LONDON, UK – Christina Meinl, Head of Innovations at the 158-year-old Vienna-headquartered Julius Meinl Coffee Group, has been appointed as President of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). The appointment was made in December, when the SCA also announced the six new members elected to the Board. What follows is the official press release issued on February 28, 2020.
Meinl’s tenure as President officially began on 1 January, replacing her predecessor Heather Perry who served as President for 2019.
The SCA is a global membership-based non-profit organisation with offices based in the UK and US. Its aim is to give a voice and substance to the possibilities for specialty coffee worldwide, while expanding the sustainable global specialty coffee community and supporting activities to make specialty coffee a thriving, equitable and sustainable venture for the entire value chain.
The organisation was formed in 2017 following the merger of the Specialty Coffee Associations of America and Europe (SCAA and SCAE) and now consists of 14,000 members across 35 chapters. Meinl will serve as the SCA’s third President, having previously served as Vice President in 2019, following her election to the SCAE board of directors in 2014.
For the year ahead, Meinl aims to boost the sustainable specialty coffee agenda, expand the SCA’s global network supporting local communities, and increase diversity within the organisation.
Starting her career as both a clinical tropical microbiologist and medical doctor practising in England, Tanzania and Austria, it was Meinl’s longstanding passion and her enthusiasm for coffee which led her to join the Julius Meinl team in 2010. She will continue in her role as Head of Innovations at Julius Meinl, in addition to her new responsibilities as SCA President.
Under her leadership at the fifth-generation family business, the brand launched innovations including the state-of-the-art 1862 Premium New coffee concept, its Cold Brew blend and brewing equipment, and its craft coffee offering, Julius Meinl The Originals.
Paul Stack, SCA 2018 President, said:
“I wish Christina Meinl well in her new role as President and look forward to seeing the SCA continue its outstanding work in promoting speciality coffee, furthering sustainable growth for the coffee industry, and supporting its diverse membership across the globe.”
Christina Meinl said:
“I’m delighted to be appointed as President of the SCA. I look forward to furthering the aims of the SCA in 2020 and continuing the great work and progress made by its previous presidents. In particular, I am aiming to embrace diversity in all forms during my tenure, as I believe the more diverse any organisation is, the more skills it possesses.”
About Julius Meinl:
Julius Meinl is an internationally successful Austrian family company and has been the global ambassador of Vienna’s beloved coffee house culture for more than 150 years. The global success of Julius Meinl is based on traditional values: five generations of coffee expertise, premium-quality products and excellent customer service, values that are no longer a certainty these days. Julius Meinl is a global ambassador for Viennese coffee culture and today inspires people all over the world, just as the coffee house literati did in days gone by. Restaurants and business customers in more than 70 countries rely on Julius Meinl coffee and tea. The company already ranks among the top 3 premium coffee brands in over 40 countries. Julius Meinl is the market leader in hotels, restaurants and cafes in Austria, CEE, Adriatics, Russia and Dubai
- Established in 1862
- 1,000 employees worldwide
- Marketing in more than 70 countries worldwide; among the top 3 premium coffee brands in over 40 countries
- Market leader in the hotels, restaurants and cafes in Austria, CEE, Adriatics, and Russia
- Some 50,000 customers worldwide
- Production locations in Vienna (Austria) and Vicenza (Italy)
- Sales in 2018: EUR 178.4 million
