Filtering by: “Lecture”

Jun
24

A comprehensive metabolomic study of Coffea Arabica from six different countries: discrimination of origin and traceability

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.

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Jun
24

Coffee Island; transforming espresso waste to upscaled products with devotion to our planet

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.

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Jun
24

BiocubacaffE - an open-air laboratory. A unique model of integration between science and farmers improving coffee quality and value to reach the new specialty paradigm

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

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Jun
24

Electrifying coffee: Real time assessments of coffee quality using electrochemistry

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.




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Jun
24

"Understanding Value(s) in Specialty Coffee: Perspectives from 25, the SCA's Biannual Publication

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.

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Jun
24

Navigating the Coffee Market in Challenging Times

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.

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Jun
23

Re-positioning Ethiopia’s Coffea arabica for the Global Premium Coffee Market

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.

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Jun
23

Coffee & Carbon Emissions: a (net) zero sum game in the coffee business?

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.

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Jun
23

Designing Community Cafe’s that honor local (CULTURAL) Values.” - A case study from Lamu Island - the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa - a UNESCO world heritage site

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.

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Jun
23

Understanding Quality: the SCA's new Coffee Value Assessment

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.

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Jun
23

How the end consumer perceives the quality of aromas and flavors in a beverage and how extrinsic factors can affect this perception

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.

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Jun
23

Innovating for a Sustainable Future: How Farmer-Led Solutions are Tackling the Climate Crisis in Coffee

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.

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Jun
23

Farm labor due diligence approaches that benefit workers, farmers and coffee companies

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.

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Jun
23

Beyond freshness: Packaging color and consumer behavior

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.

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Jun
23

A scientific approach to improving your sensory skills

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.

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Jun
23

Investing in the Future of Coffee: The Vital Importance of Fair Prices and Premiums for Farmers

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.

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Jun
22

International Coffee Organization lecture - The ICO Task Force in Action: How to Ensure Inclusive Due Diligence Legislation

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.

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Jun
22

A physicochemical trip from coffee roasting to espresso emulsions explained through videos

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.

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Jun
22

The future of coffee breeding and ensuring that better plants reach farmers

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.

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Jun
22

Education on digitalization: a key to overcoming challenges at origin

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.

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Jun
22

Blending in Coffee: from Matter to Meaning

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.

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Jun
22

From Small to Big: Building a Retail-Focused Quality Control Program

Lecture Description

Quality is a big word. How it is defined in the retail sector is vastly different to the world of cup-scores, roasting technique and rigorous sensory assessment that the specialty coffee industry is known for. Yet, the retail sector is one of the primary means of experiencing specialty coffee.

Any business’s primary challenge is consistency. And in the world of specialty coffee café’s this means adherence to a fixed standard of beverage sensory quality alongside a stellar customer experience. Defining what this looks like for your business is key to the development of any brand identity. But the bigger question is: how do you bring this standard to life in your business and replicate it consistently?

Having scaled the coffee offering with GAIL’s Bakery from a handful to over 100 Bakeries and winning UK & IE Best Coffee Chain in 2017 and 2022, GAIL’s Bakery understands the importance of a quality control program to supporting business success. In this lecture, Jessica Worden and Lisa-Laura Verhoest will share the key elements to building any quality control program for a retail business – regardless of size.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 01:00pm - 02:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenters:

Jessica Worden
Head of Coffee, GAIL's Bakery

Jessica Worden is the Head of Coffee for GAIL’s Bakery. Sharing good coffee with neighborhoods across the UK, she led Gail's Bakery to win Best Coffee Chain UK/IE in 2017 and 2022. She is passionate about contributing to a coffee culture that fosters craft expertise, personal development and authentic customer experiences.


Lisa-Laura Verhoest
Coffee Manager, GAIL’s Bakery

Lisa-Laura Verhoest is Coffee Manager at GAIL’s Bakery. Being passionate about bringing great coffee to bigger audiences, she joined the team at GAIL’s Bakery in 2021 to drive quality at scale. Lisa-Laura is also the 2018 UK Brewers Cup champion and can often be found coaching and supporting first-time competitors.

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Jun
22

Infused coffees from producer and consumer perspective. Are these coffees a good business opportunity or a problem for the industry?

