MILAN – High Density is a free conference for all coffee people. It is taking place on November 16, 2023. Hosted online and totally free, High Density is the most accessible and practical education event for coffee professionals all over the world. The full-day program showcases authoritative leaders and game-changing ideas in specialty coffee right now.
The theme of High Density 2023 is “Not Just Origin”. Everyday we use the word Origin to not only describe where coffee comes from, but to encompass a whole country, its industry, people and place in the coffee supply chain.
“We use Origin to describe Indonesia, Kenya, Colombia, and Hawaii” say the organizers on the event website. “We use it to define 70+ coffee-producing countries and their people under a make-believe unified structure, historically used to push apart those who consume coffee from those who grow it.
The word reduces a third of the globe, with all its complexities, into a single concept or entity. Where we should cherish the differences, it only offers uniformity.
We want to celebrate the unique cultures, challenges, expertise and people that get ignored when we lump so many things into one box, defined by the production of one crop.”
Throughout the 10 hours of lectures, workshops and sessions about sustainability, barista skills, career development, and social aspects, the event will highlight the diversity of knowledge that comes from what we call “Origin.”
High Density 2023 is curated by Creative Producer Ana Luiza Pellicer. Ana is born into a family of coffee producers from Monte Santo de Minas, Brazil, and is currently the COO for International Business at their coffee company Mió.
The event features 8 key note speakers:
- Sabine Parrish (she/her), UK
Centre for Food Policy, University of London
@sabine.coffee
Sabine Parrish is an anthropologist studying inequalities within production and consumption systems. She is currently writing a book on the social and economic politics of specialty coffee consumption in Brazil.
Topic: Sabine’s session will explore the boundaries of origin as a relational and imaged place rather than a fixed location. - Mikael Jasin (he/him), Indonesia
CATUR Coffee Company
@mikaeljasin
@caturcoffeecompany
Mikael Jasin is the 2019 and 2020 Indonesia Barista Champion and a World Barista finalist. Co-founder of CATUR Coffee Company and So So Good Coffee Company, he works with Indonesian coffee farmers, processing & exporting and consulting for coffee brands worldwide.
Topic: Mikael’s session will dive into the Indonesian specialty coffee industry as both a coffee-producing and coffee-consuming country. - Morgan Eckroth (she/they), US
MorganDrinksCoffee & Onyx Coffee Lab
@MorganDrinksCoffee
@onyxcoffeelab
Morgan Eckroth is the 2022 US Barista Champion and World Barista Runner-Up. They run MorganDrinksCoffee (producing video content for nearly 8M followers), work in marketing at Onyx Coffee, and are a barista at Keeper.
Topic: Morgan’s session will cover how absolute statements can erode trust in viewers and consumers. - Mario Fernández (he/him), México
Specialty Coffee Association
@mariofernandezalduenda
@sca_us
Mario Férnandez is an 8th-generation coffee producer with 30 years of experience working in coffee. He has a PhD in Food Science from the University of Otago, NZ. Mario explores the links between perceived quality, flavour, and composition of coffee and what affects them.
Topic: Mario will present the new Coffee Value Assessment System developed by SCA and how it will affect different parts of the industry. - Smayah Uwajenza (she/her), Rwanda
Elevate Through Coffee Initiative
@wise_smayah
@elevatethroughcoffe
Smayah Uwajeneza is a coffee specialist & consultant and a law school graduate. Founder of Elevate Through Coffee Initiative, board member at I’m not a Barista. She was the 2018 East Africa AeroPress Champion and Rwanda’s first female Barista Champion in 2016.
Topic: Smayah’s session will address her community engagement program on sustainability issues affecting Rwandan coffee farmers. - Karl Wienhold (he/him), Portugal
University of Lisbon
@cheapcoffeebook
Karl Wienhold is a researcher and consultant on postcolonial agricultural value chains. Author of the book Cheap Coffee: Behind the Curtain of The Global Coffee Trade, he studies power relations along the coffee value chain as a PhD candidate at the University of Lisbon.
Topic: Alternative rationalities on agricultural practices OR The efficiency of different value chain configurations OR The income distribution among actors of the coffee industry. - Lucia Solis (she/her), Guatemala
Luxia Coffee
@lluciasolis
Lucia Solis specializes in microbial demucilagination, using microbes to process coffee after pulping. She studied Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis and worked in the Napa Valley wine industry. Since 2014, she has worked directly with coffee producers to improve processing practices and increase quality. - Sara Morrocchi (she/her), Italy
Vuna Origin Consulting
@vuna_coffee_school
Sara Morocchi has held many roles in her long career in coffee, always focusing on opening markets for producer organizations. She leads Vuna Origin Consulting, a green coffee consulting company & Vuna Coffee School, a digital education platform for coffee professionals in coffee-producing countries.
High Density is totally free, but they work with the wonderful charity Grounds for Health which provide cervical cancer vaccinations for women in coffee-producing countries, so they appreciate any donations that you want to provide.
