President Victor Mah and Vice President Kimberly Yer of the Singapore Coffee Association (SCA) shared SCA’s strategic approaches to strengthening coffee industry businesses in the country with Agrospectrum Asia
The Singapore Coffee Association represents Singapore’s coffee industry from all sectors of the coffee industry, from green coffee supply chain providers, international and national roasters to well-known coffee retailers. SCA also aims to position Singapore as the key coffee trading hub in the region and to raise the coffee awareness in the local community.
- What are SCA’s strategic approaches to strengthening Singapore’s local entities and commercial enterprises specializing in coffee industry businesses? What are the key activities of the association to boost the SME sector?
One of the approaches that the Singapore Coffee Association (SCA) takes is working with event organisers to co-host the annual Singapore National Coffee Championships (SNCC). Trade events, such as this year’s Speciality Coffee & Tea Asia (SCTA) held at the first-ever SIGEP Asia in June 2024, serves as a great meeting point for local industry players to showcase their coffee products to a wider audience and learn from one another, fostering growth and strengthening the coffee community and industry in Singapore.
- What are SCA’s efforts to improve the coffee industry through internationalisation by making global strides?
Singapore has long been recognised as a coffee-trading hub. SCA works closely with our ASEAN counterparts in the ASEAN Coffee Federation (ACF) to facilitate the exchange of coffee knowledge, promote ASEAN coffee in the global stage to ensure that ASEAN coffee is well represented, and support initiatives to improve the living standards and promote the sustainability initiative efforts of coffee farmers in the ASEAN region.
We are constantly making significant strides in internationalisation through trade events like this year’s SCTA, co-located with the first-ever SIGEP Asia, with plans to extend this partnership in 2025 for continued growth and collaboration.
Competitions such as the SNCC are also great platforms to elevate the standards of the local coffee industry and provide opportunities for winners to represent Singapore on the global stage. This helps increase the visibility and reputation of Singapore coffee internationally.
- How have the Singapore National Coffee Championships (SNCC) series evolved over the years?
Since the SCA began organising the SNCC, the local talent pool has grown significantly. The latest edition of the SNCC, held at SCTA 2024, saw the participation of 70 competitors and drew crowds of supporters and coffee enthusiasts over the three days. Notably, there has been a rise in female participants reaching the top six in the championships. At the SNCC 2024, females clinched the championship title in all four competition categories. Through the SNCC series, there has been an increase in community awareness on the requirements of being a professional barista.
