Here youโ€™ll find news on event cancellations, cafe closures, and what the industry is doing to do its part in these unprecedented times. Stay safe yโ€™all, and wipe down your phone.

Support These Independent Coffee Roasters From Home

You Need To Tip, Dammit

Consider Purchasing A Nice Coffee Gift Certificate

Let us know how y’all are doing. Comments are now open below.

8:20 AM PST March 17 2020

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ USA: SCA Expo in Portland, OR is still on the books for April 21 – 26:

3:30 PM PST March 15th 2020ย 

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑย The Netherlands have announced closure of all schools, cafes, restaurants and sports clubs, effective Sunday the 15th.

๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธย The Sustainable Harvest x SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos Zoom webinar has been moved to Thursday, March 19th at 10am PST. Register here.

๐Ÿ”’ย Blue Bottle Coffee announced today on Instagram that it will close all 71 of its United States cafes in response to Coronavirus. It becomes the first major US coffee company to announce a brand-wide retail closure.ย 

3:30 PM PST March 14 2020

๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท All restaurants, cafรฉs, cinemas and clubs in France will close at midnight.

View this post on Instagram

No more Holybelly for now, and for a while. Weโ€™ve got a lot of questions but zero answers. Regardless of this major blow we want to remain positive. Weโ€™re going to deal with this unprecedented situation calmly, one day at a time. For the last couple of hours weโ€™ve been literally flooded by dozens of messages of support and love from staff, customers, suppliers and our family ๐Ÿ˜˜ Sarah, Louis and myself want to thank you all very much, we are feeling loved and supported. โค๏ธ – Cโ€™est du jamais vu, on avance dans lโ€™inconnu, on a beaucoup de questions et zรฉro reponse, on va gรฉrer doucement, calmement, un jour ร  la fois โœŠ On sโ€™est fait submerger par des dizaines de messages dโ€™amour de la part du staff, des clients, des fournisseurs, de la famille ๐Ÿ˜˜ Sarah, Louis et moi on vous remercie, on se sent trรจs aimรฉs et trรจs soutenus โค๏ธ

A post shared by Holybelly 5 ๐Ÿฅž & Holybelly 19๐Ÿท (@holybellycafe) on

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israel announces a five-week shutdown of all coffee shops, malls, and restaurants.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain imposes a nationwide shutdown.

2:10 PM PST March 14 2020

๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธย On Monday, March 16thย Thursday, March 19th at 10am PST join Sustainable Harvest online for a live webinar featuring SCA President Yannis Apostolopoulos, co-hosted by SustHarv CEO David Griswold and Chief Coffee Officer Jorge Cuevas. They’ll be discussing the impact Coronavirus will have on upcoming coffee events around the world, including SCA events in Poland, Melbourne and Portland and SustHarv’s MVP event series. This webinar is free, register here via Zoom.

1:35 PM PST March 13, 2020

๐Ÿšจ The United States declares a National Emergency.

๐Ÿšซ New York City’s The Wing spaces will temporarily shut through March.

๐Ÿšซ All nineteen of Danny Meyer’s Union Station Hospitality Group NYC restaurants are now closed.

9:16 AM PST March 13, 2020

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ SCA announces World of Coffee postponed. “Today, we are announcing an agreement with our partners at PTAK Warsaw Expo to postpone World of Coffee to October 15โ€“17, 2020, the only dates available in 2020.” Read more.

๐Ÿฆ Portland? “We continue our conversations with our partners at the Oregon Convention Center (OCC) and Travel Portland to review options for postponing Re:co Symposium and the Specialty Coffee Expo. The state of Oregon has canceled public gatherings of over 250 people until April 8. We will continue to share updates on our website as they become available.” Read more.

12:15 PM PST March 12, 2020

๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ปย El Salvador imposes a national quarantine prohibiting foreigners from entering for 30 days.

๐Ÿšจย Effective immediately, Counter Culture Coffee isย temporarily suspendingย all public Tasting @ Ten events and monthly Catalog Cuppings until further notice.

6:27 AM PST March 12, 2020

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Amsterdam Coffee Festival has been postponed. Originally scheduled to take place this weekend, March 13-15, the event has been pushed back and new dates will be announced soon.

6:30 PM PST March 11, 2020

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บย Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) postponed until November 3-6, 2020. SCA is waiting for an update from the Oregon Convention Center and Travel Portland re: SCA Expo in Portland, Oregon.

SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos writes:

3:55 PM PST March 11, 2020

๐ŸดStarbucks Coffeeย among many coffee chains temporarily banning personal cups and many self-serve coffee stationsย are shutting down. California’s Caffe Luxeย announces updated sick pay and ordering policies.

๐ŸงตA wee thread:

๐Ÿฆ “Portland is currently open for business,” – Oregon Convention Center / March 11, 2020

3:00 PM PST March 11, 2020ย 

๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ทย The Paris Cafe Festival has announced a postponement. Originally set to take place March 20-22, it will now take place June 5-7.

๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธย Sprudge contributorย and multi-year Sprudgie Award nominee Jenn Chen is asking big questions today on Twitter about the 2020 SCA Expo, still *currently* scheduled for April.

๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธย You should watch this video from Manhattan restaurateur Danny Meyer, author of Setting The Table and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group (whose properties include Joe Coffee Company).

2:30 PM PST March 11, 2020

๐Ÿšจ World Health Organization declares a global pandemic.

๐Ÿ˜ทย From the CDC: “Keeping Workplaces, Homes, Schools, or Commercial Establishments Safe” [pdf]

New safety protocols:

Upcoming events:

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK: London Coffee Festival postponed until July 23-26.

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ USA: SCA Expo in Portland, OR scheduled as planned April 21 – 26

The Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Portland, Oregon expects up to ~14,000 attendees including ~3,600 international attendees next month.

IKAWA announces it will no longer participate at SCA Expo:

 

๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany: German Barista Finals postponed

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia: Melbourne International Coffee Expo / World Barista Championship scheduled as planned May 4 – 7

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช UAE: Coffee People Dubai postponed.

Closures:

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy: Ditta Artigianleย announces closures in Florence. Country orders all shops close.

Travel:

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น Guatemala: EU travelers banned as of March 11, 2020

Have an update for us? Contact us here.

Top image ยฉ Adobe Stock / Angelina Chirkova