The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has announced Primavera Green Coffee, RENACER Coffee Training School by Catholic Relief Services, and David Griswold and Jose Rivera as the winners of its 2023 Sustainability Awards.

In the Project, Business Model, and Individual categories, respectively, the winners will be recognised for their achievement at the Re:co Symposium, taking place from 19 to 20 April in Portland.

“Since 2004, the SCA has recognised outstanding work that pushes boundaries in the coffee industry and enables progress. The projects, business models, and individuals receiving these awards are dedicated to rewiring mindsets and shaping behaviours to create a thriving coffee sector,” says SCA Sustainability Director Andrés Montenegro.

“This year’s Sustainability Award winners remind us that the coffee sector’s sustainability journey is collaborative, and also that sustainability is not a goal, but a way of thinking and behaving for the common good, to make coffee better, for all.”

Primavera keeps economic, environmental, and social sustainability at the heart of its operations – from a dry mill powered by solar energy to an innovative profit-sharing program to reward producers for special lots as well as for membership in cooperatives.

RENACER is a coffee school in western El Salvador that trains farmers and farm managers on cost-effective practices for coffee farm renovation, tree management, and harvesting.

For the individual category, the judging panel, composed of 11 former SCA Sustainability Awards winners, scored two finalists with the same aggregated score. These winners represent distant visions and trajectories, linked by their commitment to create a thriving coffee sector. For that reason, the SCA has awarded this year’s individual recognition to both Griswold and Rivera.

The projects, business models, and people receiving these awards are not only dedicated to confronting the enormous challenges facing the specialty coffee industry, but also collaborating across geographies, cultures, and value chain roles, and sharing the lessons they have learned for the benefit of the entire coffee sector.