SAN Sustainability Dialogues

In the new episode of "Sustainability Dialogues" we spoke with Kim Elena Ionescu, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). The SCA is a nonprofit, membership-based organization that represents thousands of coffee professionals, from producers to baristas all over the world. SCA acts as a unifying force within the specialty coffee industry and works to make coffee better by raising standards worldwide through a collaborative and progressive approach. With Kim, we discussed important issues for the coffee industry, such as what’s the main driver in sustainability for specialty coffee, and how to manage sustainability goals, that are usually long term, with a short term reality in commodities, like coffee low prices at this moment. Join us and listen why sustainability is important for SCA and the global industry, and what’s their approach.

In the new episode of "Sustainability Dialogues" we spoke with Robert Nasi, Director General of CIFOR – the Center for International Forestry Research. Founded in 1993, CIFOR is a global authority in research and knowledge related to climate change, forestry, food security, biodiversity, landscapes, among others. CIFOR is a non-profit, scientific institution that conducts research on the most pressing challenges of forest and landscape management in more than 50 countries around the world

In the new episode of "Sustainability Dialogues," we spoke with Jan von Enden, Managing Director of Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung North America about the challenges and trends of the coffee industry around the world. The nonprofit foundation Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) was created in 2005 to empower smallholder farmers and their ability to independently achieve better livelihoods. To this date, they have worked with more than 200,000 farmers in 18 countries. According to Jan, the most urgent challenges for the coffee sector are climate change and the abandonment of the youngest populations of the producing areas, to migrate to urban areas.

Tannis Thorlakson is a Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources at Stanford University. Her research looks at food retailer and manufacturers' role in improving social and environmental outcomes in their agricultural supply chains.