In the actual economic context, the agro-food economy is focused on the consumer demands regarding food quality and security. The coffee supply chain is experiencing an increasing interest for controls on coffee quality, in order to maintain its high economic value and to protect the consumer from frauds.

The general objective of the project is to develop an analysis model for the characterization of the geographical origin of coffee beans, based on a metabolomic approach for the evaluation of both aromatic-volatile and polar-non-volatile fractions.

We developed two different analytical methods: the first aims to classify the origin of coffee based on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile using a PTR-ToF-MS technique, the second, based on the HPLC-ESI-HRMS, aims to study the non-volatile profile. Through the VOC profiles merged to multivariate statistical analysis it has been possible to distinguish clearly the origin of coffee samples proving that the PTR-ToF-MS is a fast and valuable tool for coffee authentication. With the second approach, we performed a metabolic fingerprint of coffee samples with more than 120 characteristic metabolites and, coupled to a bioinformatic approach, we highlighted that the non-volatile profiles of the Arabica considerably differed within the countries due to their pedoclimatic characteristics.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 2:15pm - 3:15pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenters:

Massimo Battaglia
Coffee Research Leader, Accademia del Caffè Espresso

Massimo Battaglia is Coffee Research Leader at Accademia del Caffè Espresso. Tropical agronomist and over 20 years spent in coffee origin countries, Massimo Battaglia is in charge of the research project on coffee traceability, developed with the University of Florence, ENEA and ACE (Alliance for coffee excellence). He is also the reference person for all projects developed with associations and partners at origins, and institutions and universities at national and international level.

Cosimo Taiti
Researcher, University of Florence

Cosimo Taiti is currently a research fellow at the Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry. He has a long well-documented experience in the characterization of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants and or food matrices. He has focused his research also on the role of VOCs in plant-plant and plant animal systems for the purpose of communication studies through volatile substances. Likewise he performs ecology studies about plants' ability to purify soil and indoor air. He performed several lessons for students for the master “Futuro Vegetale” and has been involved in many plants or food research projects. He is the author of over 50 scientific articles on plant and food topics.

Lecture Description

A sustainable approach for the use of espresso waste from a 400-store chain to contribute to the effort for a better tomorrow from an environmental point of view. Strategies, procedures and actions to shift the industry to the green side.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 2:15pm - 3:15pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Nikolaos Koumaniotis
Plant Manager, Coffee Island

Nikolaos Koumaniotis is the plant manager of Coffee island. He is an electrical engineer and a coffee enthusiast. Studied engineering and policy analysis in TU Delft had the chance to emphasize onto sustainability-related issues. Being on the coffee business almost 10 years now he has experienced the shift to sustainability from it's first steps.

Interactive workshop with a good balance of a Sensory Deck presentation and a Brain Game challenging the attendees' perception for the coffee they taste.

Let our hearing, smell, touch, vision excite our taste by interfering with our experiences and perceptions!

How does our brain identify flavors through the process of different stimulus' synthesis?

Live interaction with KAHOOT to challenge knowledge and perception around sensory ability and coffee.

Some of the very interesting props/ materials to excite the audience would be:
-Various Textures
-Colors
-Shapes
-Mystery Boxes
-Headphones
-Eyeshades
and... Coffee

The most updated scientific research data around multisensory approach will be presented, providing attendees with exciting and useful knowledge around senses and how they interact with coffee. What about trying to smell red, or taste shapes or colors? We will find out together.

Price: €125.00

Room: Room 2

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

George Makropoulos
Coffee Capabilities & Events Lead | Coffee Educator, Nestle Hellas S.A.

George, a highly specialized and experienced Coffee Educator, Q Arabica Grader and Trainer, is the Coffee Capabilities & Events Lead in Nestle Professional. Having participated in a variety of Coffee and Spirits Championships and Events since 2008 either as a Competitor, National Judge, Trainer or Lecturer, George has a proven track of successes, publications and accreditations in the Coffee and Beverages Industry.

Academic Titles / Certifications
-Business Administration - Hellenic Open University
-CAS in Coffee Excellence - Zurich University of Applied Sciences

-Q Arabica Grader (Coffee Quality Institute)
-Authorized SCA Trainer (All Modules)
-IBA Accredited Trainer (International Bartenders Association)
-Certified Wine Expert / Sommelier

Room: Room 1

Pricing: €125.00

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

Julian Loayza Sanjines
Trainer, Julian Loayza - Coffee Training and Consultancy

Julian is a coffee trainer and roaster based in London, UK. He was born in La Paz, Bolivia. Julian is an AST for Introduction to Coffee, Roasting, Barista Skills, Green Coffee and Sensory Skills. Q Arabica Grader '17, '20, '23. He currently is a Q Arabica Assistant Instructor and is on its way to becoming a Q Arabica Instructor.

Lecture Description

Biocubacaffè is an open-air laboratory – a sustainability project conceived by the Lavazza Foundation, the Cuban Grupo Agroforestal (GAF) and the Italian Agency for Economic and Cultural Interchange with Cuba (AICEC) that aims to restore Cuban coffee as a local excellence, promote Cuban organic coffee export, and activate internal market considering environmental and social sustainability.

Thanks to the cooperation between Cuban research institutes and Lavazza's expertise on post-harvest techniques, Biocubacaffè presents the innovations and experiments that are carried out in the fields. From the reform of Cuban coffee classification and traceability system, to the introduction of blockchain technology to provide full transparency of the coffee journey, to the implementation and development of fermentations techniques.

Thanks to a public coffee production management system, Cuba features the perfect context where agricultural practices can be improved by coffee research and experiments, thanks to the support of the large public research centers that work closely with local farmers.