Lecture Description:

Infused coffees have been a hot topic in recent years, sparking conversations and articles examining their processing, the ethics of their production and traceability, and whether or not they should be considered part of the specialty market. This panel will be a discussion between producers, exporters, importers, and roasters, exploring infused coffees in order to present a full range of perspectives and to examine if these coffees present an innovative business opportunity for roasters and producers or if they represent a problem for our industry. We will be highlighting the potential benefits and challenges of this style of production for producers, the differences between some of the various kinds of infused processing, first-hand experiences with marketing and selling these coffees to consumers, and potential commercial uses for specialty roasters.

This panel is designed to be an interactive conversation with audience members in order to hear their insights, answer questions, and further understand their perspectives as professionals and consumers.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 01:00pm - 02:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Vicente Mejia
CEO, ClearPath Coffee

Vicente in the founder and CEO of ClearPath Coffee, a Colombian-based specialty coffee exporting company. With deep experience in international trade, logistics, and agribusiness. He has been selling specialty coffee from Colombia all over the world for the past ten years and has been involved in developing and promoting infused coffees for the last three years.

he is passionate about helping small-scale farmers reach the international market and works to bridge cultural and communication gaps that prevent overseas clients from reaching their ideal providers.

He speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, and holds a Master's in Agribusiness from the University of Buenos Aires.


Rodrigo Sánchez
Producer of Speciality Coffees, Aromas del Sur

Rodrigo is a producer of specialty coffees, born on September 17th 1987 and became the 4th generation in coffee, working for more than 19 years with his family in the production of his crops. Focusing his speciality on co-fermented coffees together with the varieties that have accompanied him in the process. Yara Champion program 2017 allowed him to be champion with one of his great coffees, and today he has managed to respectfully transform each bean, providing experiences and teaching the world the ability to take this significant product to a higher point within the most demanding palates of specialty coffees.


Elkin Ferney Guzmán Vargas
CEO Café y Procesos El Mirador, Aromas Del Sur y Clearpathcoffee

Soy Ingeniero agroindustrial y productor de café especial hace 17 años en Finca EL MIRADOR en Palestina Huila, Colombia, siempre he tenido amor por el campo aún más con el café, por ello siempre imaginaba más allá de lo que podía hacerce en el procesamiento del café. Ha estado muy inquieto al momento de crear protocolos de fermentación y los factores que intervienen.

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Jun
22

Market Analysis To Manage Risk for Roasters and Producers

Lecture Description

Coffee futures impact costs and profits for everyone in the coffee industry. If you’re a roaster, green coffee is one of your largest variable costs. Since this cost – even for Specialty coffee - is driven primarily by coffee futures prices, understanding the inner workings of the coffee futures market is critical for successful business planning. Equally, farmer income and profitability – both core pieces in ensuring the future of our industry – are significantly impacted by the coffee futures market. 

In recent years, market volatility has been exceptionally high. The complexity of the market means predictions often seem inscrutable and opaque. Coffee markets do not operate in a vacuum, however, and a more holistic understanding of global financial conditions and trends in investment flows is critical to developing a well-thought-out market analysis.

In this session, we’ll analyze the market according to 4 main indicators: Fundamental, Technical, Macroeconomic and positioning. We’ll dig into major market moves against historical events. From the Covid-19 pandemic, to the largest Brazil Frost since 1994 up till the recent recession and Fed policies in late 2022, we’ll discuss how those drivers impacted the coffee market. Finally, we’ll discuss navigating risk at origin, insuring viability of farmers. 

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 11:45am - 12:45am EET

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenter

Zahraa Assaad
Machine Learning Specialist, Sucafina

Machine Learning Specialist and Market Analyst at Sucafina based in London, UK. I hold degrees in Computer and Communications Engineering and Business Administration, alongside a specialty degree in Advanced Machine Learning. As a member of the Quantitative Trading Team at Sucafina, I utilise Artificial intelligence and data analytics to build models that trade the futures market and help Sucafina to anticipate market movements, thus avoiding and mitigating risk.

