Big Coffee Is Quietly Ditching Arabica | COFFEE BREAK

Your coffee may have changed, and nobody told you.

With green coffee prices at record highs, some of the biggest coffee brands are swapping arabica for cheaper robusta and changing their labels without saying anything. In Australia, Moccona swapped “100% arabica” for “100% coffee beans”. Coles’ Gold instant doubled in price and dropped its arabica claim. In many markets, the law doesn’t require brands to tell you which beans are in the jar.

This week we go through the ABC’s reporting. Is robusta really the villain? Is it legal? (Yes.) Is it honest? (That’s the debate.) Then we turn it on ourselves. Specialty loves to point at the supermarket aisle, but how many cafes can tell you exactly where their beans came from, who grew them and what they paid? If we want people to trust us, does specialty have to be fully traceable too?

From the supermarket shelf to your local cafe, this is your crash course in what’s really in your cup.

Read the label. Then ask questions.

COFFEE BREAK! is your weekly inside scoop into the coffee community. Everything from on-the-fly barista tips, honest and unfiltered café reviews (eek), hospitality stories and gatekept coffee secrets.

Read the ABC article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-09/coffee-brands-drop-premium-arabica-beans-in-price-squeeze/107242310

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