By HEATHER WARD Let’s focus for a moment on the retailer segment of the industry. Perhaps you can think back to a conversation you have had with a friend at a coffee event. You and your friend both own a coffee shop and the conversation may have gone something like this: Your friend tells you she …
By PETER GIULIANO UPDATE: This survey has now closed. Thanks to the hundreds of SCA members and friends around the world who contributed. It is our desire to focus our research agenda on topics that are relevant, valuable, and useful to our members and to the larger Specialty Coffee community. To that end, the SCA …
By KIM ELENA IONESCU According to a 2016 report commissioned by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the Global Coffee Platform, and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, the global coffee industry spends $350 million USD each year on sustainability initiatives directed at coffee producers. In addition to that total figure, the Coffee Sustainability Catalogue, which is based …
By IMANE BOUZIDI and ANTONY WATSON Whether at home, in a coffee shop or in the workplace, our surroundings also have a big impact on where and when we choose to savor the moment. Although personal preferences may differ, we all recognize the range of factors that influence our purchasing decisions when it comes to coffee. …
Coffee undergoes a series of complex chemical physics from the moment it’s picked to the time it’s brewed and consumed. In this episode of the SCA Podcast from the 2017 Specialty Coffee Expo, Dr. Christopher Hendon discusses the chemical physics that impact the flavor, extraction, and consistency of brewed coffee. Dr. Hendon talks about improving …
By HEATHER WARD Specialty coffee consumption in the U.S. is growing, and this year there has been a significant increase in daily specialty coffee drinkers. Furthermore, over the last 18 years, the number of daily specialty coffee drinkers has consistently increased, strengthening the consumer demand for specialty coffee. Let’s take a closer look at the …
By HEATHER WARD We know the global coffee market is big, but how big? There are many methods and techniques that can help us quantify the market, including collecting numbers on production, imports/exports, consumption, market sizes of coffee shops, and retail values. The first step in establishing good global data is to take a step …
In this episode of the SCA Podcast from the 2017 Specialty Coffee Expo, Dr. Maya Zuniga provides an introduction to sensory science and the role it plays in the coffee industry. Dr. Zuniga explains how sensory analysis was used to build the coffee flavor wheel and lexicon, and how these tools can be used to …
As part of its mission, the SCA is actively involved in sustainability and looks to its members to take leadership roles in sustainable practices within the specialty coffee sector. With this in mind, the Sustainability Award was created in 2004 to promote, encourage and honor the efforts of those serving as role models through sustainable …
By ANTONY WATSON for Issue 2 of 25 Magazine More than 300 years ago, what we now call the Age of Enlightenment was heralded by the advent of coffee houses across Asia Minor and Europe. In London, they became centers of innovation as customers, for the price of a penny, could gain access to a …