The objectives of the project are the complete traceability of the product with blockchain, with the monitoring of over 70 environmental KPIs, and the development, thanks to Cuba's integrated system, of a sensory and productive experimentation laboratory on green coffee to improve coffee quality and value.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 13:00pm - 14:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Lecture Description

Coffee extracts contain thousands of different compounds, many of which contribute to the quality of the flavor profile. Minor fluctuations in the ratios of these compounds gives rise to major differences in perceived flavor. However, to date the industry is only able to the measure the average total solvated mass (%TDS), or use cost prohibitive and slow chromatography methods. Electrochemistry offers one route to measuring coffee components in real time, and provides insights into both the quantity of compounds as well as their identity. Together, our approach provides unparalleled insight into what is solvated in the cup, while also being very cheap to operate. This talk will cover the fundamentals of electrochemistry, a demonstration of its utility, and discuss opportunities beyond quality assessment. This work is supported by the Cottrell Scholars award, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award, and the Coffee Science Foundation in partnership with Nuova Simonelli.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 13:00pm - 14:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presented by

Christopher Hendon
Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon

Prof. Christopher H. Hendon is a computational chemist with interests in energy materials and coffee extraction. He obtained his BSc. Adv. HONS from Monash University (2011) and PhD from the University of Bath (2015). After a two-year postdoc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology he joined the University of Oregon in 2017 as a Professor of chemistry where his research group focuses on the emergence of defects in metal-organic molecules and solids. He has published over 100 papers, was named a Cottrell Scholar in 2021, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and the Samuel R. Scholes Jnr. Lecture for excellence in Scientific Communication.

Lecture Description

The SCA's Coffee Value Assessment, an evolution and expansion of the SCA cupping system, has been designed to help assess value in all senses of the term: as an aid to economic transactions, as a tool to document aesthetic worth, and as a way to recognize human effort and preference. This shift, from "quality" to "qualities" and "value", was informed by an evaluation process that spanned three years across a literature review and multiple user research projects, as well as discussions and collaborations with contributors to SCA events and publications. This panel, featuring 25 authors who have written about the different aspects of value over the years, will explore how we understand and construct economic, aesthetic, and human value in specialty coffee.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 11:45am - 12:45am EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenters/Panelists:

Jenn Rugolo
Curatorial Director and Editor, 25, Specialty Coffee Association

Jenn Rugolo is curator and editor focused on communicating complex ideas in specialty coffee. Perpetually curious about how people create culture and belonging through different activities, Jenn holds a Bachelors of Music Ad Hoc (Northwestern University) and a Masters of Arts in Ethnomusicology (University College Cork). Before taking on her current role as Curatorial Director at the Specialty Coffee Association, where she focuses on the association’s print and digital communications, Jenn worked to design, run, and communicate casual educational platforms across roles at 3FE, World Coffee Events, Facebook, and Tamper Tantrum. Concurrently a partner in Playset Coffee, Jenn spends her “free time” supporting progress in specialty coffee through projects that embrace collaborative learning and sharing.

Noa Berger
PhD Candidate, EHESS

Noa Berger is a Sociology PhD candidate at the EHESS, Paris. She studies the specialty coffee market in Brazil and France.

Noa regularly speaks on coffee culture and history at events (e.g Re:Co Boston, WOC Berlin, Expo Boston), write for journals and magazines (25 Magazine, Standart, Le Monde and Haa'retz). She was nominated for a "Sprudgie" for best coffee writing, included in the "Sprudge 20" list.

Her co-edited book (with Yahel Shefer), "Coffee: East and West" was published in 2021 by the Jerusalem Islamic Arts museum.

Erika Koss
AST; PhD candidate, Saint Mary's University, Canada | A World in Your Cup Consulting

Erika Koss is a writer, teacher, and researcher who views coffee through the lens of two life-long passions: literature and human rights. She is an AST and a co-creator of SCA’s Coffee Sustainability curriculum. Erika is a PhD candidate at Saint Mary’s University in Canada and a Research Associate at University of Nairobi in Kenya. She is founder of “A World in Your Cup,” a consulting and education business focused on sustainability, gender equity, and decolonization of beverage crops, including coffee, cacao, and tea. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Erika Koss lives in Nairobi with her younger son.

Alexa Heinicke
Senior Corporate Membership Manager, World Coffee Research

Alexa Heinicke is the Senior Corporate Membership Manager at World of Coffee and focuses on stewarding relationships with our 170+ member companies. She is excited to engage more companies in this collective investment that will benefit millions of smallholder farmers and is vital to the future of every business in our industry. Alexa has a background in nonprofit fundraising and corporate investor relations in the U.S. and Europe. She is based in Munich, Germany.

Coffee roasting is an essential process that changes coffee beans. From the principle that the green beans are high quality, the roasting could bring their quality or not. Because of this, the “Master of Roast” is a multiple professional. This professional knows the green beans, how to operate the machine, and the impact on the decision-making during the coffee roasting. The power supply, the airflow modulation, and total roast time operations are crucial in producing desirable components. On the other hand, simple mistakes can lead to beverages with grassy, scorched, and metallic notes. What are the chemical components produced in each roasting step? How do they impact the beverage? The Chemistry of Roasting course aims to present those physicochemical transformations in the beans during the roasting process. Understanding the beginning of the chemical reactions and their kinetics is crucial for the Master of Roast to produce desirable notes at the end. It is a theoretical and practical course that will discuss the science behind the process.

Room: Room 1

Pricing: €125.00

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

Verônica Belchior
Owner, Verônica Belchior Consultancy

Belchior is a biologist, Msc in Ecology, PhD in Food Science and currently working on her postdoctoral degree in Food Science. Belchior is also a Q-grader and has been working with coffee for 14 years, starting as a barista, then quality manager for a coffee exporter, when she also became part of The Coffee Sensorium Project. Today she has her own company offering courses and consultancy in sensory analysis and chemistry applied to cupping, roasting and extraction, and she also works for an export company, Cocolo Coffee Export.

This workshop will highlight the functionality of coffee grinders, the impact of burr design, the servicing of grinders and how to choose products depending on individual business cases. We will investigate the effects of different burr design. Look into new technologies, such as Grind by Weight that help improve the barista workflow and shed light on the maintenance cost of grinders during operation. By the end of the workshop you’ll understand different coffee grinders, their use-scenario, functionalities, how to set-up and service Hemro products and how to calculate the cost of business. You should be able to choose products based on your needs and take care of them. Outline of the Workshop: 1. Disk Design and Burr Geometry 2. Grinder Capacity, Workflow and new Technologies 3. Set-Up and Maintaining Grinders a. Quick Fixes and Preventive Measures b. Q&A 4. Break-Out Sessions a. Hands-On Maintenance Featuring E80 and EK43 b. Cupping different Grinders and Burr Geometries.

Price: €125.00

Room: Room 2

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

Luca Lange
Global Education & Activation Manager, Hemro International AG

Luca Lange is a coffee professional, authorized SCA trainer and is leading the education and activation at Hemro, the company behind the iconic brand Mahlkönig, Ditting, Anfim and HeyCafé. At Hemro Luca oversees coffee scene events and all coffee and product education topics under the name of Hemro Academy, an all-new platform for company partners, technicians and coffee enthusiasts to learn and grow together. As a former consultant and university lecturer Luca puts his skills of teaching and advising into use by educating coffee lovers.

