See you in Seattle - Artisan at SCAA

Looking forward to the great gathering of passionate, innovative, game-changer coffee people in Seattle next week!  www.scaaevent.org 
If you will be there, too, I hope we cross paths. Here are a few things to look for:

Learn new stuff! Attend one of the two panel lectures I am moderating:

Cost to Produce vs. Price: Producers Narrow Margins

Saturday, Apr. 11, 9:00 - 10:15am
The Conference Center (adjacent to the expo hall bldg.) - Room 304

• Presenter 1: Mark Lundy, International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT
• Presenter 2: Saurin Nanavati, COSA (Committee on Sustainability Assessment)
• Presenter 3: Ben Carlson, Long Miles Coffee
• Moderator: Ruth Ann Church, Artisan Coffee Imports

Economics of Quality & Price: Insights From CoE Auction Data

Saturday, Apr. 11, 10:30 - 11:45am
The Conference Center (adjacent to the expo hall bldg.) - Room 202

• Presenter 1: Norbert Wilson, Auburn University
• Presenter 2: Adam Wilson, Thrive Supply
• Moderator: Ruth Ann Church, Artisan Coffee Imports

Roast Magazine -- Early Release of the May/June edition

Pg. 25, you'll find an article I wrote: "A New Focus on Farm-Level Economics" which reviews Rwanda and Burundi and research related to potato taste defect in those countries.

IWCA Breakfast - Saturday, April 11, 7:30 - 9:00am
With the theme: Inspiring Change: Make it Happen, this breakfast event will recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate the work and achievements of women in all aspects of the supply chain within the coffee industry. (Ticketed - $60)
I have just joined as a volunteer board member and co-chair of the Research & Education Relations committee, so I'm "all in"!

Roasters Guild Party:

Saturday, Apr. 11, 7pm - 1am -- Gameworks (World Sports Grille), 1511 7th Avenue

If you haven't been before, go! This is a great mixer and fun way to finish off the conference. I will look for you.

Hope to see you in Seattle!

SCAA Volunteer Day

All day Thursday I volunteered at the Event in Portland -- this is a great set-up the SCAA has worked out. If you volunteer enough hours, your expo badge is free. I've always found the volunteer jobs enable me to meet so many interesting people it's more than worth the time.

Machiatos by Public Domain

Volunteering for the roasting lab in the morning I met Anne Loewisch of Mitka (Berlin, Germany) and Brad, a new roaster from PA (sorry to have lost the last name!) prepared the 2 lb. bags of several coffees the roasting classes would be using. Also got re-connected with Bob Arceneaux (Orelans Coffee Exchange). We also took the opportunity to try the fine espressos Public Domain was preparing in the lobby (see photo).

Linda Smithers and Allen Leibowitz

In the afternoon I was a porter for the "Roast of the Year" cupping session - where the cuppers' scores for the coffees were determining the "top 5" coffees. The top 5 were then available for "the people's choice" out on the activities floor during the show. The best part about this volunteer job was sharing a cupping with the leaders of the Roasters' Guild (this event is a RG event): Phil Beattie (Dillanos), Tim Dominick, Allen Leibowitz (Zingerman's) and Linda Smithers (Daterra Estate).

Aug. 18, 2011
Arrived at the Stonewall Retreat in Roanoke, WV at 5pm -- just in time for the start of the "newcomers" session. Specialty coffee long-timers like Phil Beattie, Chris Schooley,Chris Wade and Darin Daniels sat down with our small groups to give us insights and suggestions about how to maximize our experience.

The opening session included a fine keynote address by the president of Probat. At dinner we were encouraged to sit with our team. I was honored to be on team #1 with legends such as Paul Katzeff, Thanksgiving Coffee; Willem Boot of Boot Coffee, David Kastle, Swiss Water Process; Tom Owen, Sweet Maria's; Bjorn Dhaese, Dillanos Coffee; Carol McLaufhlin, Gorilla Coffee; Alex Burbo, Intelligentsia; Stephanie Ratanas, Dogwood Coffee; Neal Wilson, Wilson's Coffee; and Mathew Hill, Salt Spring Coffee Roasters. Apparently, they carefully pick the teams to have a balance of experience and in-experience, new-comers and old-timers, also roasters and importers (like me, with Artisan Coffee Imports).

We had a hard time deciding a team name. Eventually we got to "The Luwak Liberation Front." (see photo right, with David Kastle and Tom Owen.)

SCAA Houston - Day 3 - Benefit Breakfast, Lunch & Show Floor

Apr. 30, Started off today with the breakfast benefiting the non-profit International Women's Coffee Association (IWCA). I've attended these breakfasts ever since my first SCAA 5 years ago in Long Beach. Each year I find them so inspirational. They have speakers with fascinating stories and the women around the table are usually like a mini United Nations. It was so great to see Elvy again - an exporter and friend from my trip to El Salvador in 2009.

At an Utz hosted cupping that morning, we cupped Brazils, 2 from Honduras and 1 from Guatemala. I liked the Honduras Cocafelol the best.

For the first time at SCAA, I went to the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) lunch. Since CQI does the Q Grader courses, I feel like I've become part of this circle. Like IWCA, it was impressive to hear about the ways they are working around the globe to assist coffee farmers. I accidentally sat down at a "sponsored" table -- the sponsor being Deli Cafe from Costa Rica. Many thanks to Grace Mena, President of Deli Cafe, who graciously welcomed me, ignoring my faux paux!

After lunch I finally got to the trade show floor. It was a bit of a whirlwind - a mix of pre-planned meetings and visits to booths I'd been planning to visit for weeks. Thanks to Theta Ridge who agreed to have Artisan's decaf Kenyan-Meru sample on display along with their other fine coffees.

After the show floor closed, I was on to my first Roaster's Guild annual meeting. I just joined this year, which apparently is a milestone year. Long time chair, Beth Dominick, was stepping down after an incredible run. There was lots of anticipation for the upcoming retreat in W. Virginia. First time on the "right" side of the Mississippi!

Finished off the evening at Armadillo Palace and the Roaster's Guild party. It was great to see Connie Blumhardt of Roast Magazine and a big crew of SCAA staff.

Caribou: "We don't like to punish our decaf customers."

I had the chance last week to chat with Brett Struwe, fellow Roasters Guild member and Director of Coffee Operations at Caribou Coffee Co. The topic was Caribou's relatively unique and ground-breaking move 5 years ago to upcharge $.1o for a cup of decaf coffee. It says it plain as day on each menu board. Decaf whole bean bags get an upcharge of $1.00.

I asked Brett why. He answered that there was a strategic decision made at the time that they would upgrade the quality of their decaf offering. To them, that meant serving only water-process decaf and toll-decaffeinating green coffee they sourced from trusted vendors (i.e. instead of buying "off the shelf" decaf from a decaffeinator). To cover the costs of this quality upgrade, they had to charge more. A standard "upcharge" per cup and per pound seemed simplest. "Seems to be working, or we wouldn't be doing it, " Brett said.

He commented further on how they are dedicated at Caribou to offering a certain level of quality, even if it means they lose a percentage of the market. Then he made the comment that was so perfect I had to ask if I could quote him in my blog, "we don't like to punish our decaf customers."

Thanks Brett and the crew at Caribou!