Global specialty coffee industry converges in Houston for SCA Expo 2025
Walker Coffee was a first time SCA Expo exhibitor Image credit: Vanessa L Facenda
This weekend’s 2025 Specialty Coffee Expo, North America’s premier specialty coffee event, welcomed thousands of coffee professionals from 89 countries to the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas to celebrate innovation, culture, and sustainability. Over three days, the event featured a busy exhibit hall with engaging special events, major partnership announcements, the World Coffee Roasting Championship, a dynamic education program, and much more.
The show floor was the central hub of activity, featuring 659 exhibiting companies, including 135 first-time participants, presenting the latest advancements in brewing technology, sustainable solutions, and emerging industry trends. This year’s program honoured Peru as the Portrait Country, celebrating its rich coffee-growing heritage and commitment to quality and sustainability through cultural activations and a dedicated pop-up café. Together, these highlights provided a dynamic platform for innovation, collaboration, and the continued advancement of the global specialty coffee community.
This year’s Specialty Coffee Expo was marked by key announcements that will help shape the future of specialty coffee, including:
• The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding to advance specialty coffee traceability, enhance value differentiation, and strengthen the global recognition of Colombian coffees. With this signing, Colombia became the first producing country to officially adopt the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) as the way to define specialty coffee standards. For the first time, producers are collectively communicating how their coffees should be evaluated giving both producers and buyers a more transparent, aligned system that reflects the true diversity and value of Colombian coffees.
• The SCA and Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) announced a historic partnership to evolve the Q Grader Program — which will now be the first and only licensing program built on the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA). This new program offers globally recognized credentials for cuppers and assessors, practical, research-informed training, and a complete approach to evaluating coffee beyond just flavor. This evolution reflects a major step forward in supporting coffee professionals, producers, and the future of the industry through a common language for quality evaluation.
• Building on this collaboration between SCA and CQI, it was announced during CQI’s 25th Annual Luncheon that SCA has committed to a new grant agreement to support CQI’s development work. Under this agreement, the SCA will contribute a percentage of its annual education revenues to CQI’s Development Fund, helping sustain and expand CQI’s initiatives to improve coffee quality and producer livelihoods in coffee-growing communities.
Specialty Coffee Expo also highlighted a range of activities that showcased innovation and collaboration across the industry:
• World Coffee Roasting Championships: Twenty-three competitors from around the world demonstrated their roasting expertise, with Mikaël Portannier of France awarded first place.
• Now in its second year, Green Coffee Connect moved onto the main show floor to offer education, support, and networking opportunities to buyers and sellers of green coffee in an accessible, visible, and complimentary program driven by the principles of equitable value distribution.
• Roaster Village: A vibrant marketplace where attendees connected with pioneering roasters and explored unique coffees.
This year’s Specialty Coffee Expo was the last one under that name. Next year’s show in San Diego, California (10-12 April 2026) has been rebranded World of Coffee San Diego, in line with the other global World of Coffee events.
