Is George Howell Coffee owned by Starbucks?
George Howell is a bonafide coffee legend. His original shop, Coffee Connection, was bought by Starbucks in 1994—putting a giddy-up in the corporation’s expansion to Boston—and Howell is widely thought of as the forefather of “third wave” coffee. Read here. George Howell is popularly referred to as the grandfather of the specialty coffee movement. His dedication to coffee is unparalleled, with a career spanning almost fifty years. In 1974, he founded The Coffee Connection which grew to 24 locations in the Northeast before it was sold to Starbucks in 1994.
Why is George Howell coffee so expensive?
Commodity-grade coffee prices have reached historic highs, currently hovering around double what they were a year ago. This surge has affected prices across all coffee qualities. The primary drivers are the rapid growth in global coffee consumption—led by China—and climate change. Kopi is traditionally brewed using robusta coffee beans instead of arabica beans that are preferred in the West. Traditionally, Singapore kopi features robusta beans that are roasted with margarine or butter and sugar.The high price of kopi luwak coffee is largely due to the traditional ways it is produced. Production takes a lot of time and energy, with farmers often looking on land and in forests for suitable beans.