar offshoot of Coffee Bean Corral, has launched an espresso bar. “This has been one of our most-requested additions since we opened,” said Current Crop’s director of product and programs, Catherine Mansell.

NJ Students Turn School Project Into Coffee Pod Recycling Startup

Three students at High Technology High School in Monmouth County have launched Coffee Pod Recycling Co., built around a patent-pending, 3D-printed “Coffee Pod Recycler” designed to separate single-serve pods into compostable and recyclable components for Keurig and Nespresso-style capsules.

New from CoffeeIndustryJobs.com

• Territory Sales Manager: New England — Numilk
• Territory Sales Manager: Northern California — Numilk
• Sales & Marketing Manager — JNP Coffee
• Roasting Team Member — Counter Culture Coffee
• Green Coffee Specialist — Tata Consumer Products
• Business Development Manager, Commercial (Equipment; Away-from-Home) — Melitta North America, Inc.
• Business Development Manager, Canada [Equipment (Away-from-Home)] — Melitta North America, Inc.
• Vice President, Business Development – At-Home — Melitta North America, Inc.
• Logistics Coordinator — Neumann Gruppe USA
• Regional Team – Sales & Business Development — Counter Culture Coffee
• Coffee Buyer — Counter Culture Coffee

ICYMI

Here are some of DCN’s top stories from the past week…

2025 Year in Review: Green Coffee and Policy Whiplash

For the majority of 2025, producers, traders and buyers of green coffee have suffered collective whiplash due to radical policy changes affecting the global coffee trade, amid enduring threats such as climate change… read more

2025 Year in Review: Coffee Science

Coffee research in 2025 ran the gamut from farm-level survival to consumer-side marketing trickery. Naturally, coffee also continued to be a major focus among medical researchers, with primarily good news on that front… read more

Here Are 26 New Roasters to Support in 2026

2025 was an exceptionally weird year to start a coffee roasting business in the United States… read more

2025 Year In Review: New Coffee Roasting Equipment and Tech

Roasteries large and small grew increasingly full of hot air this year, with multiple innovations emerging from makers of fluid-bed coffee roasting equipment… read more

2025 Year in Review: Best of ‘Design Details’

In 2025, some of the most memorable coffee-centered design projects were clearly built around the feelings designers wanted to inspire among guests — comfort and belonging, wonder and spectacle, clarity and calm… read more

Best of ‘Three Questions’ 2025: Conversations with Coffee Innovators

Some coffee careers start the “classic” way — behind a bar, learning the rhythm of service and operations… read more

2025 Year In Review: Coffee Accessories