Dost thou not see the emperor weareth no clothes?

My argument crystal clear. Standards are standards and SCAA has taken liberties with what it means to be in Specialty Coffee. I couldn't care for trade shows and ridiculous brewing competitions. What do care about is a upholding standards promotes coffee excellence. I only care about a governing body that will raise the bar to influence the industry for the better. Instead they have bent over. What I see is the opposite. SCAA has become a shill for big coffee. SCAA is just another marketing channel. Which is fine for some of you in the business. I can see that but don't pretend you don't understand my point.

'day' perhaps laid it out more eloquently, I have no such skill. If you want to read a nice version of my criticism, read Kevin' Knox's blog post here.

weebit_nutty wrote:Like every successful megacorp, they strong arm their suppliers to get absolute lowest prices. They dont' give a hoot about farmers, only prices.

This would come as news to the farmers they buy from, who widely report Starbucks as being a very fair trading partner who offers good money. Even people in the industry who dislike Starbucks for other things usually admit a grudging respect for their "CAFE Practices" program, which is real and enforced. http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/sourcing/coffee

For anyone who doubts this, come to an SCAA Expo and talk to some actual farmers.

Marshall wrote:For anyone who doubts this, come to an SCAA Expo and talk to some actual farmers.

Sure. I'm really going to do that. Please how about offering up real data, Marshall, if you want to defend Starbucks.

They love to boast about how they buy their coffee at comparable prices to Fair Trade.. $1.20 per pound, "only" 6 cents lower than Fairtrade minimum. . But it's a sham. The truth is Starbucks buys their coffee from importers and middle men (not to mention another portion of that money is in transportation and other logistical costs). Truth is, they aren't an importer. So the coffee they're purchasing is deeply leveraged by sales quantity, not quality.. Second rate coffee from farmers who didn't quite make the grade. And from farmers whose interest is supply not quality. While I don't know the cuts of the middle men, we can assume it's not insignificant.. After all they're in it for profit as well, not charity.

Starbucks does not subscribe to any of the Fairtrade practices. Because the are not a Fairtrade company. Instead they make up their own C.A.F.E. standard which they market as "ethically sourced". The truth is only 8% of the coffee they purchase is from fairtrade sources. Something tells me that's probably the coffee they drink themselves while the other 92% (probably none of which is organic) is sold in their stores and supermarkets.

Again, I'd love to see some real data. Forgive me if I'm not buying into their C.A.F.E. marketing department.

What you are advocating for is a completely untenable position for any trade association. Also, you are veering from wee bit nutty territory to just plain rude. We get it. You object to the sponsorship.

Unless you are a member of the SCAA, I don't think that opinion caries much water with the event organizers. While I'm sure they heard groaning from some of those members, I'm sure many others are perfectly happy to bleed the beast (or even accept its hospitality given that the event was in Seattle). It's also pretty interesting to see Starbucks trying to keep pace with leading edge of the specialty market, and to read barista accounts from visits to Starbucks Reserve cafe.

If you search google and limit the dates to 2013 you will find that this is an old dead horse we are beating. For example: http://coffeecontrarian.blogspot.com/20 ... y.html?m=1

^^^ Just posted 4 posts above yours!

I can see another organization forming in the not too distant future. Maybe a global one. Some really like the ever growing big tent of SCAA and the Big Event and Symposium. There certainly are advantages with the big tent. But naturally also creates room for something more defining. And there really aren't much for borders in coffee anymore. Relationships and communications happen as easily with someone in another country as another state.