Ansgar Bitz
Product Manager, Hemro Manufacturing Germany GmbH

Ansgar Bitz is an experienced Product Manager in the coffee grinding industry, with over 10 years of professional expertise. Ansgar wrote his thesis on burr geometry and its impact on grinding. This technical knowledge has proved invaluable to his work as a Product Manager.
In his role, Ansgar is responsible for a diverse range of tasks such as providing customer support, developing product documentation and spare part concepts, offering technical support, leading technical dealer trainings, and conducting competitor benchmark analyses.

Lecture Description

Global economic uncertainty is going to persist well into 2024. How will this impact coffee market prices and what are the the key market indicators to consider? Having a clearer picture of the landscape ahead and potential challenges will benefit attendees from all sectors in the value chain and of all knowledge levels, drawing up the 40 years of market experience of the presenter, Judith Ganes. Learning outcomes will help listeners make more informed business decisions.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 10:30pm - 11:30pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Judith Ganes
President, J Ganes Consulting

Judith Ganes is President of J Ganes Consulting commodity advisory services geared towards the food and beverage industries. She is also co-founder of Taka Insights, data analytics platform. Judy is celebrating her 40th year as a market analyst and noted expert in risk management strategies using futures and options. She publishes subscription-based research reports and has instructed courses on risk management around the world. Judy, originally from New York, resides in Panama and has traveled to more than 100 countries.

Lecture Description

Coffee is the most internationally traded agricultural produce, with millions of smallholder farmers depending on it for their livelihoods.

Coffea arabica, the most economically significant coffee species in terms of volume of production and trade, is native to Ethiopia. It’s wild populations, forest coffee, have significantly higher genetic diversity compared to cultivated variants, which has implications for disease resistance, improved yield, climate change resilience, among others.

Despite this rich biodiversity, with its economic importance for the global coffee market, Ethiopia’s forest coffee is yet to attain premium coffee status. The result is that small-scale coffee producers in Ethiopia, who are often among the poorest in the country, earn below farmgate prices for what is indeed premium coffee.

Coffea arabica presents an economic and conservation opportunity for Ethiopia and globally, with the right investment. Partnerships for Forests and partners have been working to rebrand Ethiopia’s forest coffee into a premium brand and help small-scale coffee producers harness the potentials of its biodiversity to expand their coffee businesses.

The panel will discuss implications of the biodiversity of Ethiopia’s Coffea arabica for Ethiopia and the global coffee market, and how Partnerships for Forests has successfully positioned it for the global premium coffee market.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Feker Tadesse
Regional Programme Manager, Partnerships for Forests, Palladium International

Feker Tadesse is the Regional Programme Manager at Partnerships for Forests. Feker manages the East Africa portfolio across 5 countries. She has over 10 years of experience in sustainable land use, access to finance and food security. Feker holds a B.A in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College and an M.P.A from Princeton University.

Raffael Fondacci
Project Manager, GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH

Raffael Fondacci is a mechatronics engineering graduate working as a project manager for GIZ InS for the past 4 years and based in Ethiopia.

In his position he manages a project in the Ethiopian Forest Coffee sector where he works with 17,000 smallholder farmers under 58 Cooperatives to strengthen the supply chain.

The project works to provide technical support, certification, traceability, capacity building and market linkage with the aim of incentivising the farmers to protect the forests from which they harvest the forest coffee.

Raffael enjoys working in the development sector where he can deliver real impact on the ground which is a great source of motivation. Outside of work, Raffael enjoys travelling, horse-riding and basketball.

Lecture Description

Net zero commitments have steeply increased in recent years among key businesses in the coffee sector. Climate concerns are picking up as drivers behind purchase decisions. At the same time, carbon markets have great potential for financing climate action on coffee farms. However, offsetting and insetting schemes are under increased scrutiny to deliver concrete results and real value for the farmers in Scope 3. In this panel, we discuss the advantages of both carbon reduction approaches for the coffee supply chain. We will zoom in on the current challenges that companies and producers face to turn carbon reduction strategies into a non-zero sum game with winners at both ends.

Learn from concrete examples on the steps that interested coffee businesses can take to minimize costs of carbon schemes and maximize value for their coffee farmers.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 15:30pm - 16:30pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenters:

Isabel van Bemmelen
Sr Business Developer & Head of Insetting, Rabobank Acorn

Isabel van Bemmelen Isabel joined the ACORN team of Rabobank this March, to focus on insetting. Before starting at the ACORN team Isabel has been the Managing Director of Progreso Foundation since 2017, supporting coffee and cocoa producer organisations with their sustainable development. She was the driving force behind the development of Beyco, ‘Beyond Coffee’ a worldwide coffee trading platform using blockchain technology. Before joining ACORN, Isabel already worked over 10 years for Rabobank and Rabobank Foundation, managing the Latin America loan portfolio including trade finance for many coffee and cocoa producer organisations. She has extensive knowledge of microfinance, financial analyses, coffee market, price risk management, organisational development and productivity/quality increase. She loves cupping coffee and facilitating trade connections.

Joel Brounen
Country Manager Colombia, Solidaridad

Joel Brounen is Country Manager in Colombia, leading the organization´s work on the ground to measure carbon emissions, develop scope 3 reduction scenarios and elaborate investment plans for farmers, traders and roaster. He is one of the pioneers behind the ACORN platform, successfully developing the algorithms and data sets for this satellite-based trading platform and the current scaling strategy with partners. Currently, he is involved in multiple inset and offset projects in the agriculture sector. Joel has a Master Degree in Sustainability Leadership of the University of Cambridge and Master Degree in International Economics of the University of Utrecht.

Niels Haak
Director Sustainable Coffee Partnerships, Conservation International & Sustainable Coffee Challenge

Niels Haak is Director Sustainable Coffee Partnerships at Conservation International, a globally operating non-for profit working to ensure a healthy, more prosperous planet that supports the well-being of people. In his role, Niels works actors from across the coffee sector to co-develop programs and solutions that will drive sustainability throughout the coffee supply chains and address critical challenges within coffee producing landscapes. Niels leads Conservation International’s efforts to convene and facilitate the Sustainable Coffee Challenge - a dynamic and diverse coalition of partners from across the coffee sector dedicated to making coffee the world’s first sustainable agricultural product.

