Last week, Portland, Oregon became the center of the specialty coffee world when the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) brought its annual conference to town. Coffee producers, roasters, and industry representatives traveled from all over the world to attend the show. Members of Sustainable Harvest’s® supply chain streamed in all week to visit our offices, cup coffees, and talk about the latest issues in specialty coffee.
We could think of no better time to share with the industry our latest efforts to support the production of high-quality coffee and the lives of coffee farmers. That is why last Friday, in a room full of farmers, co-op leaders, financiers, and NGOs, Sustainable Harvest® President David Griswold announced the launch of our newest mobile training app, RITS Ed: Cupping, an iPad app available to download for free in English and Spanish on the iTunes app store.
RITS Ed: Cupping (RITS stands for Relationship Information Tracking System, Sustainable Harvest’s® in-house traceability database) houses a library of educational videos in Spanish and English created by Sustainable Harvest’s Q Grader-certified staff to help coffee cooperatives set up and deploy a fully equipped quality control lab, utilize the standard SCAA cupping form, and prepare green coffee samples for shipment. With the app, training materials are accessible to cuppers in any region of the world, regardless of access to regular electricity or Internet (once downloaded, the app works offline). With these tools in hand, cooperative staff and cuppers can be better prepared to enter and compete in higher-paying specialty coffee markets.
The app includes 10 videos with instructional footage in specialty coffee processing and quality control from experts in:
· Cupping Rules and Protocols
· Quality Lab Equipment and Supplies
· Preparing and performing a cupping session
· Green coffee grading and defect evaluation
RITS Ed: Cupping is the latest piece of Sustainable Harvests® RITS suite of apps which aims to strengthen the coffee supply chain and improve the lives of farmers with training and traceability. It employs the latest mobile technology to extend the reach and impact of our trainings – creating a network of farmers and coffee cooperative leaders who are equipped to pass that training along to their peers, and helping to ensure the future of specialty coffee.
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