Various organisations aligned with the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) have given their public endorsement of the proposed u undefined
nification with the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) as American members cast their vote on the issue.
The Baristas Guild and the Roasters Guild of America, as well as the SCAA’s Sustainability Council have all released videos outlining their support for the proposed move.
The coffee industry's peak research body, World Coffee Research, has also come out strongly in support of the move, saying unification is in the interests of building a stronger global coffee industry for all involved.
“A unified trade association is able to more clearly articulate a shared industry vision for what the future of coffee should look like for coffee farmers,” a statement from WCR said.
Additionally, founding member and first Executive Director of the SCAA, Ted Lingle, has published a blog on the Association’s website outlining his reasons for supporting the move.
“There is a huge risk in taking no action on this issue,” Lingle writes. “The need and demand for a unified program is so great in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, India, and the Middle East that some group will figure out how to do this. When they do, there is no guarantee that the same core values will remain as integral parts of the specialty coffee industry, which would be a significant set back for the coffee producers on which our industry is entirely dependent.”
The Baristas Guild video can be viewed here.
The Roasters Guild video can be viewed here.
The SCAA Sustainability Council’s video can be viewed here.
You can read Lingle’s full blog post here.
Members of the SCAA have until 5 August to cast their vote on the question of unification with the SCAE.
Members of the SCAE voted in favour of the proposal in May.