Monday Morning Coffee News

Happy Monday! It was a bit of a slow week in the coffee world: A recently released study linked coffee intake in women to a lower risk of developing endometrial cancer, Starbucks announced plans to add coconut milk as a non-diary alternative in stores, and Keurig Green Mountain announced its slightly disappointing fiscal first quarter results for 2015.

A recent study published in the current issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention has identified what researchers say is a positive link between women who drink coffee and a lowered risk of developing endometrial cancer (cancer in the lining of the uterus). The study, which looked at the dietary intake of participants from two large ongoing studies and used a “nutrient-wide association study” approach focusing on the dietary habits of more than 2,800 women diagnosed with endometrial cancer, found a lowered risk of approximately 18% for developing endometrial cancer in women who drank upwards of 4 cups of coffee a day. Although the results of the study did indicate an inverse relationship between coffee intake and endometrial cancer risk, it didn’t differentiate between regular and decaf coffee, although it did appear that it wasn’t caffeine that lead to the effect (since looking at the data from other caffeinated food items didn’t yield the same results). Further studies are needed. – With all the studies coming out that seem to indicate drinking coffee may lead to lower chances of developing certain kinds of cancer, I’m really excited to see what they may find out next.

Starting February 17th, a new non-dairy alternative to dairy and soy will be available at Starbucks stores in the U.S. : coconut milk. The idea of coconut milk as a third option came straight from customers, who made it the second most asked for request at MyStarbucksIdea.com. Customizing a beverage by substituting in Starbucks Single Origin Sumatra Coconut Milk will set customers back an additional 60 cents. – I think it’s great that Starbucks is listening to their customers and giving them what they want, especially since some people can’t drink dairy or soy, so this third option will definitely be appreciated.

Keurig Green Mountain announced its fiscal first quarter results for 2015, and they were slightly disappointing. According to President and CEO, Brian Kelley, “Revenue came in below our expectations primarily due to a weaker than expected holiday season for brewers, including the effect of the voluntary recall on certain MINI Plus brewers, and greater than expected retailer portion pack inventory reductions.” There’s been some speculation that the addition of DRM technology to the company’s new Keurig 2.0 brewer, which only allows the usage of licensed K-Cups sold by the company and it’s partners, may be the reason for the low sales. – I really think they bit themselves in the butt with the DRM thing. I got a Keurig 2.0 for Christmas, and while I loved the ability to make full carafes of coffee for my holiday guests, I was extremely disappointed to realize the new brewer doesn’t work with any reusable coffee filters currently on the market, so I have to use my old brewer for my specialty coffees. I’ve also noticed stores by me are now selling much fewer K-Cup packs then before – the coffee aisle at my local Target use to be predominantly K-Cups with few rows of coffee sold in bags or containers, I went yesterday and noticed it’s a pretty even split now:1/3 K-Cups, 1/3 bagged specialty coffee, and 1/3 large containers (either cans or plastic tubs) of big brands like Folgers.