Speciality Coffee Association Expo Recap

In April, this gang took a quick weekend trip to Portland, OR for the annual Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) Expo. A trade show for coffee: What could be better?! 

The SCA Expo is one of the most important coffee events in the world, bringing together coffee professionals, roasters, equipment and packaging manufacturers, coffee producers and importers, beverage and food makers, and tea producers from all over the world. It’s a chance to share knowledge, build relationships, and discover new trends and products in the coffee industry. This year’s event was no exception and was filled with a huge exhibit hall, informative lectures, hands-on workshops, and of course a lot of really good coffee! We had to consciously pace our intake to avoid the caffeine jitters and other unpleasant side-effects I will leave to your imagination. 

As a coffee roaster and cafe, we were excited to take in The Expo and meet with some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry who share our passion for quality coffee. It’s always good to connect with like-minded folks who “get it!” Here are some of our highlights:

• One of the most exciting things we saw was the increasing accessibility to buying coffee directly from producers. In recent years there has been a wave of emphasis on the social and environmental impact of coffee production, which we have ridden since we started! But we learned of some exciting new ways to make transparency easier that we’ll share more about in the future.
• We took in several lectures and workshops, our favorites were on green coffee buying and inventory management, equipment adjustment and maintenance, and perceptions of coffee packaging and color. 
• Lastly, it was encouraging to see that specialty coffee continues to grow in popularity around the world. It was a good reminder of why we were drawn to coffee in the first place! Coffee brings together international farmers and producers, local roasters and cafes, small businesses, and our awesome customers. It’s a unique, exciting, multi-faceted business to be in, and we couldn’t be happier about that.

To sum it all up, the SCA Expo was fun and informative, and deepened our commitment to bring you the best possible coffee. We’re proud to be a part of such an incredible industry and we’re thankful for your business and support- you literally make it all possible!