SCA Chapter Spotlight: Ukraine
In this month's SCA Chapter Spotlight, we caught up with Olena Sereda, National Coordinator (Chair) for the SCA Ukraine Chapter.
The SCA is a global community comprised of local communities who all share the belief that coffee is more than a commodity. We come together to develop and exchange knowledge, expand our network, share our experiences, and to simply make coffee better.
Once a community of like-minded individuals has come together in a location, there’s an option to explore the founding of a more formal structure: an SCA Chapter. These are communities led by an elected committee of passionate volunteers that represent SCA activities in a specific country or regional territory. SCA Chapters are responsible for engaging the community in their local region by delivering education, events, research, and other engagement opportunities.
Can you give us some background information on the coffee culture in Ukraine?
SCA Ukraine was founded in 2003 by the great coffee enthusiast Serhii Reminnyi. He started the coffee movement in Ukraine which led to our first coffee championships and first coffee shops with roasteries, though one could count on one hand only. At the same time, several coffee festivals began to happen, like the Lviv Coffee Festival and some alternative championships. By that time we had strong coffee brands, which were imported, and almost no local roasteries.
Currently, SCA Ukraine is committed to and supports the development of coffee culture in Ukraine, developing an awareness of the consumption of coffee specialty in the country. We have been holding national championships in all SCA disciplines for the past 3 years and the winners of the championships have consistently shown a great result at the World Coffee Championships.
What does it mean to you, individually, to be a part of SCA Ukraine?
For me, to be a part of SCA Ukraine is to bear a conscious personal responsibility for the development of coffee culture in Ukraine and to be part of a large international SCA family.
What are the annual highlights for the SCA Ukraine Community?
This year we held 6 major coffee festivals in the country, part of which were SCA championships, which were attended by 60,000 people and discovered the world of coffee and the organization of SCA.
We have strong team and lots of dedicated volunteers spreading the word of specialty coffee value and involving as many people as possible to promote and create the coffee culture.
We host and co-host every coffee-related event that we can, trying different cities, levels, and areas. More and more coffee shops, local roasteries, and coffee schools are functioning full-time, making the quality of coffee higher and our customers more educated.
This is what makes us really proud and helps us feel the worth of our efforts.
What’s next for the SCA Ukraine Chapter?
In 2020, we plan to make even more efforts for the stable development of the coffee culture of coffee consumption in Ukraine.To do this, we are planning a number of events. For the first time in Ukraine, there will be a national and international roasting camp and a coffee festival of a new format under the auspices of SCA, carrying a large-scale educational message for the coffee professionals.And of course, we will continue to be part of all large-scale national and international coffee events. We have a large, friendly and strong team of volunteers and partners, and plan to represent our country at a high level at the World Coffee Events Championships.