Membership

From when we started Driftaway, we have been looking for more ways to contribute to better the lives of coffee growers. We realized that the biggest challenge for farmers was unpredictability. Things like climate change, weather patterns, and coffee plant diseases. And that's where the critical work of World Coffee Research fits perfectly—by helping farmers live more sustainable lives by growing better coffee.

—Suyog Mody, CEO, Driftaway Coffee

Scientific research is an investment to generate the technologies that can provide viable, sustainable farming practices over time.

—Matt Saurage, Chairman, Community Coffee Company

Some problems are so big that they can nearly extinguish hope. Supporting WCR's work, even in a small way, helps us remain hopeful and feel connected to a larger mission.

—David Yake, Director of Sustainability, Tony's Coffee

I strongly believe that World Coffee Research opens the door to an unprecedented opportunity to shape our sector's research agenda collectively to preserve the diversity of origins and improve the livelihoods of millions of farmers.

—Giacomo Celi, Mercon Coffee Group

Lavazza and WCR share the same concerns about origin diversity in the face of the climate crisis, and we believe that the acceleration of innovations in coffee agriculture is possible. [WCR's] objectives truly resonate with companies like ours, not just from an economic sustainability point of view, but also as a supply chain risk management strategy.

—Mario Cerutti, Chief Institutional Relations & Sustainability Officer, Lavazza Group

The roaster and the retailer cannot produce an extraordinary cup of coffee unless they have partners with farmers who share an obsession over quality. But neither Intelligentsia nor the farmers with who we work are scientists. This is where our investment in WCR comes into play. WCR is developing the tools that farmers and roasters need, and I'm hopeful that we will develop, through genetics, even more exciting cups of coffee.

—James T. McLaughlin, Jr., President & CEO, Intelligentsia Coffee

We are long-time supporters of WCR because this battle for sustainability must be a pre-competitive one. We need to share resources, efforts, and knowledge collectively to make the overall coffee industry more sustainable and continue to compete for the taste of our coffee rather for than the title of 'most sustainable.'

—Andrea Illy, Chairman, illycaffè

WCR ensures the future of coffee by bringing the industry together to address critical long-term global coffee supply risks. We need new varieties of coffee to support smallholder coffee farmers, preserve our origin diversity, and ensure consumers can enjoy the spectrum of tastes the expect from their favorite brands.

—Jim Trout, Vice President, Research & Development, The J.M. Smucker Co.

By investing in WCR, we have joined a collective effort to build a more sustainable future for coffee production and improve livelihoods for coffee farming communities.

—Fleur Studd, Melbourne Coffee Merchants

World Coffee Research is truly focused on ensuring a sustainable supply of quality coffee and addressing this with a multi-prong approach. Particularly for coffee connoisseurs, supporting WCR is a sound and needed investment.

—Jim Smith, Royal Cup Coffee

Along with WCR, we aim to invest in the future of coffee to help provide sustainability for the whole coffee industry from the producer to the consumer.

—Chris Miller, Director of Coffee, La Colombe

Climate change and the inheritance of poverty are threatening the lives of coffee producers and the existence of coffee itself. WCR's projects are essential for the future. I'm happy to support them.

— Pil Hoon Seu, Coffee Libre (South Korea)