News and knowledge

WCR will hire a Country Agronomist in Peru to implement and coordinate World Coffee Research’s activities in Peru, including the Global Coffee Monitoring Program (GCMP), coffee seed sector and nursery development activities, and other research and development activities.

Hanna Neuschwander's 2019 Re:Co presentation is now available on YouTube. In it, she describes a major global trial underway designed to help us understand how coffee genetics interact with the environment, and a new study that will let us see how these things impact coffee flavor and chemistry

In summer 2018, the first-ever collaborative coffee breeding hub for Africa was launched. Hosted by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) in collaboration with a consortium of coffee producing countries and World Coffee Research, this coffee breeding hub will help nations throughout Africa navigate the future of sustainable coffee production, providing them with breeding material for the creation of next generation of local coffee varieties, helping them cultivate and adapt other regions’ improved varieties, and more.

For many people who work in the world of coffee, the wine industry is a familiar topic of conversation. Often, the discussion is about how coffee can be positioned more like wine, with the latter’s detailed sensory descriptions, successfully cultivated demand for its product, and devoted customer base willing to pay top dollar. Exploring these two worlds is the subject of the new 330-page book Coffee and Wine—Two Worlds Compared, released in October 2018 from author Morten Scholer.

The board of directors of World Coffee Research (WCR) has named Jennifer “Vern” Long as the new CEO of the organization. Dr. Tim Schilling, the founder and outgoing chief executive officer of WCR, will work side-by-side with Long through the end of the year, then step into a new role as president of WCR’s European subsidiary branch and a member of the board of directors. Long will take the helm of WCR on June 1. A plant breeder by training, Long brings 25 years of experience in international agricultural research with a focus on smallholders.