The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has appointed Yannis Apostolopoulos as its new Executive Director, following the announcement that Ric Rhinehart is stepping down from the position.

Yannis has served as the SCA’s Deputy Executive Director since the Specialty Coffee Associations of America and Europe (SCAE) merged in 2017. Prior to this, he was a member of the SCAE, and established the Barista and Roaster Guilds of Europe.

Ric stepped down to focus his attention on the SCA’s Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative, which aims to understand and address the price crisis affecting coffee farmers and threatening the supply chain.

The SCA says the coffee value chain is long, and most coffee producers are not paid enough for their coffee to maintain profitable farming operations.  A 2017 literature review the SCA conducted on coffee farm profitability revealed nuances that included a price threshold for profitability of US$2.50 (about $3.50) per pound. Most recently, the issue was underlined when, in August 2018, the commodity futures price dropped below $US1.00 per pound.

In its first year, the Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative will aim to accomplish the following objectives:

• Increase funding and resources allocated to better understanding the topic in collaboration with the staff and volunteer advisory councils of the SCA’s Advocacy and Sustainability Centers
• Conduct research on the coffee price crisis and its effects on producers and the entire value chain
• Convene experts from the private sector and academia to explore alternative price discovery tools for the specialty coffee industry
• Outline alternative economic models for the specialty coffee trade and provide a meaningful way for companies to address risks in the supply chain

The SCA says its Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative is critical to the future of the industry, and in keeping with our purpose as an association: to foster a global coffee community and support activity to make specialty coffee a thriving, equitable and sustainable activity for the entire value chain.

For more information, visit sca.coffee