Why a Green Coffee Summit? | Kim Elena Ionescu
The green coffee trade (and the companies that have succeeded in it) is home to some of the richest history and the most valuable knowledge in the coffee industry. It's also opaque — the competition is fierce, the risks are great, and the profit margins are slim — and in the absence of good information, assumptions and distrust can take root. Amid a pandemic that has stymied in-person communication, a rally in the commodity futures market that follows some of the lowest prices in a generation, and a shipping container shortage troubling green coffee buyers and sellers around the world, there's a lot to discuss. There's also an urgency to achieving a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities specialty coffee faces — in 2021 and beyond.
About the Presenter
Kim Elena Ionescu, Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer
Specialty Coffee Association
Kim Elena Ionescu is the Chief Sustainability and Knowledge Development Officer for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), where she develops strategy and leads action on behalf of coffee-centric businesses and organizations both large and small in the United States, Europe, and beyond to tackle the challenges coffee faces now and in the future.
Prior to joining the association, Kim spent a decade buying coffee and creating and directing sustainability at Counter Culture Coffee in North Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two daughters. And although these days she is more likely to be found behind desks and podiums than cupping tables and espresso machines, Kim believes that innovation and collaboration across the coffee value chain are critical for our community to thrive.
