STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 61 7 4 % O F T H E W O R L D ' S C O F F E E P R O D U C E D I N T H E L A S T 4 Y E A R S C A M E F R O M J U S T F I V E C O U N T R I E S . W E A R E C O M M I T T E D T O M A I N T A I N I N G T H E D I V E R S I T Y O F C O F F E E Q U A L I T I E S B Y O P E R A T I N G I N 2 8 C O U N T R I E S A N D S O U R C I N G F R O M E V E N M O R E . E X P LO R E W H AT E L S E W E D O TO S EC U R E T H E F U T U R E O F CO F F E E : nkg.coffee/future The science of processing is one part of the PHP program, but CQI also teaches the business aspects of innovation. Photo credit: Coffee Quality Institute those quality gains into better lives, really depends on what the market is do- ing. So, in everything we do, we need to ensure we're market-aligned. The Q was a great example of that; it was something the industry desper- ately needed. And it was something origins desperately needed, to participate in value and price discovery as equals. With postharvest processing, I think there's a very clear demand on the supply side for improving quality. STiR: Who do you see investing in processing education at the moment? Sheridan: We are working to achieve deeper en- gagement with the industry and a more partner- ship-based approach to investment in processing on the industry side than we've had in the past. I think much of the education work that was done with the Q was funded indirectly by industry, not by grants to CQI, but by companies investing in the education and certification of not just their employees but also their suppliers. And that's happening less with processing, which is interesting to me. Because I think of how much risk there is and how much opportunity for improvement there is in processing. The places where coffee is processed are the highest leverage opportunities for risk mitigation and quality im- provement. That's not a cupping lab. That's a process- ing center. It's a washing station or a mill. And it seems like an ounce of prevention is worth way more than a pound of cure. Because once a green coffee doesn't meet the standard, there's very little that can be done about it. I'm excited about the early uptake we've had over the last year from the industry, but there's a lot of room for growth in our industry partner- ships to embed CQI processing education and certification in supply streams, as the Q has been over the last twenty years. I hope we can get some- where close to that.

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