Shifting Identities | 25, Issue 24
Editor LAUREL CARMICHAEL, introduces 25, Issue 24.
The coffee sector is in constant flux. Increasingly our definitions of consumer, creator, and producer are blurring, and even our understanding of coffee itself is being redefined.
Rather than searching for a paradigmatic change or heralding a “new wave,” the authors in this issue of 25 explore fluid and shifting identities in coffee, inviting us to perceive, understand, and thoughtfully respond to the transformations happening around us.
Beginning in Business, Kosta Kallivrousis investigates how digital natives are redefining their identity as coffee consumers—moving beyond passive purchasers to become active co-creators with their favorite coffee brands. Brand loyalty, he argues, emerges when businesses recognize and embrace consumers’ desire to become creative partners, and build both products (such as drink recipes or retail packaging) or experiences (including collaborative events) together.
In Insight, Anna Luiza Santana Neves shares results from a study on coffee and food pairing preferences in Brazil. Moving beyond coffee and cake to discuss pão de queijo (cheese bread) and tapioca, their study shows how these pairings reflect sentimental habits, cultural identities, and regional traditions, rather than just sensory compatibility.
Two authors further explore specialty coffee consumption in countries conventionally perceived as “coffee producing.” In Insight, Jordan Buchanan shares testimony from pioneering specialty café owners in Puebla state, Mexico, exploring their journeys into coffee and tracing their motivations and challenges as they grew the local scene. Also in Insight, Daniel Muraga explores a burgeoning café culture in Nairobi, Kenya. As urbanization literally blurs the boundaries between coffee production and consumption areas around Nairobi, Muraga describes how coffee competitions, consumer and professional education, and coffee tourism are increasing the perceived value of Kenyan coffee at home.
This issue encourages us to challenge binary definitions of “consuming” and “producing” countries and to reflect on the language we use to describe the interconnected coffee system. In Viewpoint, Alexa Romano and Vera Espíndola Rafael share their reflections on two dialogues on equitable value distribution in coffee, held in Mexico in 2024. They remind us to interrogate the cultural and linguistic norms of discussion and move toward intentional dialogues that disrupt power imbalances and truly center women coffee producers’ voices.
Finally, two SCA staff-written features examine how we define, assess, and describe coffee itself. In Research, we report on a Coffee Science Foundation research project to establish sensory thresholds of common green coffee defects. The aim is to ensure that the logic behind green grading systems is grounded in rigorous science and reflects what we can smell and taste, not just see. In the Program Spotlight, we share learnings from the 2025 Re:co Spotlight event, which sought to build a foundational common language to help the sector navigate the controversial debate on adding “stuff”— from flavoring additives to microbial starters—to coffee.
This issue reminds us that how we understand the coffee system and our place in it is always shifting, whether through gradual changes or dramatic transformations. As active participants in coffee’s evolution, we have opportunities to determine what comes next. What assumptions about consumer, producer, and coffee identities must we question? And, how can we celebrate the diversity of roles and perspectives while building toward a common language? ◊
LAUREL CARMICHAEL (they/them)
Editor, 25
We hope you are as excited as we are about the release of 25, Issue 24. This issue of 25 is made possible with the contributions of specialty coffee businesses who support the activities of the Specialty Coffee Association through its underwriting and sponsorship programs. Learn more about our underwriters here.
