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Weekly Coffee News: new IWCA chapters + Plastic in Retail agreement. Welcome to DCN's Weekly Coffee News! Subscribe here for all the latest coffee industry news. Also, check out the latest career opportunities at CoffeeIndustryJobs.com. IWCA Global Adds Three New Chapters The International Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA) has added BeNeLux, France and Ghana as new chapters, bringing the global network to 40 chapters. The additions follow chapter-signing activity during World of Coffee Brussels, where IWCA hosted events with chapter representatives from throughout the coffee value chain. Mago Maga Launches Kickstarter for Roma-X Home Roaster Chinese home roasting equipment brand Mago Maga is launching the Roma-X, its third-generation AI home coffee roaster, on Kickstarter. See DCN's full feature on the Roma-X. South Korea Signs Plastic-Reduction Agreement With Cafe Chains South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment has signed an agreement with coffee chains, fast-food companies, bakeries and independent cafes to reduce single-use plastics across approximately 22,000 stores. The participating businesses are expected to promote reusable cups, offer personal-cup discounts, limit automatic distribution of straws and avoid hard-to-recycle packaging structures, with detailed store-level plans scheduled to begin in September. NAMA Opens Coffee Legend Nominations The National Automatic Merchandising Association is accepting nominations for its 2026 Coffee Legend of the Year Award through Aug. 17. The award honors at least a decade of leadership and contributions to the coffee service industry, with the recipient to be recognized at CTW, taking place Nov. 18-19 in Austin, Texas. Reuters: Nicaragua Tensions Could Affect U.S. Coffee Prices Reuters reported that U.S. coffee prices could face added pressure if Washington responds to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's move to end elections with trade restrictions or tariffs. The report noted that the United States buys 35% of Nicaragua's coffee exports, while U.S. retail coffee prices averaged $9.45 per pound in June. Gia Lai Approves US$12.4 Million AI Coffee Institute Officials in Vietnam's Gia Lai province have approved a 326 billion VND (approximately US$12.4 million) investment in the AI Coffee Research and Development Institute - Gia Lai project, according to state news agency TTXVN. The project is expected to support coffee variety trials, seedling production, sample analysis, AI-based pest monitoring and farmer/business training, with official operations targeted for the fourth quarter of 2028. Logan, Utah-based Cache Coffee and More and one of its owners are facing a federal copyright lawsuit over the alleged use of a protest photograph in used marketing. The lawsuit was filed July 13 by a photographer in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, alleging copyright infringement tied to a photograph from a "No Kings" protest, according to court records and Utah Public Radio. WDIV Opens Fourgrounds Coffee and Newsroom Concept Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV Local 4 has opened Fourgrounds, a coffee shop and satellite newsroom in downtown Plymouth, Michigan. The public-facing concept, created in partnership with Great Lakes Coffee, is designed as both a cafe and a community media hub for local news coverage. Luckin Coffee Shows AI Retail System at WAIC China's Luckin Coffee presented its AI-Powered Ecosystem and broader digital-intelligence strategy at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. The company said the initiative includes technology and supply-chain partners such as Alibaba Cloud, Baidu AI Cloud, Huawei Cloud, Tencent Cloud, VolcEngine and Amazon Web Services. Smart Care Names President/CFO and Chief People Officer Chicago-based Smart Care Solutions has appointed Veronica Lubatkin as president and chief financial officer and Jenna Susanke as chief people officer, effective immediately. The foodservice equipment, specialty coffee and beverage, refrigeration and HVAC service company said both executives will report to CEO James Mylett. * Cafe Manager / Retail Lead - Corvus Coffee Roasters * Shop Manager - Needmore Coffee Roasters * Green Coffee Procurement - Melitta North America, Inc. * Café Manager (NOC 60030) - Coffee Mill Canada LTD Icymi. Here are some of DCN's top stories from the past week...

Smart Care Solutions names new President & Chief Financial Officer and Chief People Officer to accelerate growth and operational performance. CHICAGO-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Smart Care Solutions ("Smart Care"), the nation's leading provider of comprehensive hot & cold side foodservice equipment, specialty coffee and beverage, standalone refrigeration, complex rack refrigeration, cold storage, and HVAC, today announced two senior leadership appointments effective immediately. Veronica Lubatkin has joined as President and Chief Financial Officer, and Jenna Susanke as Chief People Officer, reporting to Chief Executive Officer James Mylett. Ms. Lubatkin brings significant experience scaling complex, multi-location service businesses. Most recently, she served as Chief Financial Officer of RailWorks, the largest rail transportation, construction and maintenance services organization in North America, where she led finance, enterprise risk management and I.T. organization including the ERP implementation across a $1 billion revenue organization. Earlier in her career, she held financial leadership roles in the life sciences industry, including CFO of Par Pharmaceuticals and senior finance positions at Schering-Plough. She started her career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen. "As Smart Care continues to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions, having the right operational and people infrastructure in place is essential," James Mylett, Smart Care CEO Ms. Susanke joins Smart Care with more than 30 years of human capital leadership across complex, global organizations. Most recently she served as Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer at Veolia North America, a global leader in environmental services. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership and consulting roles at Philip Morris International, PepsiCo, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Aon building a track record of high-performance cultures, developing talent pipelines, and leading organizations through periods of significant transformation. "As Smart Care continues to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions, having the right operational and people infrastructure in place is essential," said James Mylett, Smart Care Chief Executive Officer. "Veronica's experience scaling large, multi-service organizations and Jenna's experience in building high-performance cultures will be instrumental as we integrate new business, deepen our customer relationships and strengthen our position as the national leader in foodservice equipment and refrigeration services." About Smart Care. Smart Care is the leading provider of comprehensive hot & cold side foodservice equipment, specialty coffee and beverage, standalone refrigeration, complex rack refrigeration, cold storage and HVAC. Smart Care's strong reputation and leading customer service is built on the foundation of a high-quality technician base, an unmatched breadth of repair and preventative maintenance services and quick response times. Smart Care operates in all 50 states and is OEM-agnostic with the ability to service more than 10,000 types of equipment for food retail, restaurants, convenience stores, warehouse operators and other institutions. Additional information about Smart Care can be found by visiting www.smartcaresolutions.com. About Wind Point Partners. Founded in 1984, Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $9 billion in assets under management. The firm's Vision, Talent, Transformation ("VTT") investment strategy focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams around a clear and exciting plan to invest behind a business to achieve transformational growth and value creation. The firm's Executive Advisor Partner ("EAP") network is comprised of more than 40 high-caliber executives who are closely aligned with Wind Point and contribute across all aspects of the firm's investment process. Wind Point targets well-positioned middle market businesses within the business services, consumer products and industrial products industries. Since inception, Wind Point has deployed ten private equity buyout funds in partnership with leading institutional investors around the world, including public pensions, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, fund of funds, and family offices. Wind Point targets well-positioned middle market businesses within the business services, consumer products and industrial products industries. Since inception, Wind Point has deployed 10 private equity buyout funds in partnership with leading institutional investors around the world, including public pensions, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, fund of funds and family offices.