Mission

With nearly twenty years of experience in the food & beverage industry, Tracy has spent the majority of her career in coffee in a variety of roles throughout its value chain. She is deeply and personally committed to making sure coffee drinkers enjoy their favorite beverages with the confidence of responsible sourcing practices. She holds a M.A. in Communication and Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and a B.S. in Business from Indiana University. In addition, she has completed executive education at Stanford University in strategic marketing.

Shawn Hamilton is the Vice-President of Operations and Coffee Buyer for Java City, located in Sacramento, California. Since 1985, Java City has pioneered initiatives designed to enhance the global village, support the communities and protect the environment. Shawn has been involved in the Specialty Coffee industry since 1987. During his tenure he has worked in almost every facet of the industry from Barista, packaging, roasting, quality control, coffee buying, purchasing, futures and options hedging to executive management. He was instrumental in several mergers and acquisitions within the industry. His experience also includes a proven dedication to the industry and volunteering. Shawn has been a volunteer in Colombia to teach and evaluate cuppers for Coffee Corps, participates as a lead judge in the annual Cupping for Quality for the Rainforest Alliance, and has been a judge for Cup of Excellence. In addition, he is one of the founding members of the Roasters Guild and served for six years on the Executive Council. While on the Executive Council, Shawn served as Chairman and was instrumental in the creation of the overall structure of the Guild. He has also served on the Board of the Pacific Coast Coffee Association. 

Farmer Brothers (CBI) played a founding role in the development of WCR. Mike joined Farmer Brothers in 2012. In the past 100+ years, Farmer Brothers has grown to become one of the leading coffee-focused foodservice suppliers. Recently, Farmer Brothers has refocused on taking a leadership position in the coffee industry, including leading Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and Pacific Coast Coffee Association (PCCA), active participation in the Roasters Guild, and with origin programs with Mercy Corps and Grounds for Health. Farmer Brothers has also revamped its sustainability programs, ramping up our recycling efforts and driving large reductions in water usage and greenhouse gas emissions. In his spare time, Mike is an avid (okay – aging) runner, and active with Feeding America.

James McLaughlin is the president of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea.  Previously he served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Director of Green Coffee.  James' work with coffee began in earnest in Taquaritinga do Norte, Brazil where he was the director of an organic shade coffee farm. Prior to that James was a corporate lawyer for Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He received his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.

Eric Poncon, Regional Director and Global Sustainability Advisor at ECOM Agroindustrial Corp., works to create shared value in some of the most remote areas of the planet. His goal is to ensure producer profitability and real sustainability that leads to poverty alleviation and economic development.  With a keen understanding of the importance of R&D and on how traders can be agents of sustainability, he sheds light into black box supply chains, helping to drive the paradigm shift in coffee sustainability that consumers are demanding.

Edwin C. Price leads the Center on Conflict and Development at Texas A&M, seeking to create and utilize an understanding of the role of development in preventing and mitigating armed conflict. He conducts research, teaching and development on fragile states, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other conflict affected regions.

He was the founding director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture. Within the U.S. university community he has pioneered public-private sector partnerships including formation with the McDonald’s Corporation of the American Potato Trade Association; management of The Coca-Cola Company/McDonald’s/Conservation International Amisconde Project for Central America; and the InterAmerican Development Bank program on intellectual property rights and private investment in research in the Americas. He served in many agricultural research and development roles for the international agricultural research centers, US Department of Defense, US Department of Agriculture, US Agency for International Development, International Fund for Agricultural Development and other UN Agencies.

Ric Rhinehart is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Prior to taking on this position he was the President of a Los Angeles, California based roaster and retailer. Mr. Rhinehart has over the past twenty years held executive positions in several coffee and tea firms. Mr. Rhinehart has designed, developed, and produced a wide range of both tea and coffee products and is co-author of Tea Basics a primer on premium tea, published by John Wiley & Sons in 1998. Mr. Rhinehart is a frequent presenter and panelist on industry issues and trends at trade shows and symposiums. He has served as a Director and Vice President for the Specialty Coffee Association of America, as a Director for Coffee Kids, the Coffee Quality Institute and he was a founding member of the American Premium Tea Institute, where he served on the Board of Directors and as President.

Matt Saurage is Chairman of the Board and the fourth generation in the largest family-owned coffee brand in America. Saurage believes in coffee research, particularly that which focuses on origin and agriculture, and is pleased to be part of a research program that allows information to be shared broadly and freely within the coffee industry. 

