There is no doubt as to the effect Covid-19 has had on the world of coffee. In both origin and consuming countries, the impact has often been seen most starkly on the smallest of producers and businesses. The mobilisation of medical science does however offer the possibility that Covid’s impacts on daily life will subside as we move through 2021.So can we then get back to a more normal daily routine, enjoying our coffee in the places and with the company we used to do? Well for a short period perhaps but we cannot avoid the fact that coffee faces a number of serious medium and long term challenges which pose some fundamental questions such as who will produce coffee, where will they produce it and can they continue to produce at the quantity, quality and consistency of today. Unlike Coronavirus, we do not have the same mobilisation of science, whether that be agricultural, ecological, environmental or economic.
Valuable work is being undertaken but in what areas and what are the gaps that remain. How do we make the best use of the resources that available, how do we determine what research priorities need to be and how do we make this all happen to deliver answers to those future questions.
Well, BCA aims to take some steps towards the answer on Thursday 21st January at 1pm (GMT) at our first webinar of 2021. Who better to start us on that road than Jennifer (Vern) Long, CEO of World Coffee Research.
