- The SCA is set to host 5 global World of Coffee events next year
- Critics argue that revised cupping protocols dilute the core of “specialty”
- With members ranging from major multinationals to indie cafés, the SCA now balances community ideals with commercial scale – but can it do both?
ONCE the rallying point for a niche movement centred on the promotion of exceptional coffee and equitable trade, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) now finds itself at a crossroads.
As the industry it helped define transforms into a multibillion-dollar global market, the SCA has followed suit – expanding its scope, diversifying its membership, and pivoting toward broader, more commercial ambitions. The result is a well-oiled events machine and a sprawling network of trade shows from Portland to Seoul.
The SCA defines itself on its website as “the largest global coffee trade association dedicated to making coffee better by fostering a global coffee community and supporting activities to make specialty coffee a thriving, equitable, and sustainable endeavor for the entire value chain. Through collaboration and progressive approaches, it supports the industry through research, standards, education, and events. Working around the world, the SCA elevates worldwide standards, providing value and connectivity to the growing global community”.
“To that end, I’d interpret their greatest purpose as hosting those many events, as evidenced by the reported expenditures and revenues of the company,” says Christopher Feran, Consultant at Hinterland Coffee Strategies. “Looking at the history of the SCA, the emphasis on trade shows and expansion of the organisation itself was its founding purpose – and the reason it became the SCAA instead of the National Specialty Coffee Advisory Board.”
Christopher shared an excerpt from a publication published by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) in November 1997, excerpted from Coffee Publications that shares a reminiscence by SCAA founding father Dan Schoenholt on the formation of the SCAA, and how it was almost the National Specialty Coffee Advisory Board.
“It is fair to expect that we keep our heart, and our concentrated effort, on our core interests – the little guy,” the article concludes. “For we were founded, and continue to be, the voice of the little guy in the coffee world. The Board will heed this need because they are good folks who volunteer their time and expertise to help us along. They are mindful that we must continue to keep a spotlight on the romance and magic of specialty coffee. Because they are from our ranks, they know that we must extol the virtue of individuality that each specialty coffee company brings to the whole trade. In so doing we restore our soul and renew our virtue with each passing year.”
Today’s SCA is expanding globally and represents a broader range of stakeholders, as the specialty coffee industry itself scales and consolidates. In that context, a question emerges: is it still championing the “specialty coffee” of its namesake, and the “little guy” it made its founding promise to – or simply good coffee and its expansion?
The signs of a strategic shift are visible. In May, the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), long affiliated with SCA goals of refining quality and rewarding producers, announced changes to long-standing evaluation protocols. The SCA’s own cupping form – once anchored in its strict 100-point scoring system – has been revised to emphasise a broader appreciation of flavour and context over rigid benchmarks.
The SCA’s Coffee Value Assessment (CVA), “the tool the industry uses to discover the value of coffee” according to its tagline, is the new evaluation standard the industry at large is now expected to adopt. Some are doing so enthusiastically, some remain on the fence, and others are resistant. Within that system, arguably any coffee can now be good.
Supporters see this as a necessary evolution. The new system is designed to acknowledge the complexity and cultural specificity of coffee beyond the traditional cupping lab – an overdue correction to Western-dominated standards. But others view it as a retreat from the very principles that defined specialty coffee in the first place: precision, exclusivity, and objective quality assessment.
“The SCA’s system is voluntary by design,” says an anonymous professional from the original specialty coffee movement. “There is no formal enforcement or universal adoption pathway built in. Standards are adopted if members choose to use them.”
“This begs the question: are these truly global standards, or just shared values among the SCA’s membership? It creates a fragmented landscape where the meaning of specialty can shift depending on whether you’re aligned with the SCA or outside its orbit entirely. Global expansion can bring more producers and markets into the specialty fold, but without clearly enforced standards, it risks exporting a label that has no guardrails.”
The stakes are high. With global coffee consumption projected to rise modestly – despite stagnation in mature markets like Europe and North America – emerging economies such as India and China have become crucial growth zones, with the Middle East showing potential, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates becoming coffee hubs. The SCA appears to have taken note, scaling its presence in these markets through new expos and partnerships. But what it gains in size, it could risk losing in identity.
Diluting specialty or widening the scope?
The SCA’s recent rollout of the CVA has been covered exhaustively in trade media, sparking debate across the industry.
While framed as a modernisation of the cupping form to better reflect a broader understanding of coffee quality, the timing and tone of the changes have raised questions. Was this shift really about technical improvement – or simply about widening the tent? The new forms could exist less to refine evaluation and more to ensure that more coffee qualifies as “specialty” – a move that, while inclusive, could also blur the distinction that once defined the category.
Critics argue the revised framework blurs the lines between what was once considered “specialty” and everything else. By expanding the criteria and decoupling value from a strict numerical score, the CVA appears to rebrand quality in more inclusive, less measurable terms. The result is a model that seems to embrace coffee in all its forms – commodity or specialty alike.
This raises a more fundamental question: has the SCA quietly moved from being a champion of “specialty” coffee to becoming a pro-coffee organisation more broadly? And if so, what does “specialty” even mean in this new, expansive definition? For some, the shift is pragmatic; for others, it feels like an abandonment of the precision and purpose that once defined the movement.
