The World of Coffee: Sustainability takes centre stage
ITC went to Denmark for the World of Coffee, Europe’s biggest annual coffee event. Smallholder coffee producers showcased their work to new markets, while ITC unveiled new tools for sector sustainability.
The largest ever edition of the World of Coffee in Copenhagen, Denmark, held in late June, saw Europe’s premier specialty coffee trade show place a high premium on sustainability.
Smallholder producers from a host of countries and world regions were among those showcasing their products on the international stage, including firms from Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
ITC and its partners supported the participation of over 50 producers under various projects, including the Netherlands Trust Fund V, the ACP Business-Friendly Programme, and the EU-EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme.
Under the EU-funded MARKUP II project, ITC partnered with the National Agricultural Export Development Board Rwanda (NAEB), the Burundi Coffee Development Authority (ODECA), the Kenya Coffee Directorate (KCD), the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB), and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) to bring together a delegation of 30 coffee exporting businesses to promote the coffee sector in East Africa, resulting in new contacts and potential business agreements
ITC also brought coffee cooperatives like Ethiopia-based Limu Inara and Kaffa Forest and Cameroon’s Coopérative Agro-Industrielle du Noun, along with coffee roasters Jeroccia Coffee, Aster Buna, Kawa Moka, Asili Coffee Café Safi and Cafés Pierre André.
The World of Coffee was also an opportunity to present this year’s winning coffees from the Fairtrade Golden Cup coffee competition, supported in collaboration with ITC, the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC), and Fairtrade Africa.
From tours of Copenhagen-based coffee roasters to coaching on the EU Deforestation Regulation, from business-to-business meetings to cuppings, the trade show was a celebration of what a more sustainable coffee sector could look like and a chance for producers to forge lasting relationships.
World of Coffee and ITC highlight sustainable pathways for coffee
This year at the event’s “Roasters’ Village”, ITC showcased several initiatives designed to make coffee more environmentally and socially sustainable throughout the value chain.
The Copenhagen gathering came shortly after the launch of ITC’s joint Center for Circular Economy in Coffee, designed to help drive innovation in the sector by reducing and reusing waste, while adding value and creating jobs, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
At the World of Coffee’s Green Coffee Connect panel space, ITC, the Center for Circular Economy in Coffee and the Specialty Coffee Association hosted a series dedicated to the circular economy, covering topics from regenerative coffee and communities to upcycled coffee products.
In the lecture rooms, ITC and its partners facilitated discussions on some of the coffee sector’s most pressing sustainability topics, such as regenerating value throughout the value chain via the circular economy; ending the use of child labour; mapping sustainability initiatives in the coffee sector; and learning from pilot accompanying measures to human rights and environmental due diligence requirements.
Throughout the conversations, one central message emerged: the sustainability challenges that the coffee sector faces demand a collaborative, systemic approach. Without it, public and private sector actors investing in sustainability initiatives may miss opportunities to team up and achieve far greater impact, especially for the smallholders who are critical to the sector’s future.
About the projects
The ACP Business-Friendly programme is funded by the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and jointly implemented by ITC’s Alliances for Action, the World Bank and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). It seeks to improve the ability of agribusiness firms in African, Caribbean and Pacific economies to compete, grow and prosper in domestic, regional and international markets. Through the Alliances for Action approach, it promotes inclusive and sustainable agricultural value chains that value all stakeholders from farm to shelf.
The Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF) (July 2021 – June 2025) is based on a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands and the International Trade Centre. The programme supports micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the digital technologies and agribusiness sectors. Its ambition is two-fold: to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable transformation of food systems, partially through digital solutions, and to increase the international reach of tech start-ups and export of information technology and business process outsourcing companies in selected Sub-Saharan African countries.
The United Kingdom Trade Partnerships (UKTP) Programme, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, aims to increase trade from developing countries to the United Kingdom and the European Union by maximizing the benefits of UK and EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the UK's Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The UKTP Programme works in partnership with government agencies, private sector organizations, public sector institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and other local stakeholders.
The Center for Circular Economy in Coffee (C4CEC) is the only multi-stakeholder precompetitive platform for enhancing circular economy in the coffee sector. It is supported by a global network of founding partners: Giuseppe e Pericle Lavazza Foundation, Politecnico di Torino, the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, UNIDO, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and the International Trade Centre. The center aims to provide technical knowledge by using a scientific approach, mapping good practices, and establishing a platform for collaboration. It is open for membership for organizations in the global coffee community.
The European Union (EU)- East African Community (EAC) MARKUP II project is funded by the EU and aims to enhance economic development in the EAC through sustainable intra-African and EU-Africa trade. Focused on improving livelihoods, employment and export competitiveness for MSMEs, the program supports the development of key export-oriented value chains as well institutional support in the six MARKUP II EAC recipient partner countries. MARKUP II will promote exports and investment through addressing trade barriers, value addition, quality compliance, trade facilitation and technology transfer. It is implemented by the International Trade Centre in collaboration with the EAC Secretariat and national partners in the recipient countries.
