Page 8 - #59 English

c Catch Up

Rainforest Alliance and UTZ Plan Merger

Two of coffee’s farthest reaching certification
agencies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based UTZ
Certified and New York-based Rainforest Alliance have
announced their intention to merge. In fact, not only
are their certification programs merging, their entire
organizational structures are fusing. This joint NGO
will keep the name Rainforest Alliance, and by 2019,
there will be a new certification standard for coffee more efficiently. It will also work to expand advocacy efforts
and other crops. and through new partnerships ensure conservation of entire
It will create a single global certification standard landscapes in priority regions from India to Indonesia, Gua-
that will simplify certification for farmers and empow- temala to Ghana.
er companies to build more responsible supply chains,

www.utz.org

New Preliminary Events Coming to 2018 US Coffee Champi-
onships

For the 2018 season, the U.S. Competitions Working Group has un-
veiled the basic outline for a new component to the qualifying structure
called U.S. Coffee Champs Preliminaries, designed to expand the field of
Barista and Brewers Cup competitors by hosting three to six events in dif-
ferent markets of the United States at local Specialty Coffee Association
Campuses or member facilities.
The preliminary events will involve compulsory coffees, while com-
petitors will have the option to bring their own grinders or use the pro-
vided grinder, according to an announcement signed by U.S. Competitions
Working Group Chair Miguel Vicuna. From the preliminaries, eight Barista
Championship and four Brewers Cup Championship competitors will be
guaranteed spots at the U.S. Coffee Championship qualifying events.

Online subscription help office with slack integration

Online multiroaster subscription company
Crema.co has announced the rollout of a new feature
aimed at solving and streamlining the coffee dilemma
in the up-to-date office: Slack integration.“The Crema
bot not only keeps your Slack team in the loop about
events such as a new coffee delivery or upcoming
shipment, but it also enables everyone in the team
to rate each coffee and vote on what to get next,
right from Slack,” Crema.co CEO Tyler Tate stated
in a recent press release. Slack is leading cloud-based
team communication tool that functions essentially
as a feature-rich chatting app, allowing for conversa-
tions to live in indexed, searchable channels where
employees can interact, upload files, and connect and
organize other apps. www.crema.co

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