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12 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 3, 2016 (June/July) ENCOTECC Inc. USA +1 239 443 5074 Canada +1 514 800 2473 Europe +49 211 7311 5151 info@encotecc.com NEWS SCAA-SCAE Unification The membership of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) has voted in favor of a proposal to merge with the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). The SCAA will now present a series of webinars on the details of unification and host in-person sessions with board members and senior staff. Andrew Hetzel, a member of the SCAA board, writes that, "We don't have a voting date set yet. We're not avoiding the topic but didn't want to set member expectations incorrectly while this is still being determined. We should have more information about this resulting from the board meeting on June 5 that will occur immediately after the strategic leadership summit meeting." SCAA second v.p. Tracy Ging expressed her support for the merger in a message on the SCAA unification web page. Ging said that "We're finalizing legal due diligence, a proposed agreement, and by-law amendments, which will be present to the membership for vote. "From there, if members accept our proposal, we would enter the implementa- tion phase with a proposed launch of January 2017." Learn more: www. scaaunification.org/ Löfberg to Chair ICP Katherine Löfberg is the new chair of International Coffee Partners (ICP), a non-profit founded in 2001 to make smallholder coffee farming more competitive and to improve livelihoods for coffee farmers all over the world. "We started off in a cautious way with two projects, but today we have a really systematic and structured process. We have started 23 projects in 12 countries; both smaller projects and larger, more regional projects. We have reached more than 30,000 coffee farmers, whose incomes have doubled or even trebled," she said. Löfberg is chairman of the board of the 110-year-old family company Löfbergs. Löfbergs co-founded the ICP. Katherine Löfberg said the organization's goals and methods fit well into the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals, SDG's) that was launched in 2015. Katherine Löfberg "SDG´s focus is on eradicating poverty and hunger, securing human rights for all, achieving gender equality and empow- erment of women and girls and protecting the planet and its natural resources," she said. Learn more: www. coffee-partners.org/ Starbucks to Build China Roastery The first international Starbucks Roastery and Reserve Tasting Room will open in Shanghai, China in late 2017. The 30,000 sq. ft. showcase will be located in the the HKRI Taikoo Hui Project. "China represents the most important and exciting opportunity ahead of us," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman and c.e.o. "As our first international roastery, we will take even bolder steps to make this Shanghai location our most stunning store, while making it completely unique and relevant to the Chinese customer," he said. The interactive, retail environment will allow customers in China to better under- stand the craft of roasting and brewing a range of Starbucks coffees including the rare, limited availability of Starbucks Reserve coffees from around the world. Local officials said "The government fully supports this pioneering retail experience and initiative." Starbucks currently operates 2,100 stores in 102 Chinese cities including 55 reserve outlets. NCA Releases Report on Economic Impact of Coffee Industry The National Coffee Association, in cooperation with the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) has released the first comprehensive study of the impact of coffee on the US economy. The report, researched by Technomic, estimated the industry generated $225.2 billion in 2015. The industry employs 1.6 million workers and coffee-related economic activity comprises 1.6% of the total US GDP. Consumers spent $68.5 billion on coffee in 2015 (and $6 billion more on ancillary goods such as brewers and sweeteners). The industry paid nearly $28 billion in taxes To illustrate the impact the association produced a colorful infographic available online at: www.ncausa.org Flagship Starbucks roastery in Seattle