“The SCA cannot realistically advocate for both small-scale quality and large-scale commercial success if the system allows different rules depending on who’s speaking,” says Anonymous. “Under the current CVA model, the authority to assign value still lies with the buyer, who can simply say the coffee isn’t worth the price, regardless of merit. What appears to be a framework for recognising value can, in reality, risk reinforcing the same power dynamics that have long disadvantaged producers – inviting participation, but without ensuring equitable outcomes.”
Viewed generously, the SCA is a bridge – between old and new markets, between tradition and innovation.
But these bridges come at a cost. For some, the SCA’s openness to all comers dilutes the brand. The new cupping form, seen by many as democratising, has also raised fears of standard erosion. Without clear benchmarks, can producers still command price premiums for quality? Is it possible to celebrate all coffee while still signalling excellence?
“I think it’s important to note that smaller scale specialty coffee is financed and made logistically possible as a result of the scale and globalisation of the coffee industry including its commercial or commodity players,” says Christopher.
“It’s absolutely a myth, misdirection or misunderstanding that specialty, even direct trade, is somehow disconnected or not reliant on the C-market. We are one and the same – ours perhaps just tastes better, or at least we know exactly where it comes from.”
“The goals, target customer and niche of individual companies may vary broadly between ‘commercial’ and ‘specialty’ coffee. But the goal of the industry as a whole is to entice consumers to choose coffee over other beverages that pose a potential ‘threat,’ depending on your generation – for example soda, RTD, or matcha.”
The increasing scale and breadth of the SCA has fuelled concerns that it is perhaps more interested in being everywhere than in nurturing a meaningful specialty coffee community, sacrificing connection for scale.
Still, the association is not without its achievements. It has successfully formalised and scaled barista competitions, created a reliable engine for global trade shows, and consistently brought together a diverse mix of coffee professionals from across the industry. In markets where coffee culture is still emerging, these events have played a notable role in nurturing interest and professionalisation.
The future of specialty – and the SCA’s place in it
The term “specialty coffee” has always been fraught: part quality marker, part marketing term, and increasingly, a global lifestyle. As the definition blurs, so too does the SCA’s role. Is it a custodian of high standards, or a catalyst for industry-wide growth? Can it be both?
The association’s current trajectory suggests it is betting on the latter. Its revised protocols, broader event footprint, and recalibrated cupping form all point toward embracing a wider range of coffees. These shifts reflect a belief that coffee’s future lies not in exclusivity, but in diversity – in both taste and market.
That doesn’t mean the SCA has abandoned its roots. It continues to invest in research and education and to focus primarily on trade shows and industry events. But it also accepts that not everyone will stay.
As the association evolves, some smaller, long-time members may choose to step away. Rising costs and a diminished sense of influence over the organisation’s direction may make continued membership feel less worthwhile.
But the harder question is: does that actually matter?
The SCA of today is financially sustained by global trade shows and corporate partnerships, not volunteer labour. Its reach spans every continent, and its agenda increasingly reflects the realities of scale, not sentiment. While some legacy members may lament the shift, the move away from volunteer labour reflects greater structure and professionalism – but also inevitably alters the organisation’s culture and sense of shared ownership.
The recent shift from the 2004 Cupping Form to the CVA, its adoption by CQI, and training ownership changing hands from CQI to the SCA is a good example of an evolution that is causing division.
“Many of us in the coffee industry hoped the SCA’s cupping and evaluation revision would reflect the progress and sophistication specialty coffee has achieved since the early 2000s,” says Anonymous. “Instead, the SCA introduced an entirely new paradigm – one that replaces rather than refines the existing system. This isn’t just a technical update; it’s a reorientation of how we think about coffee quality and value.”
It is a walking contradiction to be niche and mass-market at the same time. To serve a global industry, the SCA may need to let go of its most purist instincts. Its challenge now is to avoid becoming generic. If everything is “specialty,” then nothing is.
“I believe that the industry is in many ways returning to its roots – inclusive of the adoption of the CVA,” says Christopher. “As Dan Schoenholt mentioned in the SCAA publication, the National Specialty Coffee Advisory Board chose not to formalise definitions or identities of what constitutes specialty coffee but instead decided that ‘it was more desirable to keep the romance in the trade than to create standards, at the cost of the matchless qualities of specialty coffee’s appeal.’ So, in many ways – we’re back to where we started.”
“The SCA promotes specialty coffee to itself and its members through its expenditures and events – and as I believe that is its true sole purpose, it doesn’t need to be anything else. If we wish to recognise excellence and innovation or establish a path to true equitable trade, it will need to be done outside of this organisation – but that was and has always been the case.”
The SCA’s apparent shift from a strict focus on “specialty” coffee toward a broader embrace of coffee as a whole is telling. It raises interesting questions about the association’s evolving purpose: is it adapting to remain relevant in a changing industry, or redefining its mission altogether?
As the culture around events like World of Coffee becomes less exclusive, it may well reflect where the industry is heading. While the SCA’s evolving role prompts fair questions, one point remains clear: growing coffee consumption more broadly is a goal the entire sector can rally around. A wider tent isn’t just strategic – it might also be what keeps coffee culturally and commercially relevant in the years ahead.
Coffee Intelligence
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