Lecture Description

This presentation/lecture will look to cover the following points:

• The importance of honoring local culture when creating a community space

• Aspects one should consider around preserving heritage and celebrating it ranging from architecture, local ingredients that one can incorporate into the cafe menu, the hiring process i.e. creating a team for the cafe and how the business can give back to the community especially when introducing something so new ..i..e specialty coffee culture

• Community engagement

• Researching local culture

• Selling your business to the local community - (community buy in)

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 2:15pm - 3:15pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenter:

Vava Angwenyi
Founder & Chief Coffaholic, Gente Del Futuro Ltd & Vava Coffee Ltd.

Vava - a Sustainable Farming advocate, Author - Coffee. Milk .Blood and business owner has created a sustainable and ethical coffee brand that sources coffee from farmers in Kenya and around the region. She is also the Co-Founder of Gente Del Futuro and proprietor of the Cafe and Coffee School La Dulce Toro in Amu - Lamu Old Town off the Kenyan Coast.

With her B- corp certified social enterprise business the company exports coffee, roasts for local consumption and consults on coffee value chains, the organisation aims to contribute to better future prospects for coffee communities and the industry as a whole. The company ensures sustainable livelihoods for the people and communities in which it works. Vava’s vision is to challenge the status quo and promote positive social disruption within the coffee industry. This vision comes from an inborn passion for transformative change and a drive to promote the sustainable production of coffee by tracing the production of high quality coffee beans to the independent smallholder coffee farmer, who works day in and day out, against major obstacles and with meager resources to produce some of the world’s best tasting coffees, often without an understanding or appreciation of the final fruits of their labor.

Lecture Description

For many years, specialty coffee has been defined by a point score, or a number of defects, or an aspirational goal. For the past three years, the Specialty Coffee Association has undertaken a project to develop a more rigorous way to define and measure specialty coffee quality, based on sensory science, economics, and feedback from the coffee community. In this lecture, we will summarize the work of the project so far and present the new cupping and quality assessment system. This is an essential update for cuppers, coffee buyers, producers, traders, and anyone interested in how coffee quality is understood and valued.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 2:15pm - 3:15pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Kim Elena Ionescu
Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer, Specialty Coffee Association

Kim Elena Ionescu is the Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), where she develops strategy and leads action on behalf of coffee-centric businesses and organizations both large and small in the United States, Europe, and beyond to tackle the challenges coffee faces now and in the future.

Prior to joining the association, Kim spent a decade buying coffee and creating and directing sustainability at Counter Culture Coffee in North Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two daughters. And although these days she is more likely to be found behind desks and podiums than cupping tables and espresso machines, Kim believes that innovation and collaboration across the coffee value chain are critical for our community to thrive.

Over the past years, experimentally processed coffees have gained extreme popularity with coffee professionals and consumers. As the demand grows, more farmers started to experiment with new processing techniques, but they don’t always have access to the right resources which can lead to nonuniform cup quality, over fermented notes, and even cup defects. During this workshop, we will discuss the evaluation of these experimentally processed coffees from a green coffee buyer company’s perspective. Attendees will have the opportunity to examine experimentally processed green coffee samples and learn about the effects that the processing has on the structure and shelf-life of the beans as well as identifying positive characteristics and negative flavors in the cup during a tasting session. We will discuss the challenges of creating special processing methods based on clients’ request and possible ways of mitigating risk for producers.

Room: Room 1

Pricing: €125.00

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructors:

Franciska Apró
Quality Control Coordinator, Sucafina Specialty Europe

Franciska Apro has over 10 years of experience in specialty coffee. She worked as a barista, barista trainer, quality manager and production roaster before joining Sucafina Specialty Europe in January 2020 in the capacity of Quality Control Coordinator. In 2021, she acquired her Q Arabica Grader certificate. Over the past 3.5 years she has graded, roasted and cupped thousands of coffee samples from various origins. Thanks to Sucafina’s vertically integrated supply chains, she has had the opportunity to visit numerous coffee origins and learn more about farming and processing trends. She regularly provides cupping feedback and discusses quality with suppliers, including many experimentally processed lots. 

Ermanno Perotti
Trainer, Sucafina Specialty

He studied Developmental Economics and began by designing sustainable development models for small coffee producers in Central & South America and in Southeast Asia. His interest in effectively integrating small producers into global coffee value chains led him to focus on the sensory and quality aspects of coffee. At the heart of what he does, coffee processing plays a special role. He gained knowledge by running wet mills in Central America and South East Asia, all supported by academical studies. Currently, he works as Global Origins Innovation in Sucafina and as a CQI instructor and SCA trainer.

In this workshop, designed by Toddy, LLC and Accademia del Caffè Espresso (the cultural hub of La Marzocco), we will explore cold brew extraction in comparison with hot water extractions. We will experience the colorful world of coffee through a wide range of brewing variables such as grind size, brew ratios, turbulence, etc. Participants will experience comparative cuppings focused on the sensory comparison of cold brew and traditional brews (french press, filter, espresso). The discussion will center on the different factors that impact extraction. Participants will understand how to adapt and experiment with brewing parameters in order to bring out the maximum flavors of any coffee.

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Price: €125.00

Room: Room 2

Instructor:

Nora Šmahelová
Coffee Education Leader, Accademia Del Caffè Espresso / La Marzocco

Nora Šmahelová is the Coffee Education Leader at Accademia Del Caffè Espresso - the cultural hub of La Marzocco. She has been working more than 20 years in the coffee business experiencing the fascination around this natural product not only from the perspective of a barista and competitor (German barista champion 2002) but also from the view of a green coffee sales person, coffeeshopowner and WCE representative. All these experience brought her to her current position at Accademia Del Caffè Espresso.

Holger Lente
Director of Brand Development, Toddy LLC

Holger Lente, Director of Brand Development at Toddy LLC, brings 20 years of experience in project management and business development in the food & beverage industry. A trained chef, bartender, and former coffee shop & bar/restaurant owner, he also has leadership experience in the hospitality industry. Holger is a certified barista and former SCA Authorized Trainer who lectures internationally on coffee shop management & beverage program expansion.

Lecture Description

This study aims to investigate how the end consumer perceives the quality of aromas and flavors in a beverage and how extrinsic factors can affect this perception."

