By Adam Kline, Atlantic Specialty Coffee Inc. As specialty coffee professionals, we know we are lucky. Lucky in many ways, but especially in that our industry has developed based on the distinction of quality over the equalizer of commercial price. We realize that our unique need to protect quality—of coffee and of life—allows us to conceptualize …
By Kristina Morris Heredia, Coffee Kids For the third year in a row, the Roasters Guild kicked off Coffee Kids’ Grow it Forward campaign to help coffee-farming families grow food, grow income and grow in self-sustainability. Through their Silent Auction during the 14th annual Roasters Guild Retreat, they raised more than $5400 for coffee-farming families. In …
by Anne Nylander, SCAA The term “professional barista” simply did not exist in coffee 30 years ago. This role in the industry was built in no small part by large coffee retailers who brought the professional barista to the masses, and baristas now grace our cafes on a daily basis. Today, baristas are often seen …
by Rosemary Trent, Pueblo a Pueblo For more than a decade, SCAA’s Sustainability Council has recognized individuals, businesses, and organizations that promote sustainability within the coffee world, selecting one each year to receive the prestigious Sustainability Award. This year’s panel received an unprecedented number of applicants representing projects that have demonstrated remarkable dedication to real and …
There’s a lot more specialty coffee coming out of Rwanda these days, and there’s a lot to love about Rwandan coffee. 25% of Rwanda’s agricultural exports consist of coffee, and in recent years, the country has made substantial investments in specialty coffee infrastructure. As a result, numerous 90+ coffees are now coming out of the …
by Lindsey Berk, Operation Groundswell “Eating is an agricultural act.” —Wendell Berry, American novelist, activist, cultural critic, and farmer We seem to have forgotten that. At least, I had forgotten that until I left my corporate job and my NYC apartment in 2011 to begin a three-year journey around Latin America and Australia. Working …
Green Guide Module 3: Waste Reduction & Recycling Module 3 offers cafe owners offers cost-effective strategies to curb the amount of waste a cafe produces. Tips cover: performing a waste audit, developing a plan, engaging your staff in the effort, recycling, composting, and much more. Available as a PDF.
This article is SCAA Collaborative Content in partnership with UTZ Certified Climate change, without a doubt, is the elephant in the room when it comes to specialty coffee. Arabica beans, with the complex web of variables affecting their quality, are known to be the “canary in the coal mine” of the changing face of agriculture. …
by Carolyn Fairman, Chief of Staff, SCAA For years now, SCAA and its member organizations have been creating greater awareness about the issue of hunger. You might ask, “What does hunger have to do with coffee?” Unfortunately, the answer is “a lot.” 800 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger—and many of them are coffee …
by Tracy Ging, Director of Sustainability, S&D Coffee Sustainability is a tricky thing to define. Much the like the term “specialty,” the more you try to define it, the more elusive the concept becomes. I’d rather leave it open-ended, and make room for the possibility that even once the right words are found, there will still …