Three intense days under the banner of good, clean, and fair coffee, in an international context with producers and roasters who flocked to Milan for the WoC from all the far corners of the planet to meet and design a different future for quality and specialty coffee.
The buzzword is sustainability, now also a must in this context, where we talked about taste, barista skills, training, respect for the raw material, the work in the field, and in the jungle where super-quality coffee is harvested manually at dizzying altitudes.
The Slow Food Coffee Coalition was present and taking action with the representation of some of the members of the board of experts, the international contact person Emanuele Dughera, and the vice president of Slow Food International, Eddie Mukiibi who came from Uganda, a country that produces coffee of excellence. All getting together to face the path that will lead to Terra Madre Salone del Gusto with the results of the actions taken and the complete strategy to move forward.
Among the many meetings with other realities active in international cooperation and linked to communities of producers, Emanuele Dughera participated in a panel promoted by SCA Italia dedicated to the price of the cup of coffee. In this panel, operators from all levels of the supply chain discussed the value perceived by consumers and strategies to make them a participant in the efforts underway at all levels.
There were many commonalities between all the realities encountered and the SCA network, which has been holding the banner of quality coffee for years. The moment was devoted entirely to acquainting stakeholders with the thematic network that Slow Food set up, which was well attended and saw a close debate among multiple voices with multiple actors even from outside the current network, opening up new, certainly fruitful, relationships.
The WoC2022 Milan edition resulted in an entirely positive, enriching, and participatory outcome, giving hope for a brighter future for many small-scale producers and also providing much food for thought for the Coalition’s work. And now set course for Terra Madre 2022, in Turin!
By Rossella Angius, Board of Experts of SFCC e Convivium di Roma