Committee Spotlight: Meet Your SCAA Technical Standards Committee
The Technical Standards Committee is one of the longest continuously functioning volunteer committees within the SCAA. Our responsibility is to conduct research to establish specialty coffee standards and determine industry best practice for publication on behalf of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. We serve the members of the SCAA and the coffee industry as …
A World of Specialists: Coffee and Chemistry
By Christopher Hendon My interest in chemistry was sparked in 2007 when I received a copy of Luca Turin’s The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell. Turin describes his pursuits of synthesizing novel, smelly molecules, and the challenge of elucidating how humans physically detect and perceive these compounds. Among other …
People of Specialty Coffee: An Interview with Steven Lee
When did you start working in coffee? Was there a moment when you knew that you’d like to make a career out of it? I started working in the specialty coffee industry in 1996, after graduating from University with a degree in Painting & Drawing and a minor in World Comparative Literature with an emphasis on Folktales …
Carla Martin | Farm Workers: Is Labor the Next Crisis for Coffee?
Carla Martin, Founder and Executive Director of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, explores how value consolidation, historical trends, and modern economics collide in the issue of Labor in the Cacao industry, and what lessons there are for all quality and sustainability focused industries.
Addressing Gender Equity In Coffee: What Do I Need To Know?
Streamed live on Jul 26, 2016
Advocacy and Amplification of Gender Equality
By Katherine Nolte Gender equality is a human aspiration, not a women’s initiative. Imagine a world where opportunities are free from stereotypes associated with being masculine or feminine. Imagine a world where the work of a stay-at-home dad is valued equally to a career as a roaster-owner, VP trader, or senior finance professional. Imagine a world …
Kim Elena Ionescu | Farm Workers: Is Labor the Next Crisis for Coffee?
In order to understand what farmworkers in coffee are facing, it’s important to hear their experiences. In this Re:co Atlanta talk, Kim Elena Ionescu amplifies the voices of Nicaraguan coffee farmers, smallholder members of the Cinco de Junio cooperative, and workers from larger farms.
Defining Sustainability at SCAA Expo
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 …
Kim Elena Ionescu | Introduction to Farm Workers: Is Labor the Next Crisis for Coffee?
Kim Elena Ionescu, Director of Sustainability at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), opens up the Farm Workers session of Re:co Symposium in Atlanta, GA.
Michael Sheridan | Farm Workers: Is Labor the Next Crisis for Coffee?
Michael Sheridan tells a story of progress, discussing Brazil’s history of farmworkers in coffee from 1882 through present day.
Technical Standard Committee Launches Fellowship Program
The Technical Standards Committee (TSC) of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) works on complex and complicated projects that have great impact on the specialty coffee industry. From establishing the green coffee defects standards for Arabica coffee to publishing measurable standards for sample roasting and cupping, our volunteers define the technical aspects of quality …
How Low Employee Morale Jeopardizes Coffee Supply
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 …