New global coffee research initiative announced as companies pledge an initial $250,000
A new long-term initiative to increase the quality and productivity of speciality coffee across the world was announced at the recent speciality Coffee Association of America (SCAA) symposium in California.
The new Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative (GCQRI), has now been launched by a consortium of speciality coffee roasters and agricultural researchers in the USA. together with the help of the SCAA.
In addition to seeking to improve the quality and quantity of speciality coffee, the initiative also hopes to help farmers to receive greater value for their crops.
Already, several high street speciality coffee companies have pledged $250,000 in preliminary funding to support the initiative’s development, with more money expected.
Ric Rhinehart, executive director of the SCAA said “There has never before been an attempt to look globally into the primary motivating factors for coffee quality. What is being proposed … has the potential to revolutionise and improve the speciality coffee business here in the US and globally. It also has the potential to positively impact the lives of tens of millions of smallholder coffee farmers around the world.’
The initiative will be administered by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, part of Texas AgriLife, Texas A&M System.
Dr. Tim Schilling, director for enterprise development and partnerships for the Borlaug Institute, said that it was about time that a “$25 billion dollar global industry like speciality coffee” had “front-end research and development to grow and protect the supply of their product”.
Of course at Caffe Society we know that research is important when buying a coffee machine as well, so that why we have our coffee machine guide so you can do your own research.