Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/658240
44 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 2, 2016 (April/May) Zwirnerei a. d. Wutach GmbH P.O. Box 1163 79778 Stühlingen · Germany Phone +49/ 7744/ 9396-0 Fax +49/ 7744/ 9396-20 info@zwirnerei-wutach.com www.zwirnerei-wutach.com TEA BAG THREAD FOR ALL TYPES OF TEA-PACKING MACHINES Ric Rhinehart, executive director of Specialty Coffee Association of America Without increased specialty trade as- sociation collaboration, Stack said "… we would end up with small nationalistic narrow-minded fiefdoms fighting each other which is the underbelly of competi- tion. So, this is the idea: if we don't col- laborate, we compete and the opposite of sustainability is to die." SCAE approached SCAA out of a de- sire to take Symposium and, according to Peter Giuliano, senior director of Re:Co Symposium, "…to make it more overtly globally inclusive, and build the communi- ty worldwide." According to Giuliano and Tracy Allen, president of the SCAA board of directors, Symposium as an event grew out of awareness that professionals whose careers had matured as SCAA did needed another type of community. Giuliano said, "The thought leaders of specialty coffee needed a place to come together, interact with each other, and contemplate the 'big issues' our industry faces — like climate change, socio-political issues, macroeconomic trends, cutting-edge sci- ence, etc." The shift to Re:Co expands on the original zeitgeist of Symposium while maintain- ing a focus on high quality conversation in smaller venues. Two additional symposiums have taken place, including the aforementioned program in Gothenburg and another in New Zealand. Stack's speech in Gothenburg came after the feasibility study on the unification idea had already begun. After official talks began The boards met informally in 2014, and then formally, to explore the idea of a closer collaboration. However, the scope and complexities of merging the shared visions were daunting. Allen explained, "Well, the discovery from an actual business standpoint [involved] a lot of things [that] have been talked about for a long time. The truth is we're all just coffee people, so we went out and [had] a discussion with the SCAE about how serious we were about it and [that we] were willing to invest in it." In order to ensure a fair and thorough vetting of all the issues, the two organiza- tions agreed to hire a consultancy to facilitate the process. Even that, according to Allen, took some time. It was more than a year after the first official discussions took place that a consulting firm was selected to facilitate the feasibility study. The organizations' leadership teams and staff have been meeting with the consul- tants since. Each association also launched member surveys last fall. After reviewing survey results, the boards met jointly to hear how the consultants proposed moving forward. The next step in the process came in January of 2016: a vote by the SCAA board to approve writing a memorandum of understanding. The process is moving forward beyond that today. Rhinehart expects the agreement, and a strategic and business plan which are also being created now, to soon be completed. Once those details are hashed out, a refer- endum will be presented to both memberships for approval. Doubling down on "Member First" A turn of events that had nothing to do with the unification process took place just before the feasibility study process began in August of 2015. That June, the SCAA announced the end of regional barista competitions that triggered a backlash. The decision and the way it was communicated to members and to the public became the subject of scrutiny in trade media, in blog posts by thought leaders in the specialty cof- fee sector, and in private discussions among baristas and roasters worldwide.