Sustainability is a big issue in the specialty coffee industry (and an equally big talking point). Folks across the industry are always looking for new ways to approach problems, creating solutions that positively impact the coffee industry and the environment. Each year, the Specialty Coffee Association honors companies and individuals looking to create a better future for coffee with their Sustainability Awards, and they have just announced the Finalists for 2023.
The awards, given out as part of the SCA Expo event—this year taking place in April in Portland, Oregon—are broken down into three categories: business model, individual, and project. Finalists are chosen for their “outstanding work in the field of sustainability, promoting sustainability within the coffee world while inspiring others to initiate,” per the press release. They are “only dedicated to confronting the enormous challenges facing the specialty coffee industry—from climate change to gender inequality—but also collaborating across geographies, cultures, and value chain roles, and sharing the lessons they have learned for the benefit of the entire coffee sector.
With nearly 60 submissions for this year’s Sustainability Awards, the selection committee chose a total of 18 finalists, six in year category. The finalists are as follows.
Business Model:
Primavera Green Coffee
Endiro Coffee
Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee
Black Baza Coffee Co.
Steeped Coffee
Bellwether Coffee
Individual:
Ricardo Oteros Sánchez-Posuelo
David Griswold
Jose Rivera
Grayson Caldwell
Mahdi Usati
Andre Hamboer
Project:
Project D.I.R.E.C.T. by Farmer Brothers
The Cooperation On Fair, Free, Equitable Employment (COFFEE) Project by Verité
NKG Bloom by Neumann Kaffee Gruppe
RENACER Coffee Training School by Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
The Technological Park of Innovation in Coffee and Coffee Farming by TECNiCAFÉ
Low-Carbon coffee value-chain project in Kenya by Moyee Coffee, Agriterra, Fairchain Foundation, KDCU, KALRO (Consortium)
The official winner announcement will be made later this month, with the winners being celebrated at Expo at the Re:Co Symposium. For more information on the Sustainability Awards or the finalists, visit the Specialty Coffee Association’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
