By Miguel Zamora Defining what “sustainable coffee” means has been a challenge for the coffee industry. This is also an opportunity for all of us working in coffee: to define what we mean with sustainability in coffee and communicate this to our customers and consumers, while channeling our resources towards true “sustainability”. In reality, answering …
By Kim Elena Ionescu, SCAA Director of Sustainability Coffee buyers, farmers, traders and baristas are becoming more aware of the important role that farm workers play in the quality coffee trade. The Sustainability Council of the SCAA identified that farm worker vulnerability is a key threat to our industry and began to focus on this …
By Meredith Taylor Water management is a difficult issue to address in coffee-growing regions because many of the impacts tied to water pollution and shortages are often downstream from their causes—both literally and temporally. While the issues around water as it relates to coffee are complex, they fall into two basic, overlapping categories: having enough …
By Miguel Zamora The issue of farmworkers was very present at this year’s SCAA Expo. The Sustainability Council of the SCAA organized a panel to discuss some of the challenges we face as an industry in this regard. This is the third year in a row that Sustainability Council members have moderated panels to discuss farmworkers and that …
By Ashley Prentice During SCAA Expo, two excellent sessions on the cost of sustainable coffee production were presented, but why is this topic important and relevant to our industry today? As Chad Trewick best explained it in his article, Why Learn About the Cost of Production (Read Here), “The coffee industry—and not only the specialty sector, …
By Vera Espindola “Exploring the Cost of Sustainable Production,” the second in a series of Sustainability sessions during the 2016 SCAA Expo, was an opportunity to share updates and information about ongoing research on the economics of coffee production. A panel representing research partnerships presented their indicators, methodologies and early findings. Presenter 1: Pascale Schuit | …
By Felipe Croce Although I spent my holidays on our coffee farm in Mococa, Brazil when I was growing up, I didn’t begin to enjoy drinking coffee until much later in life. I didn’t like the coffee that was served at the farm, as it was dark, bitter, and flat. It wasn’t until I interned …
By Kim Elena Ionescu It is in the best interest of every single one of the millions of people who depend on coffee for a living to protect the future of our industry—yet, few of us feel like it’s our job. Sure, it’s important, and maybe even interesting, but who has the time? As the …
By Hanna Neuschwander Experts agree that climate change poses a significant threat to coffee. But what is being done about it? A panel of industry leaders convened at Re:co Symposium to discuss just how far we’ve come since climate change first appeared on our radar over a decade ago—and just how far we have left …
Greetings! For those of you I haven’t met, please let me introduce myself: my name is Kim Elena Ionescu and I am the Director of Sustainability at the Specialty Coffee Association of America. This year’s SCAA Expo draws near and all the pieces are falling into place, including defining the responsibilities of the volunteers that make this monumental undertaking …