Today we are announcing the cancellation of the 2021 World of Coffee (WOC) trade show, scheduled to take place in Athens this June, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We are continuing to pursue an alternative solution for the 2021 World Coffee Championships (WCC), which were to take place at the WOC trade show, and we will have more information on that subject in the coming weeks.

The Specialty Coffee Association has launched the SCA Coffee Directory, a new digital platform connecting buyers and sellers in the global coffee industry.

This week, Sanjeev Dutta, Executive Director of Commodities and Financial Services, told us about the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) located in Dubai, UAE.

We are in conversations with our partners, assessing the viability of moving forward with hosting the 2021 WOC and WCC events in Athens this June. Our community and staff's health and safety remain our top priority. We are committed to communicating a firm decision to you regarding these important events by Friday, February 26.

This week, JAMES RHYS, owner of a specialty coffee company that uses coffee to raise awareness and money for mental health charities, shares his distance learning experience.

This week, CINDY WU, founder of Coffeeland Inc tells us about the company’s Premiere Training Campus in Taiwan.

This week, ANDRES LOPEZ, barista leader at a café in Buenos Aires shares his distance learning experience.

In this SCA Community Spotlight, Daniela Mauro, Marketing & Communications Coordinator of the SCA Italy Chapter, tells us how the chapter’s volunteer network has mobilized to support Italian coffee professionals during the coronavirus pandemic.

In some ways, this issue is all about rebuilding our industry’s foundations.

DAGMAWI I.E. explores the long, obscured history of Ethiopian coffee as told by others, and how owning and changing the narrative can lead it to a more sustainable future.

Postdoctoral scholar SCOTT FROST, PhD candidate MACKENZIE BATALI, Professor JEAN-XAVIER GUINARD, and Professor WILLIAM D. RISTENPART share the results of sensory descriptive experiments at the UC Davis Coffee Center, revealing new trends in brewed coffee that suggest an updated brewing control chart.

LISA ANTOSHAK and EVIE SMITH share the results of an interdisciplinary research project conducted during the summer of 2019 that sought to learn more about the biggest challenges facing coffee producers today.

NICOLE LIN and CHARLEY BIDDLE share their view of the Chinese coffee market, tracing its rise through to the unexpected impacts of 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor LOURIVAL CARMO MÔNACO, a geneticist who took part in the coffee journey that identified several coffee varieties we enjoy nearly 60 years later, recalls the mission. As told to JONAS LEME FERRARESSO.

JESSICA HERNANDEZ visits Oaxaca, Mexico.

In 2003, the SCA put forward a Cupping Protocol as a tool to discover a coffee’s value and sensory attributes. We’re revisiting this protocol now and are asking for input from you, our community of coffee professionals and connoisseurs.

We are actively seeking proposals from individuals from all backgrounds to lead virtual workshops in 2021. Our workshops aim to provide a venue for a more in-depth understanding of different topics relevant to specialty coffee.

This week, GOSIA LENSZIOSZEK, Coffee Excellence Manager, tells us about Matthew Algie’s Premier Training Campuses.

This week, FRANÇOISE RISBOURG, shares her distance learning experience. Originally from Lille, where she worked as a Head of Consumer Experience at a global fashion company based in Denmark, but once COVID-19 hit, she relocated to the United Kingdom and is now looking for her next challenge.

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has chosen the University of Oregon for a four-year espresso extraction research project, supported by the Simonelli Group, "Towards a Deeper Understanding of Espresso Extraction."