2012 SCAA Board of Directors Elections Now Open
The 2012 Board of Directors Elections are now open to Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) members (must be a current voting member of the SCAA). We have an excellent slate of nominees for the 2012 SCAA Board of Directors. Please be sure to review candidate profiles prior to voting. Please cast your ballot prior to March 31, …
Providing Opportunities for Dialogue at 4th Annual Symposium
Symposium Provides Opportunities for Dialogue for Leaders in the Specialty Coffee Industry Symposium was born from the concept that in order to ensure a sustainable future for specialty coffee, we have to open up channels for dialogue among key players in the supply chain. This year’s Symposium will provide many avenues for engagement among delegates, …
2012 SCAA Symposium Producer Scholarship – Now Accepting Applications
We are pleased to offer a scholarship opportunity to attend the SCAA Symposium April 18-19, 2012, in Portland, OR. SCAA, supported by Probat Burns, BUNN, and SCAA’s Sustainability Council, is offering up to 5 scholarships for producers or producer representatives, covering the registration fee ($995) for the event. The recipients of the scholarship will be …
Volunteer Highlight: Noah Namowicz, Director of Marketing and Sales Associate of Café Imports
Name: Noah Namowicz Title: Director of Marketing and Sales Associate Company: Café Imports How long have you been volunteering for the SCAA? 2 years What was the first SCAA event you volunteered for and what were your duties? The first event I ever volunteered for …
SCAA Attendee Project Videos – What is Specialty Coffee?
The Specialty Coffee Association of America invited 2012 Expo Attendees and other coffee lovers to announce to the world what specialty coffee means to them. They entered by creating a 1 minute video message that finished the sentence “Specialty coffee is…” The winning video will be posted on www.scaaevent.org and will be featured in email promotions, on …
What is the Shelf Life of Roasted Coffee? A Literature Review on Coffee Staling
By Emma Sage, Coffee Science Manager, SCAA Coffee is what is known in the food science field as a shelf-stable product, which after roasting does not spoil due to enzymatic or microbial processes (Illy and Viani 2005; Nicoli and others 1993; Anese and others 2006). However, in the specialty coffee industry, we are aware of …
The Price is Right. Or Is It?
By Ric Rhinehart Over the past two years the rising cost of coffee (and almost everything else) has us asking: What is the right price for a cup? As a trade association we cannot and will not recommend a price for a cup or a pound, but we can explore how coffee retailers can and …
Shooting for the Stars: Developing a Staff that Shines
By Heather Ringwood In our common thread of specialty coffee, we find coffee to be a premium product that is essential to our business operations, yes? Well, I am here to argue that the success and development of our employees is just as critical, if not more so, than the coffee. If your business values …
The Power of Story: Behind Cause Coffees
By Scott Conary “I don’t really like coffee…” And with these words, you are stopped short. All of your well-constructed arguments and delightfully thought out taste descriptions forced back in a choking cough. Nuanced aroma profiles are useless. They can’t help you now. What are you left with? How do you connect with this person, …
Between Courage & Carelessness
By Peter Giuliano Perhaps the best-known coffee town in Rwanda is Butare, located in Rwanda’s hilly southwest. Butare is a bustling central African town, with mostly unpaved roads and inconsistent electrical service coming from a diesel generator just outside of the town’s center. In Butare there is a Chinese restaurant, run by an immigrant Chinese …
Long-Term Bean Counting: What You Need to Know About Buying Right
By Mike Ferguson If you work at any point in the coffee supply chain, you know that the last two years have been unusual, to put it mildly. Even the most casual coffee consumers have noticed price increases. Not only did we see historically high prices for green coffee, but perhaps more significantly, historic if …
Direct Trade: Going Straight to the Source
By Shanna Germain Direct trade has long been a hot button in the specialty coffee industry. Ask 10 coffee people what the phrase means, and you’ll get 10 different answers. Listen in at a roasters’ roundtable on the topic, and you’ll likely come away more confused than when you went in. Troll the forums and …