In this neurocience study, the initial objective is to investigate how consumers perceive the quality of coffee, as opposed to professional tasters. The second phase of the research focuses on exploring the impact of external stimuli on factors such as flavor perception and gastronomic pleasure associated with coffee

The research uses five technological devices simultaneously (Fixed Eye Tracking, EEG, AEF, GSR, and Mobile Eye Tracking) to collect and integrate data from different perspectives on the response of gastronomic consumers to obtain valuable emotional data for decision-making in a real consumption context.

The methodology of the study involved moving beyond laboratory settings and examining the real-world connection between stimuli and consumer perception of special and non-special coffee. To achieve this, the study was conducted in two different settings: a coffeLab and a restaurant.

The tasting panel included coffee consumers, professional cuppers, and individuals who do not typically enjoy coffee.

The findings were surprising and the researchers look forward to sharing them with the coffee community

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 13:00pm - 14:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Josiana Bernardes
Master in Food Technology and Nutrition, IDcoffeelab

Food and Nutrition Technologist
Research in food neuromarketing.
Collaborates with FusionLab Neuroscience and Neuromarketing, for the Food and Beverage area.
Last Research: "How consumers understand quality in coffee"

Scientific background in food science. Master in food technology and nutrition-University of Barcelona, expertise in food ISO. Sensory analysis. Master in water management and treatment-University of Alicante.

Founder of the Idcoffeelab academy - Total quality in coffee. As a coffee expert, she traveled around the world to select specialty coffees, giving courses and consultancies from production, sensory analysis and marketing.

Official instructor of the Specialty Coffee Association SCA. Trainer and advisor, advocating for equal opportunities and sustainability in coffee production and trade in producing countries.

As a Food and Nutrition Technologist, developed research on food quality and consumption. Professional experience in various food products and processes: dairy, dairy fermentation, coffee and cocoa. Experience in certification of ISO quality standards in food; organic wine.

Lecture Description

Coffee production is facing devastating impacts of climate change. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are shrinking viable production regions, while unstable growing conditions and increased risks of pests and diseases are wreaking havoc on coffee farmers’ livelihoods. Although commitments have been made by governments and companies to reduce CO2 emissions, the impacts of climate change continue to wreak havoc on the industry. In this lecture explore solutions from the ground up – led by farmer experimentation, trials, and proven practices that result in soil and field regeneration, climate resiliency, greater productivity, and real carbon capture in coffee plots.

Our panellists will share their experiences and illustrate how small-scale farmers and the industry can collaborate to build greater resiliency and yields, improving the livelihoods of coffee farmers and others connected to the industry. We will discuss how adopting farmer-led practices can achieve soil and field regeneration, climate resiliency, and real carbon capture in coffee plots. By turning words into action, we can address the urgent challenge of climate change in coffee production and build a sustainable future for the industry. Join us for a discussion on agroecological practices and the role of farmers in building real climate resiliency in coffee.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 13:00pm - 14:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenter:

Niels Haak
Director Sustainable Coffee Partnerships, Conservation International & Sustainable Coffee Challenge

Niels Haak is Director Sustainable Coffee Partnerships at Conservation International, a globally operating non-for profit working to ensure a healthy, more prosperous planet that supports the well-being of people. In his role, Niels works actors from across the coffee sector to co-develop programs and solutions that will drive sustainability throughout the coffee supply chains and address critical challenges within coffee producing landscapes. Niels leads Conservation International’s efforts to convene and facilitate the Sustainable Coffee Challenge - a dynamic and diverse coalition of partners from across the coffee sector dedicated to making coffee the world’s first sustainable agricultural product.

Pablo Urbina Aviles
Coffee Coordinator, Fairtrade International

Pablo is the coffee coordinator at Fairtrade International and has been working in the field of certified organic agriculture for more than 5 years. Until 2017, he worked and lived in Nicaragua for Bio Latina as the Coordinator of organic certifications for the Central American Region. Later on, he had the opportunity to move to Peru to work on a project aimed at developing a participatory guarantee system for small farmers in urban and peri-urban areas in Lima. This project focused on improving market access for farmers and promoting their adoption of agroecological practices to strengthen their resilience to climate change. More recently, Pablo was awarded an international climate protection fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany to research how participatory guarantee systems can help farmers improve their adaptive capacity to climate change. Pablo holds a postgraduate diploma in environmental management from the Technische Universitat Dresden and a Minor in Environmental Engineering from the Universidad Centroamericana.

Lecture Description

The presentation will educate attendees on the rapid evolution of human rights and labor due diligence requirements in major coffee importing countries, the potential implications to coffee companies, and the steps that companies can take to meet these requirements, while at the same time supporting farmers to improve working conditions in coffee farms. Verité will present on the evolving legislative landscape, its research on labor issues in coffee regions in Latin America, and the ways in which this creates legal and reputational risks for coffee companies. Verité will also share concrete recommendations for companies on developing and implementing robust human rights due diligence systems, open-source tools and resources to help companies reduce labor risks, and cost effective approaches to address labor risks, based on lessons learned from our pilot projects in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico under the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Cooperation On Fair, Free, Equitable Employment (COFFEE) Project.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 11:45am - 12:45pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Quinn Sandor Kepes
Senior Director, Verité

Quinn Sandor Kepes is a Senior Director at Verité, where he has worked for over 15 years on labor issues in the coffee sector and a number of other sectors across the globe. He has directed a number of company, foundation, and government-funded projects to identify, address, and prevent labor violations in the coffee sector and currently oversees the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Cooperation On Fair, Free, Equitable Employment (COFFEE) Project. Mr. Kepes has conducted and directed field research on labor issues on coffee farms in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil, and Uganda. He leads Verité’s Applied Research for Evidence and Action (AREA) and Worker Agency, Voice and Empowerment (WAVE) practice groups.

Miguel Zamora
Managing Director, Rural Voices/Verité

Miguel has been involved in agriculture for 25 years. His work focuses on fostering regenerative agriculture, strengthening sustainable supply chains and creating opportunities for sustainable trade between farming communities and the food industry.

With Rural Voices CIC, Miguel focuses on amplifying the voice of farming communities, so the perspective of farmers and farmworkers is included in the discussions and decisions of the sustainability initiatives led by food companies, governments, and civil society organizations.

Miguel supports Verité’s efforts to define good practice and create open-source resources to help companies, suppliers, and other stakeholders eliminate labor abuses from global agricultural supply chains.

