On 11 September — an ominous date in its own right — the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) awarded Dubai a series of championships at the Dubai World Trade Centre in 2018. These were awarded even though the United Arab Emirates has been condemned by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for the use of modern day slavery and its laws regarding the LGBT community.
For an industry that seeks to promote transparency, welfare standards and fair trade on a global scale, the move to establish these events in a state that outlaws homosexuality and promotes modern-day slavery has caused outrage amongst many in the coffee community.
Response from the SCA
This is what the SCA Director of Communications had to say on the matter:
Many factors were considered when selecting Dubai as one of three locations for the 2018 World Coffee Championships, including the stellar reputation and reach of our host partners, Gulfood, GulfHost, and Dubai International Hospitality Week.
We certainly understand and share the concerns around the UAE’s anti-homosexuality laws and human rights record. To be clear, the SCA strongly condemns the persecution of members of the GLBTQ+ community and any use of slave labor.
As an international organization, one of our main objectives is to serve coffee communities in every corner of the world while considering the safety of our members.
There is a thriving specialty coffee community in Dubai and the surrounding region— exceptional people who love coffee and have dedicated their professional careers to this industry— and they are ready to welcome the international coffee community with open arms. As with all SCA events, we will work with our host partners to provide our competitors, volunteers, judges, and guests with the best possible experience at the show with maximum consideration for their safety.
Follow up by Sprudge
Sprudge — the coffee news network — was hot on the topic and called out the SCA in a damning report immediately after the event.
It further points out that the SCA was in fact breaking its own code of conduct for events:
SCA maintains a zero tolerance policy for harassment, violent behavior, and sexually offensive behavior or actions. This includes, but it not limited to: harassment toward another individual on the basis of gender, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, religion, creed, race, color, national origin, medical condition, genetic disorder, physical or mental disability, marital status, age or sexual orientation.
So even though the SCA supposedly has a zero tolerance policy on such matters, it seems willing to put these aside and breach its own protocols to secure deals with businesses in an offending state.
The Barista Guild of America then commented with the following:
This news from SCA is disappointing.
As volunteer leaders of the Barista Guild of America, elected by our members, and commissioned with the objective of directing and protecting our members’ collective interests within SCA activity, services, and events, we find ourselves dumbfounded and saddened with the news this morning. To be notified, along with our community, that SCA and World Coffee Events has decided to host several of our annual World Coffee Championships in a city built on modern-day slave labor, within a federal monarchy where laws, policies, and behavioral norms stand to alienate and endanger those in our community who identify as LGBTIQ, women, and/or those who might adhere to particular religious beliefs is unacceptable. We do NOT support this decision.
Furthermore, we are troubled by the Senior Staff and Board of Directors’ failure to consult our team at any point during the decision making process. To put in plainly, we feel dis-empowered and impotent – refused, by no action of our own, the opportunity to do the very job we were elected to do.
While there is no immediate resolution we can assure, please know that we will do everything in our power to uncompromisingly uphold our code of conduct while working with SCA Volunteer Leadership and Staff –
“… a zero tolerance policy for harassment, violent behavior, and sexually offensive behavior or actions. This includes, but it not limited to: harassment toward another individual on the basis of gender, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, religion, creed, race, color, national origin, medical condition, genetic disorder, physical or mental disability, marital status, age or sexual orientation; physical or verbal threats; unwelcome attention; bullying, stalking; use of physical force; behavior that creates a disturbance or is dangerous, including lewd or generally offensive behavior or language; using sexually explicit or offensive language or conduct; and obscene gestures. Anyone found to be behaving in any way that violates this policy, either in person or online, may be removed from the Association without refund and may be banned from future SCA events.”We will do our very best to provide updates as things continue to unfold…
In the meantime, let your voice be heard – https://www.change.org/p/sca-change-the-location-of-the-18-…
—Barista Guild of America Executive Council members David Fasman, Brent Hall, Liz S. Dean, Todd Mackey, Mark Hundley, Kathie Hilberg, Sarah Leslie, Matthew Scott, Laila Wilbur, and Gabe Smentek.
The SCA backs down
And as if by magic, mere hours later, the SCA responded to the pressure from Sprudge with the following comments:
Following the announcement, coffee news website Sprudge released reporting on the use of slave labor and abuses against the LGBTQ community in the UAE. We have followed the response to the announcement and have heard from many in our community today about this decision. It is clear that the UAE’s human rights issues were not taken into consideration in the selection process. This is a serious problem that shows that our selection process was not broad or inclusive enough and we at the SCA intend to correct it.
For this reason, we have decided to suspend further planning on these four events in Dubai while we consult with the Boards of Directors of the SCA and the WCE. We commit ourselves to developing the appropriate policies and procedures that ensure we have gathered enough information to make the best possible decisions for how and where we engage in the world for all current and future activities.
Well done Sprudge for holding the SCA to account and not being an arbiter of evil in this space.
Still, the process has merely been suspended and it’s quite possible that the events will still go ahead, even after the additional consultation.
As such, it’s worth adding your name to the change.org petition over here and let your voice be heard that slavery and intolerance is not to be supported.
