In two weeks time a number of the biggest decision makers in coffee will meet in New York City for Allegra Strategies’ World undefined
Coffee Portal CEO Forum.
Senior executives from Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Dunkin’ Brands, Cinnabon, Lavazza, Juan Valdez Café and Eversys are among those who have confirmed they’ll be in New York for the event on 24 September.
“New York City is one of the most globally influential cities in the world, not to mention one of the largest coffee drinking,” said Allegra’s CEO Jeffrey Young. “It seemed only right to launch our first ever Global CEO Forum in New York, a city where cultural diversity, creativity and innovation is celebrated.”
Keynote speaker, Starbucks United States Group President, Cliff Burrows will discuss the ways Starbucks uses its scale for good. Burrows will provide perspective from the coffee giant which has earned a reputation for corporate responsibility. In fact, Starbucks announced this year that 99 per cent of its coffee is now ethically sourced.
Adding to the discussion on sustainability, S&D Coffee & Tea’s Vice President of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives, Tracy Ging will provide insight into how much sustainability really matters to the consumers. Specifically Ging will discuss how young coffee drinkers reward or punish companies based on sustainability practices.
La Colombe Torrefaction’s Founder and CEO Todd Carmichael will be one of a number of speakers representing the specialty industry, with his address titled Growing a Specialty Coffee Company.
In addition to building a successful coffee roastery, the inspiring Carmichael is a philanthropist, contributor to Huffington Post, TV host and once completed a solo trek across Antarctica.
CEO Forum attendees will wrap up the days discussion with a black-tie dinner, followed by a charity art auction.
The auction will raise money for Project Waterfall, an initiative developed by the Allegra Foundation to bring clean water to producing countries. Since 2011, the initiative has raised more than US$350,000.
The CEO Forum is running in conjunction with New York Coffee Festival, which will replicate the festival model from the London and Amsterdam Coffee Festivals.
NY Coffee Festival is running from 25 – 27 September in which time it will host the next Coffee Masters competition.