Lecture Description

Beyond its major role of preservation, packaging is an overlooked (and powerful) branding and marketing tool. Packaging plays an important role in attracting the consumers’ attention and creating sensory, hedonic, and symbolic expectations, which may affect actual product experience.

In our latest series of experiments, we investigated whether the color of the coffee packaging would impact specialty coffee consumers’ evaluation. In a first study, we demonstrated that different packaging colours affected consumers’ sensory, hedonic (i.e., liking), symbolic (e.g., modern, commercial), and functional (e.g., organic, decaf) expectations. In a second study in which the consumers were presented with a coffee bag and then tasted a coffee sample, we showed that their expectations were actually transferred over to perception of the coffee itself, affecting purchase behavior. Moreover, we observed different clusters of consumers based on individual preferences of overall coffee flavour notes (e.g., fruity, nutty, floral).

Despite the global popularity and consumption figures for specialty coffee, there has been remarkably little research on packaging design on consumers’ perception of, as well as their preferences concerning, coffee. Adding value to a product also includes understanding how to create pleasure for the customer. Innovative packaging should optimize meaningful communication though design that guides consumers in their purchase decisions.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 11:45pm - 12:45pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Dr. Fabiana Carvalho
University of Campinas

Fabiana Carvalho is a Brazilian neuroscientist who received her MSc in Biochemistry and her PhD in Psychobiology studying neural processes of perception and memory. She has also worked as a postdoctoral researcher on a project investigating sensory perception as an anticipatory and constructive process instead of a mere passive and reactive process.

She is currently a collaborating researcher at the University of Campinas, Brazil. Her research project “The Coffee Sensorium” is focused on understanding multisensory flavour perception. She is interested in scrutinizing the influence of extrinsic factors (that is, ambiance) on the expectation and perception of flavour in specialty coffee. This research project has been conducted in collaboration with Prof Charles Spence at University of Oxford, UK.

Lecture Description

Correct and relevant sensory analysis methods are vital for developing competencies in specialty coffee companies for product development, quality control, and marketing activities. However, the current methods for sensory evaluation are far from being aligned with scientific principles, which are often considered too difficult and time-consuming.

In 2014 Ida Steen and Morten Münchow set out to develop training programs and sensory evaluation methods for the specialty coffee community derived from sensory science protocols and ISO standards. At WOC last year, they presented data behind their first scientific article on aroma recognition, published in February 2023. This year they introduce new data for an upcoming scientific paper focusing on rapid sensory profiling methods that provide new insights into sensory properties of coffee for different roast degrees and new insight into scientific methods of assessing individual sensory skills using rapid methods.

Data was collected on 109 coffee professionals before and after four weeks of sensory training, and they performed significantly (p<0.001) better after four weeks of online sensory training. Our results demonstrate that this method can be implemented as a daily practice in the coffee industry and that online sensory training is a helpful tool to improve coffee professionals' precision when describing coffee samples.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 10:30am - 11:30am EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Ida Steen
Sensory Scientist, CoffeeMind

Meet Ida, a passionate coffee scientist with expertise in developing sensory training programs for coffee professionals. She conducts consultancy, teaching, and research to help individuals better understand their senses and how to use sensory methods for product development and quality control. With her strong background in sensory science, Ida joined CoffeeMind as a sensory scientist and has devoted her career to creating sensory training tools for coffee professionals.

Ida's work in the field has been recognized in the Journal of Sensory Studies. She published a scientific article showing how online training can improve odor recognition skills. Additionally, she supervises students carrying out coffee research projects at the University of Copenhagen, contributing to developing research practices within the specialty coffee industry.

Lecture Description

The coffee industry is facing numerous challenges, including economic, social, and environmental issues that call for innovative approaches to pricing and supply chain management. Fairtrade has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable and equitable trade relationships between coffee producers and buyers for over three decades.

In this lecture, experts will discuss how Fairtrade is adapting to changing circumstances, including challenges related to climate change, market volatility, and supply chain disruptions. They will also discuss the foundational elements of supply chain transformation – pricing safety nets, Premiums for farmer investment, producer-led solutions, looking at how Fairtrade's minimum price and coffee standard have evolved and are evolving to better address these challenges and support the livelihoods of coffee producers.

Attendees will have the chance to hear from business about the impact of Fairtrade's pricing standards on their business and from farmers themselves about the value that stable economic standards and bring to their communities. The event will also highlight upcoming trends in the coffee industry where innovation is opening new opportunities for brands and producers to collaborate.

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023
Time: 10:30pm - 11:30pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Armia Ahmad
CEO, Permata Gayo Cooperative

Armia is Chairman of Permata Gayo Cooperative which has been Fairtrade certified for more than 10 years. , Permata Gayo cooperative has grown from small organisation and become one of leader in the coffee business in the region that has capacity to export by themselves as Sumatra Mandheling Certified Coffee.

Transparency, inclusiveness, and democracy is the key of the development beside quality that meet with customer expectation.

Paulo Ferreira Júnio
Commercial Manager - Coffee, CLAC COMÉRCIO JUSTO

Paulo is Coffee commercial manager at CLAC Comercio Justo, Coffee Technology degree by IF Sul de Minas and MBA in foreign trade by Uninter and Q-grader certified by CQI, started the carreer as coffee grower together his family and currently owns in partenrship with his brother Sítio Barba Negra specialty coffee producing High quality Fairtrade and organic certified coffee, Paulo has worked for 8 years as Commercial manager in COOPFAM a Fairtrade Organic Cooperative in Brazil focused in high quality and certified coffee exports. This background gives to Paulo experience as producer, Q-grader and Trader, being able to handle the coffee in the whole supply chain.

Over the past four years, the SCA has undertaken a project to understand, develop, and evolve the SCA cupping protocol as a part of its Coffee Value Assessment project. This year, SCA released a draft of a new cupping protocol, which is anticipated to become the new official SCA cupping protocol. This workshop offers coffee professionals interested in first-hand practical experience with the new protocol a guided, intensive and thorough training session on the evolved protocol. Students will receive descriptive training, including how to use references, and a deep understanding of the affective section of the new cupping system. Multiple tasting sessions will give cuppers experience evaluating various coffees using the new system.

