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The Slow Food Coffee Coalition Board of Experts convened


The Board of Experts of the Slow Food Coffee Coalition (SFCC), a collaborative and open network founded by Slow Food and Lavazza Group, met last month at the Accademia del Caffè Espresso La Marzocco in Fiesole (Florence) to taste a range of coffees from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The coalition is made up of some of the leading Italian and


international coffee experts, including professional tasters. They will taste coffees from coffee-growing communities in Cuba, Ethiopia, Philippines (Minoyan Murcia Coffee Network), Honduras (Café resiliente el Paraìso), India (Nilgirs Coffee), Malawi, Mexico (Bosque, NIebla y Caffè Xalapa), Peru, (La Chacra D’dago), Tanzania. Some of the Slow Food Communities that have supplied the


coffee for the tasting (Philippines, Honduras, India and Malawi) have already signed up to an SFCC Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) initiative, while others (Cuba, Ethiopia, Peru and Tanzania) are in the initial stages of moving towards this innovative and democratic form of certification. A Participatory Guarantee System is in fact an alternative


certification model whereby producers and other stakeholders share a set of commonly-defined standards and norms, common procedures, a coordinating body, a common logo and defined consequences for non-compliance. The Slow Food Coffee Coalition believes that there is no such thing as a flawless certification system, but we prefer models based on trust and collaboration, and which do not financially burden producers. The main aim of this initial tasting was to consolidate the Slow Food Coffee Coalition tasters panel and to calibrate the PGS


evaluation criteria, including in relation to the sensory aspect of coffee. The SFCC seeks to promote coffee with refined sensory qualities, as well as to expand the definition of quality to include environmental and social aspects, and therefore the respect of local biodiversity and the work of farmers.


The panel of tasters was made up of: • Alberto Polojac,Bloom Academy and Imperator, Trieste - Panel Leader • Massimo Battaglia, coffee research leader Accademia dell’Espresso. • Nora Smahelova, coffee education leader Accademia dell’Espresso. • Marco Purini, coffee specialist Accademia dell’Espresso. • Alessio Baschieri, roaster L’Albero del Caffè • Bianca Maschio, sensory analist Q Arabica Grader • Massimo Audino, Coffee R&D green coffee innovation & product development Lavazza Group • Maria Trompetto, Global Away from Home Brand Marketing Lavazza Group • Federico Bobbio, Azahar Coffee Company • Francesco Sanapo, artisanal roaster • Andrej Godina, SCA trainer and coffee expert


The coffees were assessed according to the international cupping


protocol using the appropriate scorecards established by this methodology. The results will be share with the producer communities.


Bank of England gold standard approval for ITL’s Note Validator


Innovative Technology (ITL) has achieved independent approval from the Bank of England for its NV200 Spectral note validator during the Bank’s recent testing of automatic banknote handling machines. The Bank of England machine-testing framework enables


manufacturers to test their machines with circulation and artificial counterfeit banknotes to ensure they only accept genuine banknotes. The NV200 Spectral is a highly secure and technologically advanced


banknote validator; using ITL’s hyperspectral technology to offer complete note image capture to authenticate the validity of notes. James Beswick, Customer Support Manager for ITL commented


on the results: “We are proud to have passed the Bank of England’s strict (MTF 2.0) testing process this year and been awarded a Gold Standard approval – the highest level given. The results independently acknowledge the reliability of our NV200 Spectral for


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its ability to identify genuine banknotes and reject counterfeit notes and we are delighted with the 100% pass granted.”


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