Where to find us, September–November 2023

Association for the Science and Information on Coffee (ASIC) Conference | Hanoi, Vietnam | September 11-14, 2023

Presentation: The Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network*
Thursday, September 14 | 8–8:40 a.m.

The future of coffee agriculture depends on accelerating the development of better varieties. Given the timelines for breeding a tree crop like coffee and the reality of climate change, using modern breeding tools to speed up genetic gain and multi-environment testing is absolutely essential. Further, using principles of demand-led breeding ensures that finished varieties are ones farmers want to grow and that roasters and consumers want to buy.

World Coffee Research, together with nine international partners, recently launched Innovea, a collaborative global network of Arabica coffee breeders. This network will enable achievements that would not be possible for a more traditional breeding program operating within the borders of a single country.

Dr. Tania Humphrey, Director of Research & Development, WCR
Dr. Jorge Berny, Research Scientist, Breeding and Genomics, WCR
Dr. Santos Barrera, Research Scientist, Breeding and Genomics, WCR
Dr. George Kotch, Agricultural Research Consultant, Former Head of Research at WCR
Nick Muir, Breeding Manager, WCR

*WCR will also present two posters at the event. View a list of posters that will be presented here.

Learn more about the ASIC Conference.

World Coffee Conference (WCC) & Expo | Benagluru, India | September 25–28

Presentation: Breeding Climate-resistant Varieties, Climate Change and Mitigation Strategies
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 | 9:00–11:00 a.m.
Salvador Urrutia Loucel, Latin America Director, WCR

Innovating better crop varieties is urgent and essential to meet rising global demand in the face of the climate crisis. But coffee lags behind other crops in innovation. Coffee’s innovation crisis is due to structural rather than technical issues, including a significant investment gap and a highly competitive landscape for producing origins, leading to low collaboration. To accelerate crop innovation in the face of the climate crisis, new models are needed to attract investment and enhance cooperation. In this session, World Coffee Research will explore creative innovation models through the example of Innovea—the first global, collaborative breeding program in over fifty years. The program brings new sources of funding and technical solutions like genomic selection to coffee while using a cooperative competition model to incentivize cooperation.

Learn more about the World Coffee Conference.

Caffè Culture Show | London, England | October 3–4, 2023

Presentation: Ensuring the Future of Coffee: Innovea Global Breeding Network
Friday, October 3, 2023 | 3:30 PM

Alexa Heinicke, Senior Corporate Membership Manager, WCR

It’s easy to take for granted that every single cup of coffee we drink was created as a result of breeding that happened yesterday. It follows that to secure the future of coffee in the face of the climate crisis, breeding better trees is essential for both adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change—and delivering higher quality in the cup. But, globally, coffee breeding programs are in danger of being overtaken by events, unable to generate innovations quickly enough to respond to the growing climate crisis.

Despite this urgent situation, the outlook in coffee is promising—because the industry has come together to take concrete, pragmatic global action to respond to the enormity of the climate crisis with modern agricultural science. In this presentation, World Coffee Research’s Alexa Heinicke will share the organization’s perspectives on the future of breeding and coffee agriculture, and why collaboration has become the new imperative.

Learn more about the Caffè Culture Show.