World of Coffee San Diego 2026

Making Sense of Coffee’s Value: Sector Perspectives on How Coffee’s Value is Created and Distributed (Room 24 C)

12 Apr 26
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM

Tracks: Lectures

Speaker(s): Laurel Carmichael, Editor and Writer, Specialty Coffee Association; Andrés Montenegro, Sustainability Manager, Specialty Coffee Association

What does the coffee sector think about how value is created and shared? How do different actors feel about this? Are we making progress towards equity? And what are the sector's visions for the future? In 2023 and again in 2025, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) conducted a global survey to explore these questions. In this lecture, the SCA takes the role of narrator—making sense of the findings from the 2025 Equitable Value Distribution survey. Rather than offering a single view, we share the range of experiences and perceptions gathered from respondents across the value chain, including where there is diversity and tension, and where there is consensus.