A Message on Collaboration in Coffee from SCAA Executive Director Ric Rhinehart
For the past eight years I have had the unique pleasure to serve as the Executive Director for the SCAA. This role involves many of the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities you might imagine, coordinating the efforts of volunteers, staff members and elected leaders. All are designed to ensure that we deliver on our mission: to …
SCAA Announces Call for Recommendations to the Nominating Committee
On August 20, 2015, SCAA members received the following email announcing the call for recommendations to the nominating committee for the 2016 SCAA Board of Directors elections. Shawn Hamilton, immediate past president of the SCAA and current chair of the nominating committee, provided the election timeline and encouraged all members to participate by recommending individuals that …
One Thing About Coffee: Waialua Coffee Estate
By Danny Pinnell, SCAA Our western-most staff member and research analyst Heather Ward lives on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. During a recent staff meeting, for our “One Thing About Coffee” segment, Heather shared a recap of her experience at SCAA member Waialua Coffee Estate, a 155-acre coffee farm. Heather visited the estate in …
SCA Announces Future Host Cities for World of Coffee Europe
June 13, 2018: Updated name of the association and event dates. The Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) is pleased to announce the next three host cities for World of Coffee Europe in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2017, Europe’s premier speciality coffee event will move to Budapest, Hungary, with the 2018 edition being hosted in Amsterdam, …
The Future of Coffee Farming: Letter from the Editor
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 …
What is Coffee Worth to You?
By Luis Rodríguez Ventura So, Luis… Why do you grow coffee? It’s a question I hear a lot. And it’s a hard one to answer, believe me. My coffee life began after being hired as an analyst for the economics department the Salvadoran Coffee Council back in 2001. For the first couple of years my job …
Farmer Profitability: Managing Risk in the Supply Chain
By David Piza Currently, 80 percent of the world’s coffee–specialty and otherwise–is produced by only 25 million smallholder farmers. The average age of these farmers is 56 years old. As the younger generation sees less and less to attract them to coffee farming, and more and more to attract them to the big city—it is …
Voices From Origin: A Producer-Driven Approach
By Mayra Orellana-Powell, Catracha Coffee Company At the recent SCAA Symposium, I was honored with the opportunity to speak about small coffee producers from my hometown in Santa Elena, Honduras. Using the experiences of my cousin Rosibel and her husband Toño, I talked about how importers, roasters, and consumers working together with small producers can impact the …
Emergence of a Coffee Origin: Dalat, Vietnam
By Will Frith High on the Lang Biang plateau near Dalat in Central Vietnam, Rolan Colieng and Josh Guikema’s picturesque coffee farm lies in the shade of the country’s third highest peak. Josh and Rolan are a couple of the change-makers in this region, with a shared dream that Vietnam’s coffee can come to be …
Castillo or Caturra? A Simple Question
By Michael Sheridan, CRS Coffeelands CRS is working with friends and allies in the specialty coffee and research communities to compare the cup quality of Castillo and Caturra, the two leading coffee varieties in the fabled Colombian coffee origin of Nariño, as part of The Colombia Sensory Trial. I presented the preliminary results of our research …
The Intensification of Women’s Labor and the Future of Sustainable Coffee Supply
By Colleen Anunu When coffee buyers voice concern over the future of supply, they often list declining natural resources, market inefficiencies, and limited access to capital resources among many of the challenges that farmers face. Development economists argue that these constraints are further amplified by the “growing pains” of structural adjustment and economic transformation. Developing …
SCAA Sustainability Award Recognizes Leadership and Innovation in the Coffee World
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. …