MILAN, Italy — The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) announces two important new developments in the SCA Coffee Value Assessment (CVA); a global introductory and immersive events initiative and a Patrons program to facilitate philanthropic support for the continued growth and development of the initiative.
SCA: Global events initiative
Starting in Summer 2023, the SCA has been facilitating a number of small, community-based Coffee Value Assessment events for experienced cuppers and coffee professionals.
Typically taking place over two to three days, these events are designed to inform and guide participants through the theory of the CVA and structure of the new assessment forms.
So far, these events have been held in New York City, Guatemala, Ireland, Spain, Peru, Japan, Mexico, and Honduras with more to come in late 2023 and throughout 2024.
These individual events feature two main elements; an informational session based around the theory and development of the SCA Coffee Value Assessment and a practical, immersive “CVA Course for Cuppers”, designed to guide participants as they use the newly developed cupping assessment forms and take part in sensory and theory exercises.
Below are details of confirmed, upcoming courses:
SCA Coffee Value Assessment Course for Cuppers
November 9-10, 2023 / 9:00am – 5:00pm | Belforte del Chienti, Italy
SCA Coffee Value Assessment Course for Cuppers
November 14-15, 2023 / 9:00am – 5:00pm | Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
SCA Coffee Value Assessment Course for Cuppers
November 28-29, 2023 / 9:00am – 5:00pm | Waterbury Center, Vermont, USA
For more information about registration, course details, availability, and more, head to sca.coffee/cva-events
SCA coffee value assessment patrons program
The SCA is committed to improving its tools to improve market access and equity throughout the specialty coffee supply chain and the continued development of the Coffee Value Assessment is part of this commitment.
To facilitate the SCA and Coffee Science Foundation’s continued research and development of the Coffee Value Assessment, the SCA launches an official Patrons Program for companies and organizations to engage with this meaningful work and support the further refinement and development of the system.
For a low donation amount, a participating company or organization will receive two years continued acknowledgement of Patron support in select Coffee Value Assessment outputs, such as promotions on SCA social media channels, at SCA events, on sca.coffee and coffeescience.foundation websites, as well as use of an official CVA Patron badge for company marketing and communications.
CVA Patrons will also receive early access and special offers for upcoming CVA events and promotions.
For more information about the SCA Coffee Value Assessment Patrons Program, please complete the form here.
About the SCA Coffee Value Assessment System (CVA)
After three years of research and development, the SCA is evolving the tool the global industry uses to discover value in coffee. The Coffee Value Assessment System offers a complete, “high-resolution” picture of a specific coffee across four assessment types, completed separately to avoid bias.
Driven by the SCA’s sustainability agenda, which emphasizes equitable value distribution throughout the supply chain, the system aspires to be a powerful tool to help measure and facilitate value assessment and distribution. It simultaneously integrates advances in sensory and coffee science, making it compatible with scientific research for the first time, as well as learnings from a large user-perception research project conducted with the specialty coffee community.
Despite its broad reach within the coffee sector, the 2004 SCA cupping system had not been thoroughly investigated or substantially updated since its creation—and the SCA is committed to improving its tools to improve market access and equity throughout the specialty coffee supply chain.
The new Coffee Value Assessment System, an evolution of the 2004 SCA Cupping and Grading Protocol guided by the results of a user perception survey of 1600 cuppers worldwide, has been in testing with groups of cuppers in Europe, Latin America, and the US in 2022. Learn more here.
About The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF)
The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) is a support organization of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) that serves as the research arm of the SCA. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of coffee and securing its future through research, knowledge-building, and outreach.
The CSF is a unifying force that drives collaborative, pre-competitive, and scientifically rigorous research that benefits the entire coffee community, including the coffee-consuming public.
The results of CSF-managed projects are then disseminated to the global coffee community at events, through publications, and coffee education programs. Learn more about CSF at coffeescience.foundation.
About the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)
The SCA is a trade association built on foundations of openness, inclusivity, and the power of shared knowledge. The SCA’s purpose is to foster global coffee communities to support activities to make coffee a more sustainable, equitable, and thriving activity for the whole value chain.
The SCA acts as a unifying force within the specialty coffee industry and works to make coffee better by raising standards worldwide through a collaborative and progressive approach.
Dedicated to building an industry that is fair, sustainable, and nurturing for all, the SCA draws on years of insights and inspiration from the specialty coffee community. Learn more at sca.coffee.