Room: Room 1

Pricing: €125.00

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

Dr. Mario R. Fernández-Alduenda
Technical Director, Specialty Coffee Association

From a coffee producing family in Mexico, Mario R. Fernández-Alduenda has tried to understand coffee for almost 30 years, under the light of food science. He has played many roles along the chain, from processor to coffee shop owner, but has mostly focused on the study of coffee flavor, how it is perceived and appreciated, and how it is formed. He is the Technical Officer of the SCA, which he joined in 2020.

The importance of water quality to assure the best expression of your coffee in the cup is now a well-known fact.

SCA has created the ultimate guide with water filtration techniques and the suggested parameters clearly defined on a water chart.

So first we need to MEASURE :

The SCA guide indicates which elements we should measure in our local using some simple instruments found on markets worldwide.

This workshop will instruct you on how to precisely measure these elements such as total hardness and alkalinity.

Once the characteristics of local quality are found, we need to AIM :

Based on the SCA water chart, our local water quality can find its specific allocation, and from their we can decide where we want our coffee extraction to point.

With higher total hardness we have a greater probability of extracting more sweet and fruity notes from our coffee, while greater alkalinity will give less acidity and more flat extractions.

After knowing where to aim, we have to decide then how to TREAT our water :

Different water filtration systems currently on the market will provide different effects on the water, moving the initial point around the chart either diagonally or vertically.

Three simple steps to assure the perfect water quality.

So are we complete, or is anything missing ? Can we be “tricked” by our water not reading important factors such as high levels of chlorides ?

How can we recognize if our local water has already been treated ?

Besides going through the A-B-C’s of water measurement, mapping and treating, this workshop will also guide the participants through unexpected situations and give them the tools needed to correctly analyze and manage their actions

The workshop will be completed with a tasting session where different water qualities are used to brew the same coffee.

Price: €125.00

Room: Room 2

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

Sergio Barbarisi
International Key Accounts Manager, BWT water+more

Sergio Barbarisi is a well-known expert in water filtration dedicated to the horeca and vending markets.

Born and raised in northern Italy, he began his professional career inside the vending machine industry working for Italian manufacturer N&W as well as for the largest vending operator, pursuing also his professional career for 1 year outside of Italy in Denmark, before specializing in water filtration systems.

He managed the start-up of the Italian subsidiary for one of the major manufacturers of water filtration systems, after which he passed to the competition to set up once again a newly formed Italian subsidiary. After many years as Managing Director of BWT Water+More Italia, he is currently taking the lead role in managing International Key Accounts for the entire BWT Water+More group.

Deeply involved in SCA activities, his vast knowledge of the relationship between water, machines, and finally coffee has been made available to all through many lectures handled already worldwide by SCA and the Coffee Technicians Guild.

Lecture Description

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has been working to support ICO producing member countries to address their challenges and close the gaps between their current preparedness levels and the new compliance requirements they are facing. Our goal for the session is to reflect together, sharing the ICO, Coffee Public-Private Task Force and audience’s different perspectives, on the best ways to achieve Due Diligence legislation that will lead to sector sustainability.

Date: Thursday June 22, 2023
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Lecture Room 2

Vanúsia Nogueira
Executive Director, BSCA

Vanusia Nogueira holds a PhD in Administration/Marketing from Rosario National University in Argentina, a BS in Systems Engineering and Administration from PUC-RJ and MBAs and post-MBA focusing on Management, Marketing and Advanced Project Management from FGV-RJ. She comes from a family of coffee producers, and was a partner at PwC Consulting, where she worked for 15 years. She started working directly with coffee in 2002, always focusing on niche markets. She has served as executive director at BSCA since 2007. In February 2022, she became executive director elect of the International Coffee Organization.

Lecture Description

Roasting procedure is depicted through an animation, where all physicochemical changes are depicted inside and outside the coffee bean cells . Furthermore, the monitoring of carbon dioxide release from roasted coffee beans is explained, during roasting and storage conditions. However, physicochemical phenomena affecting extraction mechanism are explained extensively. Finally, a different approach of an espresso beverage is presented.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 03:30pm - 04:30pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenter:

Evi Varka
Quailty Control and R&D manager, AVEK S.A

Evi Varka is a Post Doc fellow graduated from the Chemistry Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is quality control and R&D manager the last 10 years in AVEK S.A. Her research topics are focused on surfactant synthesis and characterization, stability study of food emulsions and kinetics of emulsification. She is specialized in food systems and interface studies, most focused on green coffee beans and ideal roasting conditions. Her writing work includes 22 publications in international scientific journals (citations: >100, h-factor: 7, Scopus November 2020) and more than 25 oral/posted presentations at international and national conferences.

Lecture Description

It’s easy to take for granted that every single cup of coffee we drink was created as a result of breeding that happened yesterday. It follows that to secure the future of coffee in the face of the climate crisis, breeding better trees is essential for both adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change—and delivering higher quality in the cup. But, globally, coffee breeding programs are in danger of being overtaken by events, unable to generate innovations quickly enough to respond to the growing climate crisis.

Despite this urgent situation, the outlook in coffee is promising—because the industry has come together to take concrete, pragmatic global action to respond to the enormity of the climate crisis with modern agricultural science. In 2022, World Coffee Research launched the Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network, an industry-funded and -driven program that brings multiple countries together to collaborate, for the first time in history, to develop and release better coffee varieties tailored to the unique needs of each countries’ farmers and markets, and the realities of a warming planet. The outputs of this program will shape the future of coffee agriculture for decades to come.

In this panel, WCR will share its perspectives on the future of breeding and coffee agriculture, and why collaboration has become the new imperative.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 15:30pm - 16:30pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Emilia Umaña Acosta
Nursery Program Manager, World Coffee Research

Emilia is an agronomist and leads the Seed and Nursery Program at WCR and is insterested in all activities related to renovation progrmas, seed systems, propagation methods. The program includes different activities related to making sure that better plants are available and accesible to growers.

Lecture Description

Millions of smallholder coffee farmers face significant hurdles, including market volatility, lack of generational shift, climate change, and now more than ever, new regulations that require them to collect large amounts of data. While digitalization alone can’t solve these challenges, it does offer an excellent opportunity for increased efficiency and easier adaptation to this ever-changing scenario. However, current integration of digital tools in producing countries is challenged by limited adoption rates and minimal benefits for enterprises and agricultural workers at origin. To resolve this, education on digitalization and how to properly integrate it has become a priority.

