By Ben Corey-Moran, Fair Trade USA Farmworkers are the backbone of coffee production. These women, men—and yes, sometimes children—are the labor force that drives coffee production, yet they toil behind the curtain of our industry’s awareness. In the well-worn hands of an estimated four million farmworkers rests the promise of great coffee, the hope for industry …
By Shawn Steiman, PhD There are times in life when you want confirmation that the contents of a package really match what is advertised on the outside of the package. Is the olive oil really from Italy? Is the sparkling wine really from Champagne? Is it truly Manuka honey? The reason we want to know these …
TJ Semanchin (left) & Caleb Nicholes (right), co-owners of Kickapoo Coffee Roasters What makes Kickapoo Coffee Roasters special? Our business is situated in the small progressive town of Viroqua (pop. 4500) in rural Wisconsin. Our county is home to more quality-focused organic farms per capita than anywhere else in the country. Living here has certainly …
The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has designated October 1st as International Coffee Day. This is a day for celebrating coffee in all its diversity, appreciating the passion that coffee creates, as well as taking the opportunity to inform consumers about coffee as a product. Let’s celebrate coffee together on this day, (and every day, of course)! Do …
So often in our niche specialty coffee circles, we talk about the experience of coffee. We wonder whether we are providing our customers with the best, most authentic specialty coffee experience. We muse on the benefits or drawbacks of certain cafe layouts, and how each will improve or detract from the consumer’s experience, or how these …
As part of its mission, SCAA is actively involved in issues related to sustainability, and looks to its members to take leadership roles in sustainable practices. With this in mind, the Sustainability Council created the Sustainability Award in 2003 to promote, encourage, and honor the efforts of those serving as role models in fields of sustainability. …
The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) has announced the selection of Kim Elena Ionescu as its new Director of Sustainability. Ionescu will be the first to hold the new role within the organization, which was created as part of a larger effort to grow SCAA’s work in the sustainability sector. “We are very pleased …
By Willy Foote, Root Capital For decades, SCAA members have made significant investments that support the millions of farmers at the heart of the global coffee market. These investments have helped strengthen livelihoods, conserve the environment, improve quality, and promote women’s empowerment and gender equality. Yet something’s still missing. Past efforts have too often failed to …
by Kimberly Easson, Coffee Quality Institute You’ve probably been hearing a lot about gender equity and women’s empowerment, and it’s no coincidence, since the development world has been highlighting the importance of this issue in global development circles. Statistics are impressive for both the challenge and the opportunity. For example, these data are taken from the …
By Michael Sheridan I have been living at origin and working with coffee growers since 2007. I started blogging about my work in the coffeelands on behalf of Catholic Relief Services in 2009. The next year, I began publishing an annual review of “origin content” of The SCAA Event, under the title: “The view from …