STiR coffee and tea magazine

18 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2021 (August / September) STiR 10th Anniversary Executive Forum: Question #3 Now get out the crystal ball. What are the biggest changes coming, challenges to face, and how prepare for the next 10 years? Peter Goggi (Tea Association of the USA): Climate change is clearly a number one priority for William Murray (National Coffee Association): Coffee dates back centuries, and we expect it continue being America's favorite beverage well into the future! As we look down the road, the most important goal for everyone is to support coffee farmers. So many companies are doing so many things – and yes, there's more to be done. This is why NCA proudly partners with organizations like World Coffee Research and the Sustain- able Coffee Challenge to advance innovation, resilience, and sustainable practices from bean to cup. Second, it is important that all of us continue to remind coffee drinkers about the growing evidence surrounding coffee's health benefits. Consumers are skeptical about health messages – especially when they appear contradictory. Coffee is unique in that the evidence about its impact on health is growing steadily, year after year – you can't say the same for most other so-called superfoods! Finally, we are in a moment when social issues and business issues are enmeshed like never before. Living standards, economic equity, gender equity, and racial justice are at the forefront of our minds as an industry and as individuals, and everyone in the coffee community has a duty to keep moving us toward a future that is fair and equitable for all. Nicola Panzani (IMA Coffee): Sustainability will surely be the challenge... requiring a comprehensive approach, from support to coffee farmers to ensure availability of green coffee, to environmental sustainability of coffee production and its packaging. IMA Coffee can support the last points with low emissions machines able to handle any new materials approaching the market, which is the company's core strategy. The coffee industry is well positioned in this challenge, and I am sure that it will prove its innovation capacity once again, being a leader in the cross-industry trend toward sustainable business models. Cindi Bigelow (Bigelow Tea): The first biggest challenges that we're going to face is the access to human labor, which is becoming a true scarcity. This problem is not just in the world of tea but spans all industries on a global basis. Unfortunately, it seems to be an enduring factor. The second significant issue that we will have to address is driven by continued cost increases with a reduction in the quality and availability of the critical botanicals we need to meet growing consumer demand. Maintaining our strong, long-standing relationships help offset this demand but still impact pricing and environmental challenges. virtually all agricultural products. Tea is no different and we are already seeing some changes in the arrival times of key monsoonal rains as well as extensions of droughts. Temperature shifts in key areas are also evident and the tea bushes are being stressed in different ways than before. It is imperative that the industry acts together to fully understand the issues and to map out steps needed to mitigate this risk. New botanical clones, changes in production techniques, irrigation, etc., are all areas that might be needed to help solve this issue going forward. Sunalini Menon (Coffeelab): Being forced to work at home during lockdowns created a "home culture, which is now being looked at positively with companies realizing savings in rentals and expenses. Millennials especially in IT, started purchasing coffee on-line through e-commerce and are enjoying brewing coffee at home; experimentation and Innovation have come to stay at home. This increases home consumption and will grow in the coming years. I can foresee rapid growth in the innovation and development of varied coffee drinks also, with the cold brew leading the way. Selling and purchase of coffee through e-commerce will come to stay and become an important part of the Indian way of life. Take away coffee will gather momentum, considering that delivery services have improved by leaps and bounds. Wellness drinks with coffee will become a large and popular segment of consumption, especially considering that Ayurveda is an important part of Indian life. By-products of coffee such as cascara, coffee oil, and coffee pulp are also being made into different products such as coffee soap, coffee tisane, coffee cream, coffee scrub, coffee shampoo, coffee lipstick, etc. and this is going to become an established industry in India, with a demand for such products. Q&A STiR 10 th Anniversary Executive Forum: Question #3

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