Each day Espresso Information picture by Nick Brown.
Berlin, Germany-based roaster Espresso Circle and Costa Rica-based nonprofit Bean Voyage are the winners of the Specialty Espresso Affiliation‘s 2026 Sustainability Awards.
The SCA introduced the winners forward of World of Espresso San Diego, going down April 10-12 in California. (Learn all of DCN’s World of Espresso San Diego protection.)
Espresso Circle
Espresso Circle, which was beforehand acknowledged by the SCA in 2022 when its Jimma Agro-Biodiversity Venture in Ethiopia received the “mission” class, is the 2026 winner within the for-profit class.
Based in 2010, the corporate has constructed a direct-trade mannequin that hyperlinks espresso sourcing to group reinvestment. For each kilogram of espresso offered, €1 goes to the Espresso Circle Basis e.V., a nonprofit arm that funds community-led tasks at origin. Over the previous 15 years, the corporate says it has invested greater than €5 million in coffee-growing areas, supporting initiatives comparable to clear water entry, meals safety, sustainable agriculture, reforestation, gender fairness and local weather resilience.
Bean Voyage
Bean Voyage, a nonprofit based in 2016 by SungHee Tark and Abhinav Khanal, is the 2026 winner within the nonprofit class. The group focuses on connecting ladies smallholder espresso producers — who carry out an estimated 50% to 70% of the work in espresso manufacturing however have traditionally acquired a disproportionately small share of revenue — to coaching, financing and market entry.
The group says it has related greater than 1,300 ladies producers on to markets, producing greater than $1.4 million in direct revenue alongside an extra $800,000 by way of seed grants and help packages.
Bean Voyage has additionally hosted 4 Girls-Powered Espresso Summits, with a 2026 occasion coming to Chiapas, Mexico.
“The winners not solely deal with advanced, interconnected challenges throughout the worth chain, but in addition apply structured, evidence-based approaches to designing and delivering options that reply to actual wants,” SCA Sustainability Supervisor Andrés Montenegro mentioned in an announcement of the awards.
The awards program dates again to 2004 beneath the Specialty Espresso Affiliation of America, which merged with its European counterpart in 2017 to kind the SCA. The awards classes and standards have shifted over time. The present for-profit and nonprofit construction is now in its third consecutive yr. Previous to that, this system acknowledged a enterprise mannequin, a program and a person.
Different for-profit finalists this yr included Fazenda Califórnia, Amavida Espresso & Buying and selling Firm, Paramount Espresso, Collab Espresso – Co-Roasting, SMC Specialty Coffees and Mai Shayi Espresso Roasters Ltd. Nonprofit finalists included Smithsonian Chook Pleasant, TechnoServe, Gradual Meals Espresso Coalition, The Espresso Coalition for Racial Fairness and Jamaican F&B Coaching Heart – USAID.
The winners will probably be formally acknowledged at World of Espresso San Diego in April.
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