CSF Releases Request for Proposals on Discovering How Value Is Created in Coffee and How It Can Be Maximized

Request for Proposals: Discovering How Value Is Created in Coffee and How It Can Be Maximized

The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) has released a Request for Proposals, seeking researchers to investigate how value is created in coffee and how it can be maximized.  We encourage anyone with a background in proven record of accomplishment in economics, business, economic sociology, consumer science, anthropology or related disciplines to submit!

"Specialty Coffee" is defined by the Specialty Coffee Association as: "…a coffee or coffee experience recognized for its distinctive attributes, and because of these attributes, has significant extra value in the marketplace." This definition emphasizes the importance of the concept of value in coffee, and ascribes Its creation to "distinctive attributes". (see attachment A)

Some economic research has been done on the origin of value in specialty coffee (Traore et al, 2018, Donnet et al 2007, Wilson and Wilson 2014, Teuber 2010, Samper et al 2017) but these studies have mostly been limited to evaluating evidence from auctions. We hope to strengthen the evidence base and include disciplines like consumer science, behavioral economics, complex systems science, political economy, and anthropology to help explain the dynamics of value creation in specialty coffee through a multidisciplinary approach.

Meaningful attributes in coffee Include but are not limited to intrinsic attributes (especially flavor attributes) and extrinsic/symbolic attributes like place of origin, sustainability Information, traceability, etc. Our hope is to understand the Impact of these various attributes in driving value among consumer groups globally.

Informed by existing research on value in specialty food products like coffee, the SCA recently designed an assessment, the Coffee Value Assessment, meant to document valuable attributes in coffee. SCA has already started gathering this data from coffee chain actors. We hope that researchers might use this structure to Inform the research (see attachment B, SCA Coffee Value Assessment)

To answer these questions and achieve a more comprehensive understanding of value creation in coffee, we hope to see various outputs by one or more research projects. See the full request for proposals and how to submit below.

Proposals period ends October 22, 2024. For questions please contact us.