BOSTON, U.S. – The 2019 Re:co Symposium program, “Coffee in Crisis: A Call and Response,” was about coming together to learn, collaborate, and act to address the challenges of the on-going coffee price crisis that faces all of us in specialty coffee, but the two-day program also served as a platform for a number of important announcements.
2019 SCA Sustainability Awards
The SCA recognized this year’s Sustainability Award winners at Re:co on Wednesday, April 10. The awards for Project and Business Model, created in 2004, recognize outstanding work in the field of sustainability in the coffee industry. A third category, the Sustainability Champion Award, was introduced this year, recognizing the work and impact of an individual.
- Sustainability Champion: Esperanza Dionisio Castillo
- Project: “Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Resilience at Yayu Biosphere Reserve” by Union Hand-Roasted Coffee
- Business Model: Agricafe
To learn more about this year’s Sustainability Award winners, visit scanews.coffee.
Now Accepting Applications for the 2019-2021 LEAD Scholarship
Announced at Re:co Symposium on Thursday, April 11, the SCA is now accepting applications for the 2019-2021 cohort of the Leadership Equity and Diversity (LEAD) Scholarship Program. LEAD is aimed at increasing diversity of leadership within the global coffee community by enabling access to professional development resources to people from underrepresented or marginalized communities.
The program is made possible thanks to the generous support of S&D Coffee & Tea.
For more information or to apply, visit sca.coffee/LEAD.
Coffee Science Foundation
The SCA’s Chief Research Officer, Peter Giuliano, announced the launch of the Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) this week at Re:co Symposium. Created to advance the understanding of coffee and secure its future through research, knowledge building, and outreach, the CSF provides funding and guidance to independent research entities with outputs disseminated through the SCA’s various channels.
Two major research projects are already in process with three in “requests for proposals” stage. One of the projects, to be completed in collaboration with World Coffee Research (WCR) and the UC Davis Coffee Center, is the next phase of WCR’s International Multilocation Variety Trial which will explore and correlate the impact of genetics and environment on sensory descriptive analysis.
WCR Announces the Global Coffee Monitoring Platform
WCR, together with dozens of partners, is building an unprecedented network of global on-farm trails to discover which varieties and agricultural practices are most profitable for coffee producers around the world.
The Global Coffee Monitoring Program will address one of the most important decisions farmers make: Which plants and practices are right for my farm? At Re:co Symposium, Danielle Kneuppel explored the platform’s aim to use rigorous, on-farm science to create a global data set that addresses the profitability of coffee farming from the ground up.
