The view from SCAA Minneapolis
5th June 2008
The Specialty Coffee Association of America's 20th Conference & Exhibition in Minneapolis drew an audience of 7,000 enthusiasts, experts and coffee sector suppliers to the Minnesota city, as well as representatives of the SCAA's sister organisation, the SCAE. Here is an illustrated report of some of the highlights of the four-day event.
Coffee Kids executive director Carolyn Fairman (below) marks the industry charity's 20th anniversary with a film presentation at the opening session of the SCAA's Minneapolis Annual Conference & Exhibition in early May. The event also included a celebration awards dinner for Coffee Kids, during which founder and retiring chairman Bill Fishbein was honoured.
Keynote speaker Michael Shuman urges the industry to "choose local" as a way of capturing consumers' imagination, in his presentation to the opening session of the Conference. "Grow deep, not wide", he suggested, as a successful method for independents to compete with the multinationals. Shuman is the author of the book "The Small-Mart Revolution".
Fashion and music -- both from Ethiopia -- were on show at the Welcome Reception. The Ethiopian presence at the show was strong, as the origin country of arabica presented a series of events at the SCAA event, as this year's Portrait Country.
Specialty coffee pioneer Paul Katzeff of roaster Thanksgiving Coffee responds to a standing ovation at the presentation of the SCAA's awards, where he was honoured for Lifetime Achievement. The awards, presented during the SCAA event, also recognised David Griswold of Sustainable Harvest for Outstanding Contribution; Connie Blumhardt of Roast magazine as Distinguished Publisher; and made two posthumous awards, giving the late Dr Ernesto Illy Special Recognition, and presenting the first Alfred Peet Passionate Cup Award to its namesake, the pioneer roaster and founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea.
Coffee Quality Institute executive director Ted Lingle introduces and honours some of the buyers of the CQI's "Q"-graded coffee at the traditional Institute Lunch held at the Conference. With 358 trained "Q" graders now operating in origin, he said, the CQI's objective measurement system was coming into its own as a method of differentiating better coffees and assuring that they are marketed separately from the standard product.
A Japanese tradition, the siphon brewing system, gets a demonstration on the UCC stand at the Exhibition.
SCAE executive director Mick Wheeler and marketing and events manager Jens Henrik Thomsen, along with web editor Michael Segal, were on hand at the SCAE stand in the Exhibition, to invite visitors to Wonderful Coffee in Copnehagen, recruit new members and distribute the latest edition of Café Europa.