Marc Schonland is the Vice President of Coffee Strategy and Innovation for Royal Cup Coffee, where he is responsible for sourcing and identifying new coffee origins, developing new blends, overseeing Royal Cup’s risk management programs, supporting its sustainability initiatives and achieving greater market insight. Marc is an international coffee and quality specialist. A native of South Africa, he has worked in leadership assignments in coffee procurement, trading, marketing and international logistics in five countries—the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Kenya and South Africa. Prior to joining Royal Cup, Schonland served as senior director of commodities at the buying organization for Dunkin’ Donuts, vice president of green coffee at Starbucks and regional coffee manager at Louis Dreyfus Commodities.

Brett Smith is the co-founder and President of Counter Culture Coffee of Durham, North Carolina. Founded in 1995, Counter Culture Coffee is a different kind of coffee company. Dedicated to finding and bringing to market the most exciting, authentic, and delicious coffees in the world, Counter Culture Coffee approaches their work with a passion for the ideal of coffee perfection, a dedication to real sustainability, and a commitment to cutting-edge education throughout the coffee chain. Brett also serves as a director for SouthWings; a non-profit promoting environmental conservation through aviation.

Furio Suggi Liverani is director of illycaffè Research, member of illycaffè strategic board and past President of Biosensor Technologies (an Area Science Park biotech company).He has contributed to several projects of industrial and laboratory organization and to the development of illycaffè operation information system. He has developed technologies and innovative products such as an electronic coffee sorting machine. In 1993 he introduced the use of Internet and multimedia to the company, actualising in 1996 the web site www.illy.com . In 1998 he founded, on behalf of illycaffè, AromaLab, a laboratory focused to the study of coffee chemistry, located in the Area Science Park of Trieste. Currently he is board member of Qualicaf, president of coffee department of Trieste Industrial Association, member of scientific committee of ASIC (International Association for Coffee Science) and member of the “ Italian Congress of Artificial Intelligence” committee.

Jim Trout has more than 23 years of product development and innovation management experience, including 14 years in coffee. In 2008, Jim joined Smucker from The Procter & Gamble Company as part of the Folgers acquisition. In his current role, Jim oversees coffee research and development, the coffee innovation portfolio, as well as several strategic innovation partnerships. Prior to Smucker, Jim held numerous R&D management and staff roles at Procter & Gamble in the areas of process development, formulation, device development, and program management.

Jim’s career has focused primarily on the food and beverage industry, and has spanned several product categories including oils, coffee, and salted snacks. Jim currently holds 18 U.S. patents. He graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Jim lives near Cleveland in Broadview Heights, Ohio with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he is a board member of BioHio Research Park and volunteers with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Doug Welsh is Vice President of Coffee for Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Peet’s was established in 1966 in Berkeley, California, fount of the farm to table renaissance in American foodways. Originator Alfred Peet brought the focus of the industry to the finest grades of Arabica coffee and the pursuit of roasting as a craft. As only the third Roastmaster at the pioneering company and leader of the quality movement. 

Doug is responsible for coffee overall, from sourcing to the blending, roasting, and brewing of a superior customer experience. Among other international fora, he has served as a judge at Cup of Excellence, speaker at Symposium, and is past President of the Pacific Coast Coffee Association. Doug resides in Berkeley and holds degrees in Sociology and Law from the University of California.

Keith Writer is the Supply Director and an experienced member of the leadership team responsible for creating long-term strategy and the day to day running of Taylors. With overall responsibility for all direct purchases including coffee, tea and packaging in addition to research and development and sustainability for the Taylors business.

With over twenty years of experience Keith has traveled extensively around the world seeking out the top quality teas and coffees enjoyed by Taylors of Harrogate customers, including bringing to market new organic teas, rare teas and coffees and a herbal range. Travel is integral to his job and he spends several months in the course of the year visiting suppliers and growers worldwide, creating and sustaining strong direct relationships that are key to the business' approach to sourcing. Keith is a past member Board member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, United Kingdom Tea Council and British Coffee Association.

With a background in secondary education and sustainability, Monique has an MBA and an MS from the University of Michigan.

Coleman Cuff is the Managing Director of Starbucks Coffee Trading Company, responsible for the company’s global green coffee purchasing and quality control. He oversees agronomy offices in coffee producing countries as well as milling and export operations in both China and Costa Rica, where Starbucks operates a demonstration and research farm.  He plays an integral role in supporting the company's sustainable sourcing mission through CAFE Practices development.

Frank Dennis is the president and CEO of global decaffeination leader Swiss Water. A certified Q Grader, Frank has decades of experience in the coffee industry. As Managing Director at Kraft Foods he oversaw not only the growth of the SWISS WATER® Process brand, but also the development of such household brands as Nabob and Maxwell House. Excited by the potential in the coffee market for the SWISS WATER® Process, Frank left Kraft Foods when SWDCC became its own entity in 2000.