During this panel, Digital Coffee Future (DCF), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and The Chain Collaborative (TCC) will discuss the current state of digitalization, and how education on the topic can make supply chain actors more efficient and resilient. Thanks to a DCF-led pilot executed in 2022, the panelists will also be able to share lessons learned from their training of 20 cooperatives. The Digital Origin Education Program (DOEP) is a one-of-a-kind formal training program for coffee enterprises at origin, which makes it a unique opportunity to learn more about how supporting them in their digitalization journey can be beneficial for all.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 10:30am - 11:30am EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Elisa Criscione
CEO and Founder, Digital Coffee Future

Elisa is the Founder and CEO of Digital Coffee Future, the go-to source for coffee digitalization information in the industry. Elisa has field experience in Ghana and Colombia, where she first deepened her understanding of the application of digital solutions for the sustainable development sector. During her field work, she also focused her work on community training of agricultural and food-processing best practices, as well as on gender equity. She holds a Master in Coffee Economics and Science from the University of Trieste, an MSc in Food Policy from the City University of London and a BSc in Food and Agriculture from the University of Gastronomic Sciences.

Pascal Ripplinger
Advisor, GIZ

Pascal Ripplinger holds a B.Sc. degree in Applied Geography focused on Spatial Planning and Development from the University of Trier and a M.Sc. in Geography from University of Bonn with majors in Geoinformation, Renewable Energies and Development Studies. Further, he studied International Development Studies at the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble. Within GIZ, Pascal works in the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) as an advisor for digitalization with a main focus on traceability and remote sensing/GIS since 2020. Before joining GIZ, Pascal worked 5 years as a consultant for remote sensing and deforestation-free supply chains as well as in the field of renewable energies.

Nora Burkey
Founder and Executive Director, The Chain Collaborative

Nora Burkey is the Executive Director of The Chain Collaborative, a non-profit organization she founded in 2014 to invest in local leaders in coffee communities around the world. She holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from the Graduate Institute at School for International Training, where she focused her studies on gender in development and food systems. She is part of the Creator’s Group for the SCA Coffee Sustainability Program and is currently an authorized instructor for the program. Under the banner of TCC and in collaboration with other industry colleagues, she also consults on a number of agricultural projects.

Marco Perez
Technical Advisor, GIZ

Marco has a degree in Biological Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) and a master's degree in Renewable Energy Management from the National University of Forestry Sciences in Honduras, with more than 10 years of work experience in different cooperation organizations in Honduras. Within GIZ he worked on the projects Sustainable Management of Natural Resources with a focus on Climate Change Adaptation (PROCAMBIO) and in the pilot initiative of digital traceability for agricultural supply chains INATrace, as an advisor for the implementation of traceability systems in Central America.

Lecture Description

For all the focus on single origin and micro-lots within specialty coffee, blends remain on the menus of many roasters, albeit often viewed as a necessity for an espresso at best, or a way to camouflage cheap or past-their-prime beans at worst.

This panel, will explore blends through three angles:

Dr. Verônica Belchior will explain blending in coffee from a chemical point of view, showing how the interaction of different volatile compounds, sugars and acids in the roasting process can bring balance to blends.

Mihaela Iordache will explore blending from a roasting point of view, placing it in the cultural context of France. By relating coffee blending to the French wine & spirits traditions, she will frame blending as a form of storytelling that also helps to deal with some practical challenges, from creating consistency despite seasonality to assuring a balanced flavour profile.

The panel will be moderated by Noa Berger, Sociology PhD candidate at the EHESS and coffee journalist (Standart, 25 Magazine), who will also present historical and sociological perspectives on blending.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 2:15pm - 15:15pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenters:

Verônica Belchior
Trainer, Veronica Belchior - Coffee and Science

Belchior is a biologist, Msc in Ecology, PhD in Food Science and currently working on her postdoctoral degree in Food Science. Belchior is also a Q-grader and has been working with coffee for 14 years, starting as a barista, then quality manager for a coffee exporter, when she also became part of The Coffee Sensorium Project. Today she has her own company offering courses and consultancy in sensory analysis and chemistry applied to cupping, roasting and extraction, and she also works for an export company, Cocolo Coffee Export.

Mihaela Iordache
Head Roaster & Chief of Operations, Belleville Brûlerie Paris

Mihaela Iordache is the head roaster and COO of Belleville Brûlerie in Paris, France. For the past 5 years, she has focused on blending in specialty coffee and helped launch a series of award-winning Assemblages composed with exceptional single terroir coffees. Mihaela won the 2019 Roast Masters title and has given talks at the Amsterdam and Paris Coffee Festivals.

Noa Berger
PhD Candidate, EHESS

Noa Berger is a Sociology PhD candidate at the EHESS, Paris. She studies the specialty coffee market in Brazil and France.

Noa regularly speaks on coffee culture and history at events (e.g Re:Co Boston, WOC Berlin, Expo Boston), write for journals and magazines (25 Magazine, Standart, Le Monde and Haa'retz). She was nominated for a "Sprudgie" for best coffee writing, included in the "Sprudge 20" list.

Her co-edited book (with Yahel Shefer), "Coffee: East and West" was published in 2021 by the Jerusalem Islamic Arts museum.

Over the past four years, the SCA has undertaken a project to understand, develop, and evolve the SCA cupping protocol as a part of its Coffee Value Assessment project. This year, SCA released a draft of a new cupping protocol, which is anticipated to become the new official SCA cupping protocol. This workshop offers coffee professionals interested in first-hand practical experience with the new protocol a guided, intensive and thorough training session on the evolved protocol. Students will receive descriptive training, including how to use references, and a deep understanding of the affective section of the new cupping system. Multiple tasting sessions will give cuppers experience evaluating various coffees using the new system.

Room: Room 1

Pricing: €125.00

To book your place in this Workshop, head to the World of Coffee Registration Portal and add a session to your booking before checkout. Already registered? Simply enter your registration key to access your booking and add other paid events to your badge.

Instructor:

Kim Elena Ionescu
Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer

Kim Elena Ionescu is the Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), where she develops strategy and leads action on behalf of coffee-centric businesses and organizations both large and small in the United States, Europe, and beyond to tackle the challenges coffee faces now and in the future.

Prior to joining the association, Kim spent a decade buying coffee and creating and directing sustainability at Counter Culture Coffee in North Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two daughters. And although these days she is more likely to be found behind desks and podiums than cupping tables and espresso machines, Kim believes that innovation and collaboration across the coffee value chain are critical for our community to thrive.