Creating a stage for sustainability with Lincoln & York

Sharing the stage with some serious industry heavyweights, Lincoln & York’s insight, experience and above all passion was evident and in the following blog I explain a little more about the collaboration between Aberfield, our client and key trade media that made this happen.

Lincoln & York has been recognised as a Carbon Neutral roastery for the past two years and is acutely aware of the responsibility it holds to play its role in the fight against climate change. If changes to the climate continue, the land suitable for growing coffee is predicted to decline by 50% between now and 2050, while demand for coffee in the same period is expected to double, so the time to take action is now

Keen to share its efforts so far and explore what can be done to make the industry more sustainable, Lincoln & York was in search of a stage to discuss how the industry can create a more secure future for coffee.

The Aberfield team spoke with a range of trade media titles and decided to work with the Tea & Coffee Journal on its Women in Tea & Coffee conference to provide Lincoln & York the platform it needed. Through a panel hosted by Category and Insight Manager Richard Milner, we brought together experts from across the tea and coffee industries to discuss the complex challenges in making tea and coffee more sustainable.

Speakers included:

Keely Wade, Marketing Manager, Lincoln & York

Elizabeth Langdon, Vice Chair of the British Coffee Association and Equatorial Traders

Vanúsia Nogueira, Executive Director at the International Coffee Organization

Dr Sharon Hall, Chief Executive of the UK Tea & Infusions Association

Shabnam Weber, President at the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada

Dilara Celik, Partnerships and Communications Manager at 4C

In the run up to the event, Aberfield created a comprehensive briefing document and discussion points which addressed sustainability throughout the tea and coffee supply chains and liaised with Tea & Coffee Journal Editor Vanessa Facenda to ensure the direction of discussion would address sustainability from environmental, social and economic perspectives.

A week ahead of the event, we also organised a virtual briefing meeting, enabling the panellists to get to know each other, discuss the talking points and allow for our host to get a feel for where to direct each question during the live event.

Our panel discussion was only one aspect of the conference and the more we spoke with Vanessa the more opportunities we found to get involved in. One of the afternoon sessions was a careers panel with industry professionals discussing their entry into tea and coffee. Having previously won Food Manufacture’s Future Talent award for her inspirational journey to becoming Lincoln & York’s coffee apprentice, we knew Mollie Harvey would be a perfect fit for the additional panel. Now training for her Q Grader exams to become one of only 134 registered sommeliers of the coffee world, Mollie was able to share her advice to those looking to break into coffee and showcase Lincoln & York’s commitment to nurturing new talent.

And that wasn’t all, we also secured Lincoln & York a position at the conference’s speed network sessions enabling Keely and Richard to meet with fellow members of the tea and coffee community, continue discussions initiated by the panels and presentations, and make meaningful connections with organisations and individuals within the industries. During this time Mollie also delivered a coffee cupping demonstration, showcasing her skills as a young professional in coffee and giving some insight into the craft of the Q Graders at Lincoln & York.

In terms of coverage, the May issue of the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal focused on profiling the women taking part in the upcoming event and the June issue will reflect on the insights shared at the event.

To maximise Lincoln & York’s participation in the conference across its own channels, I attended the event to draft blogs and thought leadership based on the panel discussion and capture video content for a highlights reel shared on social channels.

A fantastic event with so many women (and men) truly passionate about their industries, proud of the work they do but committed to making impactful change for the benefit of their products, people throughout supply chain and of course, the planet.

If you have a message to share and want to chat about how Aberfield can help you share it with the right people, in the right places, at the right time, get in touch.