The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is conducting a review of the recent decision by World Coffee Events (WCE) to select Dubai as one of three host cities for 2018 world championships. In a statement, the SCA said its President’s Council had met to review the coffee community’s response to the decision.
A panel has been created to review the selection of Dubai and provide recommendations on future processes for selecting host cities for WCE and other SCA events. The WCE has since its inception been solely responsible for selecting the locations for its events.
The review panel listed below, which consists of members of the SCA Board of Directors, WCE Advisory Board, SCA Volunteer Leaders, and senior members of the SCA staff, will seek input from the executive councils and working groups of the SCA’s guilds, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and the specialty coffee community in Dubai and beyond. The panel includes: Paul Stack – SCA President; Bart Deprez – WCE Advisory Board Chair; Chad Trewick – SCA Board Member; Colleen Anunu – SCA Board Member; Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos – SCA Board Member & Events Chair; Andrew Tolley – SCA Board Member & Barista Guild of Europe (BGE) Chair; Laila Ghambari – Barista Guild of America (BGA) Executive Council Past Chair; Ric Rhinehart – SCA Executive Director; Yannis Apostolopoulos – SCA Deputy Executive Director; and Cindy Ludviksen – WCE Executive Director.
The review panel will analyse information collected from member statements, research on the human rights environment in Dubai, and experiences from other cities where WCE events have been held. A recommendation on the final decision will be sent to the President’s Council. Once approved, the recommendations will be presented to the SCA Board of Directors and be brought to a vote.
The SCA said “As a member-driven organization, the diverse voices of our membership are paramount in the decisions we make at the SCA. This review process recognizes the importance of the diversity of our global community. It has been created to review the criteria of our procedures for the selection of host cities, seeking to continue our mission to support coffee communities around the globe.
“On completion of the Dubai review process, the SCA Board of Directors will seek to draft a policy document outlining new vetting procedures for sponsorships and event locations for all future SCA and WCE events. The outcome of the review panel’s work on the selection of Dubai is expected to be announced at the end of September.”
