National Coffee Association And Conservation International Join Forces To Support Farmers

New York, NY (June 27 2019) – The National Coffee Association (NCA) and Conservation International today announced a new partnership to help coffee farmers adapt and thrive in the face of climate threats.

NCA, a leading industry-wide coffee association, has joined the Sustainable Coffee Challenge. Through the Challenge, hosted by Conservation International, coffee companies, civil society organizations, universities, and governments commit to make coffee the world's first sustainable agricultural product.         

The Sustainable Coffee Challenge, conceived by Conservation International and Starbucks and launched during the Paris climate meetings in 2015, is uniting players from across the coffee industry – growers, traders, roasters, retailers, governments and NGOs. It works to stimulate greater demand for sustainable coffee while forming partnerships to find and scale up programs promoting improved livelihoods, nature conservation and a continued supply of coffee.​

As part of the partnership, NCA President & CEO William (Bill) Murray joins the Sustainable Coffee Challenge Advisory Council, where he will leverage the technical, operational, and consumer expertise of NCA's vast membership to help inform the Challenge's strategy and support specific programs.  

As the voice of the coffee industry in the United States, NCA will act as a conduit between more than 300 NCA members and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, helping to drive deeper engagement between industry and the Challenge. NCA will use its voice to amplify the Challenge's progress in helping coffee farmers thrive while protecting natural resources, combating climate change, and making coffee communities more resilient. NCA will also help share with its members some of the many sustainability resources created by the Sustainable Coffee Challenge.     

Signing a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, NCA President Bill Murray commented: "There is no coffee industry without coffee farmers. The entire value chain depends on coffee farmers thriving. NCA's members are committed to helping coffee farmers earn a fair living while growing more coffee, more sustainably than ever," said NCA President Bill Murray.

"Sustainability is not a choice, it is simply the way the coffee industry will do business. With Conservation International's leadership, the Sustainable Coffee Challenge is a truly unique platform that should be a model for every agricultural community," added Murray.

"We are delighted to welcome NCA as a partner of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge. NCA is uniquely positioned to mobilize its diverse membership to take action and safeguard the future of coffee on which the entire industry depends," said Bambi Semroc, Vice President of Sustainable Markets and Strategy at Conservation International.               

"The issues facing coffee communities are too complex for any stakeholder to address alone," Semroc added. "When the entire supply unites to make coffee a thriving, environmentally-conscious commodity, everyone benefits - from farmers to consumers and everyone in between."       

About the National Coffee Association The National Coffee Association of U.S.A., Inc. (NCA), established in 1911, is the leading trade organization for the coffee industry in the United States. The NCA is the only trade association that serves all segments of the U.S. coffee industry, including traditional and specialty companies. A majority of NCA membership, which accounts for over 90% of U.S. coffee commerce, is comprised of small and mid-sized companies and includes growers, roasters, retailers, importer/exporters, wholesaler/suppliers, and allied industry businesses. Visit ncausa.org to learn more.

About Conservation International Conservation International uses science, policy and partnerships to protect the nature that people rely on for food, fresh water and livelihoods. Founded in 1987, Conservation International works in more than 30 countries on six continents to ensure a healthy, prosperous planet that supports us all. Learn more about Conservation International, the groundbreaking  "Nature Is Speaking" campaign and its series of virtual reality projects: "Drop in the Ocean", "My Africa," "Under the Canopy" and "Valen's Reef." Follow Conservation International's work on our Human Nature blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

About the Sustainable Coffee Challenge The Sustainable Coffee Challenge convenes, unites and urges the coffee sector and conservation partners across the industry to spur the actions and investments necessary to make coffee the first sustainable agriculture product in the world. The Challenge is committed to stimulating demand for sustainable coffee across the value chain, from the policymaking level to the final consumer. By encouraging demand for sustainable coffee, it leads to investments that enable the transition to a sustainable production and ensuring the coffee we drink is a sustainable product.