Tag Archives: SCAA

262. Counter Culture interview: The social impact of microlots

2012-04-21 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

Kim Elena Ionescu probably needs no introduction. The Counter Culture Coffee Buyer and Sustainability Manager has been sourcing great coffee for years for one of the leading brands in specialty coffee. Along the way, she has been steadily moving the company toward more sustainable and transparent sourcing practices, and showing a way forward for other […]

261. Measuring Direct Trade’s impact

2012-04-19 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

Later this week, Counter Culture Coffee will present the results of its study “The Social Impact of Microlots” to an audience at the 2012 SCAA Expo. I am excited about the report because it directly addresses two issues that have been the source of much discussion on this blog in recent years: the potential for […]

260. Brewing change: Rick Peyser and the rise of sustainability in specialty coffee

2012-04-18 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

Every year the SCAA’s “big event” plays host to countless “small events” — receptions, fundraisers, competitions, press releases, big announcements, etc. One of the “small events” I am looking forward to most eagerly this year is the release of “Brewing Change,” a new book about Green Mountain’s Director of Coffee Community Outreach and Social Advocacy […]

259. “Downstream”

2012-04-17 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

Two of my colleagues here in Latin America, one a water resource management specialist and the other an authority on agroforestry and climate change, will deliver a presentation at the 2012 SCAA Expo on Saturday on coffee and water resource management at origin. The presentation, which fills a persistent gap in the SCAA lecture lineup, […]

257. The sources of hunger in the coffeelands

2012-04-11 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

A friend at SCAA recently invited me to submit a 1200-word article to The Specialty Coffee Chronicle on the sources of seasonal hunger in the coffeelands and promising approaches to addressing it. I guess I got a little carried away with the assignment – my initial draft came in at closer to 3000 words. Thanks […]

251. SCAA 2012: The view from the coffeelands

2012-03-12 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

In keeping with an annual tradition started back in 2009, today I publish my third annual preview of “don’t miss” SCAA presentations. This year, I divide my picks into two “streams of enlightenment” — “downstream” presentations that push knowledge of origin toward the marketplace, and “upstream” presentations that bring market intelligence to farmers and agencies […]

245. Coffee, impact and “Big Data”

2012-02-20 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

Recent discussions here on the topic of assessing impact at origin have mapped into broader currents of conversation within the specialty coffee industry and society at large about how increasing data flows affect our day-to-day decision-making. Or don’t.

200. The Reporting Collaborative

2011-09-26 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

This month, I have returned to an issue that has been a favorite here: reinvestment in the coffeelands. Last week, I summarized the results of the SCAA survey on industry giving at origin and mentioned two of the SCAA’s conclusions: most companies “lack a structured approach to giving” and don’t necessarily get all the information […]

199. SCAA survey: How the industry gives

2011-09-21 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

More than a year ago, I received an invitation from the SCAA (along with 4,013 others, it seems) to respond to its “Philanthropic Activity Survey.” Today, I finally got to see the results, which suggest that the industry and the beneficiaries of its philanthropy may benefit from a more deliberate form of reinvestment in the […]

197. Introducing SROC

2011-09-05 Coffeelands Staff Comments Off

Social Return on Investment, or SROI, is a holistic approach to measuring return on investment that goes beyond financial returns to consider also an investment’s social, economic and environmental impacts. The farmers of the 5 de junio cooperative in Nicaragua, in partnership with the Fabretto Foundation, a local NGO dedicated to promoting food security, seem […]