News and knowledge

A new, open-access study published in the Journal of AOAC International describes a way to authenticate Arabica coffee varieties using an SSR DNA fingerprinting method and describes how the method can help move the needle toward a more professional seed sector. The method has been used by World Coffee Research on over 2,500 coffee samples from farms, seed lots, and nurseries around the world; the authors confirm that, depending on the variety, genetic conformity (meaning the tested plant is indeed the variety it is thought to be) can range from under 40% (for a Gesha) to over 90% (for Marsellesa).

A new study published today used modern genetics tools to trace the history of the Coffea arabica species, the most common and economically important commercial coffee crop species worldwide. Researchers confirmed the significantly likelihood that C. arabica derived from a single speciation event, a spontaneous coupling of individuals of two different species—Coffea canephora and Coffea eugenioides—that brought together the two genomes to create a new species.

World Coffee Research is pleased to announce the appointment of George Kotch to the position of Research Director. The position is the senior scientific leadership position at the collaborative research nonprofit, responsible for leading WCR’s global research portfolio and building partnerships.

In November 2019, 12 coffee farmers in Jinotega, Nicaragua took a break from the intense work of harvesting the coffee on their farms to gather in front of the street—the term in Spanish for the space between rows of coffee trees on a farm.

This week, global green coffee supplier Mercon Coffee Group announced a long-term partnership with World Coffee Research. With the announcement, Mercon becomes the only green coffee supplier to fill a seat on the WCR's current board of directors, funding both WCR’s full portfolio of agricultural research and development activities and carrying out collaborative, on-farm research initiatives in Nicaragua and Honduras.