Testing for qualified espresso equipment to be used in the World Coffee Championships (WCC) has begun, under the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Certified Commercial Equipment Program.
The program assesses commercial coffee brewers, grinders, and espresso machines to ensure that they have been designed and built to give baristas quality and precision control.
Submitted equipment will undergo performance testing as outlined in a set of standards and evaluation that has been developed by industry experts. Manufacturers can submit multiple models with every submission receiving a test report regardless if it successfully passed.
SCA’s equipment program is based on World Coffee Events (WCE) Qualified Testing, which was the initial equipment qualification used on competition stages.
The Certified Commercial Equipment Program was first used at the World Barista Championship in 2004 with the program becoming a standard for all WCE events in 2011.
Testing is continuously done to ensure the competition stays up to date with equipment as the speciality coffee industry continues to evolve.
The program is a prerequisite for qualified category sponsorship for the WCC. Successful products are marked as “Competition Grade” and can sponsor the competition’s 2022 to 2024 championships. Sponsors can also place sponsorship bids.
Specifications on “Café Grade” and “Competition Grade” are currently being developed.
For more information, visit sca.coffee/sca-certified/commercial-equipment