The United States Coffee Competitions have announced that all remaining events will be canceled until 2021.
Although the 2020 season’s Barista and Brewers Cup finals were held in February, the Coffee in Good Spirits, Roasters, and Cup Tasters finals were meant to be held in April at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland, Oregon, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
USCC is canceling the 2021 Preliminaries and Qualifiers; instead, the competitors who have already qualified for Coffee in Good Spirits, Roasters, and Cup Tasters will automatically qualify for the 2021 championships at the Specialty Coffee Expo in New Orleans. Additionally, the Barista and Brewers Cup champions can choose to defer their candidacy from the 2020 World Coffee Championships to 2021.
“In considering our options for moving forward—both completing the 2020 season and starting the 2021 season—we took into primary account the health and safety of the coffee workers in our community,” says Nathanael May, U.S. competitions coordinator. “Convening competitors and judges for a large competition comes with significant risk. We want to also be sensitive to the employment situations and finances of the people we serve.
“Returning to US competitions in 2021,” he adds, “we also want to recommit to a competition structure that is ever more diverse and inclusive—we reject racism, prejudice, and the marginalization of our Black colleagues. Our Competition Committees have committed to making competitions fair and equitable. We will spend time listening to and working with our community to actively evolve our coffee competitions in the diverse image of the industry they represent.”
USCC plans to have actionable changes and steps outlined by October, with the commitment to implement those changes by April. The committee also aims to hold forum or virtual town halls, inviting dialogue between committee members and the industry at large.
Visit the USCC website for further updates and information.
