Where to find us, September–November 2023
Over the next few months, World Coffee Research will be in Paris, Hanoi, Basel, Tokyo, Bengaluru, London, and Costa Rica
Between September and November, the World Coffee Research (WCR) team will attend, host events, and present at various conferences and trade shows across the globe, including the Paris Coffee Show, ASIC Conference, SCTA Forum, the SCAJ Conference, World Coffee Conference & Expo, Caffè Culture Show, and Sintercafe. Below is a calendar of the events where you can find us over the coming months.
Paris Coffee Show | Paris, France | September 9–11, 2023
Panel: A Fair Valuation of Coffee Production—The Challenges of Producers and Importers of Green Coffees
Sunday, September 10, 2023 | 10:15–11:30 a.m.
Maud Nicolas, Executive Administration and Membership Manager, WCR
Marcos Matos, Council of Coffee Exporters of Brazil (CECAFE)
May Du Xinmei, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Kefei Café
Souley Manou, Terra Noun
Moderator: Arnaud Causse, Belco
Learn more about the Paris Coffee Show.
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.
Swiss Coffee Trade Association (SCTA) Forum/Dinner | Basel, Switzerland | September 21–22, 2023
Panel: Net Positive Coffee—Dream or Real Opportunity?
Friday, September 22 | 9:30–11:00 a.m.
The ambition for net positive especially in the context of the proliferation of initiatives in coffee—in this panel, participants discuss how the SCTA and Switzerland can position themselves at the forefront of this debate and action plan.
Dr. Vern Long, Chief Executive Officer, WCR
Julie Reneau, Nespresso SA
Rosario Pajuelo, Director, Peruvian Trade Office for Switzerland and France
Roland van der Vorst, Chief Executive Officer, Rabo Carbon Bank
Philippe Schneuwly, Chief Executive Officer, Swisscontact
Katherine Ogiletti, Coffee Network Coordinator, International Trade Centre
Learn more about the SCTA Forum/Dinner.
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.
Specialty Coffee Association of Japan (SCAJ) Conference & Exhibition | Tokyo, Japan | September 27–31, 2023
Presentation: A new era of innovation for coffee agriculture
Friday, September 27, 2023 | Time to be determined
Dr. Vern Long, Chief Executive Officer, WCR
Across the global economy, innovation is a key driving force for resilient growth. And coffee is nothing if not growing: Global consumption continues to rise at an average pace of 2% per year. Yet in many countries, coffee agricultural productivity is not keeping pace, leading to faltering quality and consolidation of the world’s supply of coffee.
In this session, WCR CEO Vern Long will discuss recent work to enhance innovation in coffee agriculture, including a focus on 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. Long will also discuss advances in breeding for coffee quality, including for Robusta.
Learn more about the SCAJ Conference & Exhibition.
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.
SINTERCAFE | San Jose, Costa Rica | November 8–10, 2023
Presentation: Coffee's agricultural innovation crisis and what we can do to solve it
November 9, 2023 | 1:30–2:00 PM
Dr. Santos Barrera, Research Scientist, Breeding and Genomics, World Coffee Research
The climate crisis is one of the most complex challenges facing coffee agriculture—farmers need better tools and more choices to enable them to thrive in the face of more extreme weather and rising temperatures. We know that agricultural innovation is urgently needed to meet these challenges.
In this talk, World Coffee Research’s Dr. Barrera will explore why agricultural innovations are required to meet the challenges of climate change, how new collaborative innovation models can create the tools we need, and discuss how such models are being used to advance coffee breeding efforts to prepare us for what lies ahead.
Learn more about SINTERCAFE 2023.
Posters to be presented at the ASIC conference
Tailoring the deployment of market-driven coffee varieties in Rwanda from the international multilocational varietal testing
Dr. Simon Martin Mvuyekure, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), Breeding Hub Advisor, WCR
Dr. Jorge Berny, Research Scientist, WCR
Julian Kayonga, Regional Manager, Starbucks Farmer Support Center Kigali
Validation and use of SNP markers for genetic compliance of commercial varieties in the coffee seed and nursery sectors
Dr. Jorge Berny, Research Scientist, Breeding and Genomics, WCR
Dr. Santos Barrera, Research Scientist, Breeding and Genomics, WCR
Emilia Umaña, Nursery Program Development Manager, WCR
Julio Alvarado, Research Technician, WCR
Jesslin Zeledón, Project Specialist, WCR
Jimmy More, Peru Country Agronomist, WCR
Elly Castro, Regional Project Manager, WCR