SCAA and SCAE Unification: How Two Coffee Associations Became the SCA
If you have ever seen the letters SCAA on an old cupping form, a conference badge or a training certificate, you have run into a piece of coffee history. For years the specialty coffee world had two large trade associations on either side of the Atlantic: the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE). At the start of 2017 they became one organization, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). This article explains what the two groups were, what the unification involved, and why the old acronyms still turn up in coffee documents today.
Two associations, one industry
The SCAA was founded in 1982, according to the encyclopedia entry on the Specialty Coffee Association. The two groups also collaborated on World Coffee Events, the organization behind the World Barista Championship held each year, according to reporting at the time.
What happened in 2016 and 2017
According to Associations Now, the two groups announced in August 2016 that they were merging operations. The trade publication reported that members approved the plan, with some dissent. It named Donald Schoenholt, a cofounder of the SCAA and its first president, as the leader of an unsuccessful campaign against the merger. The article did not publish vote counts, so this article does not quote vote percentages.
In the first week of January 2017 the combined organization announced its new name, the Specialty Coffee Association, along with a new website on a .coffee domain. The association's own message, quoted in the Associations Now report, was "Unified but not uniform, we celebrate and nurture diversity." The Specialty Coffee Association entry in the online encyclopedia likewise records that the SCAA and SCAE combined into a single organization in January 2017.
Associations Now also relayed figures first reported by SprudgeWire: the SCAA was said to generate about $8 million in revenue a year and the SCAE about $5 million. Those are secondhand estimates and should be treated as approximate.
SCAA versus SCAE: what changed for members
For most people the practical change was a name. The merged organization kept the work that both groups were known for, including technical standards, research initiatives and best practices related to coffee quality, sustainability, brewing and roasting, which is how the encyclopedia entry describes the SCA's role today. The same entry reports that the SCA has members in more than 40 countries and more than 10,000 active members; check the SCA's own website for current figures, because membership numbers change.
If you need to know how local chapters or events work today, the SCA's official site is the right place to check rather than older news stories.
Why you still see "SCAA" everywhere
The unification did not erase the old acronym from coffee culture.
- Old documents. Cupping forms, green coffee grading sheets and training materials were published under the SCAA name for years. The SCA's cupping protocol and form dates from 2004 and was first published by the SCAA. Daily Coffee News reported in November 2024 that the SCA officially adopted three new standards, 102-2024, 103-2024 and 104-2024, which replace that 2004 protocol and form, and that private, tailored variations of the 2004 form remain in use by companies across the industry. So "the SCAA form" is still a common way to refer to a document that is now formally superseded.
How to read older SCAA and SCAE material today
When you find a document that cites the SCAA or SCAE, a few habits help.
- Check the date. Anything labelled SCAA or SCAE and dated before 2017 predates the unification. Material after that should say SCA.
- Check whether the standard has been replaced. The 2004 cupping protocol and form is the clearest example, as described above.
- Go to the source. The SCA publishes its standards on its own website. Third-party pages may repeat outdated information.
- Keep the context. An older document is not wrong simply because it is old, but you should know which version of a standard it reflects before you rely on it, especially for training, hiring or buying decisions.
The bigger picture
The SCAA and SCAE merger is a useful case study in how an industry organizes itself. Two groups with similar missions, different regional bases and a history of working together decided to combine into one organization. The decision was not unanimous: members approved it, but over some organized opposition.
For anyone working in specialty coffee, the practical takeaways are simple. The SCA is the successor to both the SCAA and the SCAE. It dates from January 2017. It maintains the standards that earlier generations of coffee professionals knew under the old names, and in some cases, such as the cupping protocol, it has since replaced them. When in doubt, look at the publication date and the issuing body before you treat any figure or form as current.
This article is general background information. It is not an official statement of the Specialty Coffee Association, and it is not affiliated with it. Verify details such as membership, events and current standards on the association's own website.
Sources
- Associations Now, "Specialty Coffee Groups Join Forces Under Single Name" (January 2017): https://associationsnow.com/2017/01/specialty-coffee-association-merger-single-name/
- Wikipedia, "Specialty Coffee Association": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_Coffee_Association
- Daily Coffee News, "SCA Officially Adopts New Cupping Forms and Standards" (November 5, 2024): https://dailycoffeenews.com/2024/11/05/sca-officially-adopts-new-cupping-forms-and-standards/
- Specialty Coffee Association, "The SCA Officially Adopts CVA Descriptive and Affective Assessments as New Cupping Standards": https://sca.coffee/sca-news/sca-new-cva-cupping-standards-7ga28
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