07/08/26
Silent Brew, Strong Voices Project Updates
Following the SCTA Next Gen's Sustainability Award for our project Silent Brew, Strong Voices (read more here), we're proud to share an update on the impact this project is having in Pu'er, China.
Working with the Pu'er Special Education School– home to students aged 8 to 19 with visual and hearing impairments– the project has so far trained 45 students and 11 teachers across a sign-language coffee curriculum.
Two field trips took students through nursery management, planting, and harvesting, while a Silent Barista training programme has certified students and teachers alike.
Ten students have also received performance-based scholarships to support their studies.
Teachers are now running classes independently, and a standardised curriculum named 'the Special Ed Coffee Course and Silent Barista Inclusion Guide' is being finalised for wider use across coffee-growing communities.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this meaningful initiative, including our partners JDE Common Grounds and TORCH Lab Co. and the continued support of the SCTA Next Gen council.
More news
Insights
Click to read this articleBuilding a traceability system in our European factories
Robert Jan van Beekhoff, Operations & Supply Chain Advisor at ECOM Cocoa Theobroma, shares key insights into the technical and operational changes required to build an end-to-end traceability system capable of linking geo-location data directly to finished cocoa products.
Insights
Click to read this articleERDA by ECOM Research
ECOM Research developed a sector-specific approach in 2023, designed to accurately detect deforestation in cocoa and coffee landscapes. ECOM Research Deforestation Analysis (ERDA), is a tool built to improve accuracy and reliability in deforestation monitoring.
News
Click to read this articleBrewing resilience: researchers safeguard coffee and chocolate from climate threats
Climate change poses growing risks to coffee and cocoa production worldwide. Featuring ECOM’s work alongside researchers and industry partners, this article from the EU’s Horizon Magazine highlights collective efforts to protect these crops and strengthen farmer resilience.
Research
Click to read this articleCMPs significantly decreased deforestation in the most at-risk protected areas in Africa since 2000
This article explores collaborative management partnerships (CMPs) between state wildlife authorities and nonprofit conservation organizations to manage protected areas (PAs) have been used increasingly across Sub-Saharan Africa since the 2000s.
Insights
Click to read this articleThe Cocoa Price - A Key Factor for a Living Income for Farmers
SWISSCO has published a brief regarding perspectives and solutions regarding the price of cocoa and how it is relevant for a living income for farmers.
Insights
Click to read this articleECOM's Green Meter
We are pleased to announce the official rollout of our internal carbon calculator, Green Meter, which has been third-party reviewed by SustainCERT.
Research
Click to read this articleClimate-Smart Agriculture and Agroforestry in Cocoa
This guidance document was published by SWISSCO and focuses on approaches, financing needs and opportunities as well as providing high level guidance for stakeholders in the cocoa sector seeking to establish a broad range of actions that take the complexity of crop- and site-specific impacts of climate change and the realities of smallholder cocoa farmers into account.
Insights
Click to read this articleBeginners guide to Carbon Credits
This report provides an overview of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), from what it is to the roles of carbon standards, governments, and Indigenous Peoples in the VCM.
Research
Click to read this articleGoogle Earth Engine, an innovative technology for forest conservation
This report explores how Google Earth Engine (GEE) can and has been used as a land monitoring tool to help enforce forest protection laws, co-authored by ECOM's SMS Manager Coffee, Thuan Sarzynski.