Innovea Global Breeding Network named a TIME Best Invention of 2025
Annual list highlights extraordinary innovations changing our world
PORTLAND, Ore., October 9, 2025 — World Coffee Research today announced that its Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network has been named a TIME Best Invention of 2025, recognizing its role in reshaping the future of coffee.
TIME’s annual list highlights 300 extraordinary innovations changing the way we live, work, and thrive. To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations from editors and correspondents worldwide and evaluated each contender on originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.
Launched in 2022, Innovea is the most ambitious coffee breeding effort in history. The network unites governments and research institutions across Latin America, Africa, and Asia to accelerate the pace of genetic improvement for both Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (robusta). By leveraging cutting-edge breeding tools, a world-class scientific team, and global cooperation, Innovea is creating enhanced genetics at an unprecedented pace to deliver climate-resilient, disease-resistant, higher-yielding, and better-tasting coffee varieties.
“Innovea embodies the power of global scientific collaboration,” said Dr. Jennifer “Vern” Long, CEO of World Coffee Research. “We are honored that TIME has recognized Innovea as a transformative force for the global coffee sector. We share this award with the 11 partners around the world who make up this unprecedented collaboration network and who together produce over 40% of the world’s coffee.”
The 11 national partners collaborating through the Innovea Network to secure a vibrant, sustainable future for farmers and industry include:
Costa Rica: ICAFE (Instituto del Café de Costa Rica)
Ghana: CRIG (Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana)
India: CCRI (Central Coffee Research Institute)
Indonesia: ICCRI (Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute)
Kenya: KALRO (Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization)
Mexico: Universidad Autónoma Chapingo
Peru: INIA (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria)
Rwanda: RAB (Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board)
Uganda: NaCORI (National Coffee Research Institute)
United States: USDA ARS (United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service)
Vietnam: WASI (Western Highlands Agroforestry Scientific and Technical Institute)
See the full list of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025 here: time.com/collections/best-inventions-2025.
