KEALAKEKUA, HI, US – The statewide Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA) presents an informative two-day webinar featuring coffee industry leaders, researchers and educators. The June 24-25th event is a free resource for its association members and the broader community. In addition, HCA hosts the 12th annual Statewide Coffee Cupping Competition with winners announced June 25 at a 5 p.m. virtual awards ceremony.
Deadline to enter HCA’s inaugural remote cupping competition is May 21. Coffees will be blindly cupped in three rounds using the Specialty Coffee Association of America scoring system.
Emilio Lopez of Topeca Coffee Roasters will give the conference keynote on “Living with Coffee Leaf Rust.” A seventh-generation farmer, Lopez is managing director of Odyssey Coffees, an agro-industrial organization based out of El Salvador, which together with companies in the US and Brazil, runs a vertical integrated coffee business. Odyssey grows and processes coffee from over a dozen farms and distributes them across the world to roasters who demand top quality. Topeca Coffee Roasters operates two different roasting facilities with cafes and a multi-state distribution.
“2020 was the year of COVID and coffee leaf rust,” notes HCA President Chris Manfredi. “2021 represents the year in which we have an opportunity to successfully emerge from these multilayered crises.”
The webinar offers the latest information on a broad range of topics, changing trends and regulations. “The coffee industry and the conditions in which we operate are changing rapidly,” adds Manfredi.
The conference speaker/activity lineup includes:
Thursday, June 24
- 8-8:30 Message from Hawaii Coffee Association President Chris Manfredi
- 8:45-10:15 Keynote: Living with Coffee Leaf Rust
- 10:45-11:30 Hawaii Department of Agriculture Update
- 11:45-12:30 UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Update
Friday, June 25
- 9-10 US Dept of Agriculture/Pacific Basin Ag Research Center Panel Update
- 10:15-11:15 Hawaii Agriculture Research Center and Hawaii Coffee Growers Assn. Panel Update
- 11:30-12:15 Social Media Marketing Tips — Anthology Marketing Group
- 12:45-1:30 Get to Know Us: The Hawaii Coffee Association Café Collective
- 1:45 Hawaii Coffee Association Board Election Results
- 5:00 Hawaii Coffee Association Cupping Competition Awards Ceremony
Register for the conference at https://hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/page-1771716.
Find the official rules and required entry form for the Cupping Competition at https://hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/event-4242154.
