Participation in SCAA Expo 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia

From April 14th to 17th 2016, TRANS SUSTAIN research associate Janina Grabs attended the 2016 Expo of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA),  one of the largest conventions of the coffee industry that gathered 11,000 coffee professionals. The TRANS SUSTAIN team was invited to present the poster “New Insights on Pathways to Sustainability Certifications” as part of a Scientific Poster session. It thus joined researchers from the United States, Costa Rica, Kenya and Switzerland that contributed knowledge about the taste, quality and sustainability of specialty coffee. Main insights from the TRANS SUSTAIN poster include the important role of roaster, exporters and coffee institutions in organizing and leading farmers toward voluntary sustainability certification. Furthermore, data shows the close correlation of sustainability certifications and regions with high altitude and enhanced quality characteristics. The question remains whether low-altitude farmers without such quality advantages have equal access to the benefits of certification. The poster can be downloaded here. In addition to the Scientific Poster sessions, numerous lectures allowed attendees to broaden their horizons on current opportunities and challenges in the coffee value chain. Janina Grabs took special note of the great focus on providing a sustainable price at producer level: “It seems clear to specialty coffee roasters that their business model is dependent on coffee farmers’ continued interest in providing them with great-quality beans. This presupposes a long-term sustainable price that more than covers their production cost and reimburses them for their labor investments. However, production costs vary tremendously between countries, regions within countries, and even between years. This makes the definition of a ‘sustainable price’ very challenging.” TRANS SUSTAIN’s current research on cost structures of certified and uncertified farmers in Honduras, Colombia and Costa Rica will add up-to-date information to the global knowledge base on farmers’ economic reality.

Another focus of the SCAA sustainability sessions were innovative ways to improve sustainability in coffee growing while increasing farms’ resilience to ever changing climatic conditions. “There is an interesting dichotomy at work right now,” explains Janina Grabs. “On the one hand, many best agricultural practices to prevent erosion, manage diseases, battle variable weather conditions and achieve the highest possible quality require year-round attention to the farm and a high level of specialization. On the other hand, the SCAA sessions also highlighted numerous initiatives that focus on coffee farmers’ whole farm livelihood, including non-coffee incomes. Truth is, focusing on coffee alone is becoming increasingly risky, particularly for farmers at lower altitudes that are less likely to secure high quality premiums and are more often affected by pests and diseases. Diversifying your farm with cocoa or fruit trees, by adding livestock or bees to your income sources, or by seeking out off-farm work makes a lot of sense in that scenario.” The current TRANS SUSTAIN survey also investigates whether participation in sustainability certification leads to increased specialization and diverts time and resources from the type of diversification that can lower price and production risk.

Overall, participation at the SCAA Expo confirmed that TRANS SUSTAIN is focusing on the current pivotal questions in sustainable coffee. The team looks forward to share future results with the coffee community in similar fora.