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Jun
22

Delving into the Science and Technology of Coffee Grinding

Lecture Description

This lecture will report on recent progress from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences on the science and technology of coffee grinding. First, we will introduce a methodology for benchmarking high-end parallel burr coffee grinder. A set of parameters will be defined and validated. In particular, the role of ground retention inside the grinder will be highlighted, as a central criterion to assess the performance of grinder. Second, we will explore the impact of particle size distribution of coffee grounds on espresso extraction, with a particular focus on the share of fine.

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023
Time: 11:45am - 12:45pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Chahan Yeretzian
Professor - Head of Coffee Excellence Center, Zurich University of Applied Sciences - ZHAW

PROF. DR. CHAHAN YERETZIAN AT ZURICH UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ZHAW)
> HEAD OF ANALYTICAL TECHNOLOGY
> HEAD OF COFFEE EXCELLENCE CENTER
> HEAD OF POST-GRADUATE PROGRAMS ON COFFEE

Education & Professional Career:
> Since 2007: Professor at Zurich University of Applied Sciences - ZHAW
> 1996-2007: Nestlé R&D on Coffee and Culinary
> Post-doctoral fellow at Technical University of Munich
> Post-doctoral fellow at University of California Los Angeles
> MBA from Univ. of Lausanne/Switzerland
> PhD Chemistry from Univ. of Berne/Switzerland

Board and Advisory Positions

> 2015-18: Board of Directors & Chair of Research Advisory Council of SCA
> 2008-22: Board of Swiss SCA
> Since 2017: Board of ASIC (Association for the Science and Information on Coffee)
> 2017-19: Advisory Board of German Museum in Munich for special exhibition „Kosmos Kaffee“
> Member of Expert Panel “ITC-Alliances for Action Coffee Export Guide, 4th Ed.”
> CEO of Swiss Coffee Alliance GmbH
> CEO & CSO of STEM SA

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Jun
22

Forecasting and Inventory Management for Green Buyers

Lecture Description

This lecture will focus on developing the skills and tools to predict and plan green coffee needs in your roasting operation. From understanding seasonality to unpacking the ins and outs of the supply chain, we’ll break down different INCOTERMS used when negotiating coffee contracts and discuss risk management tools available. We’ll take our discussion all the way to the coffee shop, and hear from roastesr, discussing weighted averages and COGS. You will leave with a better understanding of how to plan your green coffee needs for the year (and years!) ahead and the tools available to make those decisions in a sustainable, confident way. 

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

Location: Lecture Room 1

Presenter:

Alejandro Cadena
CEO, Caravela Coffee

Alejandro Cadena is the co-founder and CEO of Caravela Coffee, a company focused on sourcing and selling high quality green coffee from Latin America.

A native of Colombia, in 2002 he ended his career as an investment banker in the City of London to move back home and disrupt the way coffee was traded at the time, privileging quality, traceability and transparency over volume, and working directly with smallholder coffee producers, empowering them and rewarding them with recognition and prices based on cup quality.

Caravela today partners with more than 4,000 producers in 9 countries and 500 coffee roasters around the world and is the highest rated coffee BCorp in the world.

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Jun
22

How to tame your water

Water can greatly influence the required maintenance intervals and the longevity of your espresso machine. Just as important is the influence of the water on the sensory properties of your coffee beverage. Especially in diluted preparations such as cupped coffee or filter coffee. Depending on the particular extraction method and usage habits, there is more than one optimal water composition. This presentation will cover these basic aspects while keeping it as simple as possible. Finally, the latest research results from recent years will be presented, focusing on the sensory impact of different water compositions, including "designer waters".

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

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presenter:

Marco Wellinger
Head of Coffee Extraction and Sensory, Coffee Excellence Center (ZHAW)

Dr. Marco Wellinger researches coffee at the Coffee Excellence Center at ZHAW (Switzerland). His focus is on disentangling the dynamics of coffee extraction and how to make understanding water more simple. He also performs sensory analysis and is certified as a Q Arabica and Q Robusta grader, SCA sensory professional and authorised SCA trainer (AST). He co-authored the SCA Water Quality and Freshness handbooks. His work with industry partners includes benchmark testing of espresso machines and household filter coffee systems. 2022 he was the main author and teacher of the extraction module in the online course CAS in Coffee Excellence.

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