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What does the coffee industry think about the “evolved” Q grader programme?

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wpadmin

On May 15, 2025

On 24 April 2025, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) announced a historic partnership that will transition the management of the Q grader programme.

From 1 October, the SCA will run an “evolved” Q grader certification based on its Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) framework. This means the CQI will no longer be involved in the operations of the Q, a course which it has overseen for the last two decades.

The partnership is momentous for the coffee industry. Many expressed their concerns and confusion shortly after the announcement, mainly about its practical implications. In addition to questions about how the CVA will impact coffee pricing and quality discrepancies, Q graders are asking how the new programme will affect the validity of their certifications, and how much they might need to invest in becoming an “evolved” Q grader.

I spoke to Spencer Ross, Associate Professor of Marketing, Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Krzysztof Blinkiewicz, founder of Red Ink Coffee, and Spencer Turer, Vice President of Coffee Enterprises, to understand more about the coffee community’s reaction to the news.

You may also like our article on how often Q graders need to recertify.

What does the coffee industry think about the “evolved” Q grader programme?

Unpacking the historic SCA-CQI partnership

The news that the SCA will take over the operations of the Q grader programme broke at the 2025 Specialty Coffee Expo in Houston.

Reactions were mixed, but a noticeable number of people in the coffee industry were shocked. Some voiced their confusion as to why two similar but separate organisations were now converging to reinvent a longstanding educational programme that supports thousands of certified coffee professionals.

Others, meanwhile, were less surprised, emphasising that signs had pointed to this partnership for some time. Indeed, the announcement that the SCA partnered with Cup of Excellence and Alliance for Coffee Excellence at last year’s World of Coffee Copenhagen was a strong signal.

Historically, CoE, ACE, and SCA operated independently, occasionally collaborating on smaller projects. Following the MoU signing, CoE started to integrate the descriptive and scoring portions of the CVA analysis protocol into its competition structure.

What is the CVA?

At the centre of the discussion around the “evolved” Q grader certification is the CVA.

According to the SCA, the CVA offers a more holistic approach to coffee evaluation that moves beyond traditional cupping scores on which the Q grading system relies. The beginnings of the CVA go back to 2021, when the SCA started working on a project to evaluate and revise its 2004 cupping system. This cupping protocol and form had faced some criticism for focusing too much on grading and scoring, thereby ignoring a coffee’s more holistic value.

In October 2022, the SCA shared the results of a survey which included around 1,600 cupping professionals in Latin America, the UK, and the US. The survey looked into the “intersubjectivity” of cupping; the idea that results don’t accurately reflect both a cupping professional’s expert opinion and their personal preferences.

A month later, the SCA launched a pilot project that aimed to resolve these issues and proposed the need for an evolved cupping form – the result: the Coffee Value Assessment.

The new protocol and guidelines are split into four separate assessment stages, which can either be used separately from one another or collectively:

Physical – an evaluation of green coffee which assesses moisture content, physical appearance, and any visual damage to the beans. You can apply the results to a number of grading systems.
Extrinsic – an evaluation of factors such as “identity”, certification, and origin.
Affective – an evaluation of the cupper’s personal opinion on coffee quality based on the 100-point scale.
Descriptive – an evaluation of a coffee’s flavour and aroma attributes, with no positive or negative implications.

In comparison, the 2004 cupping form and guidelines only rely on affective and descriptive assessment stages.

The coffee industry voices its concerns

From October 2025, the SCA’s CVA framework will replace CQI’s Q grader programme, affecting 10,000 certified Q graders around the world. As a result, there’s a lot of confusion and uncertainty, and little immediate clarification on what it means in practical terms.

The coffee industry’s response to the news has varied, but key concerns are emerging that coffee professionals, especially Q graders, are keen to have addressed.

Is the transition too abrupt?

One of the most commonly asked questions is whether the transition from Q grader to CVA “evolved” Q grader is happening too quickly. The SCA officially launched the CVA in 2023, but the Q programme has been in operation for over two decades, highlighting how more established the latter is compared to the former.

“Collectively, the specialty coffee business has invested substantial resources over the past 20+ years in training, cupping, and grading protocols and creating a common language for green coffee supply chains,” says Spencer Turer, Q grader and Vice President of coffee and tea testing consultancy Coffee Enterprises. Spencer was also an International Q grader on a USAID-funded Coffee Corps assignment for the first Q programme in 2004, a former chair of the technical standards committee, and is a 25-year volunteer for the SCA(A).

“Specialty coffee professionals place great faith in CQI and SCA as bedrock institutions to contribute to the success of stakeholders, and the success of the industry at large,” he adds. “This sudden and immediate change threatens business stability and impacts the people throughout the supply chain.”

The short transition timeframe also raises questions about the additional costs for Q graders who want to recertify under the CVA framework. The programme already commands a high price tag, which, although it may be justified to cover the costs of educational resources and facilities, disproportionately affects professionals in lower-income countries.

“I’m trying to remain optimistic,” says Spencer. “Valuing the positives and negatives of this change is very difficult, mostly because there are so many unknowns, and because of the impact on so many producers, cuppers, traders, and educators around the world.”

A perceived lack of community participation

For some, the coffee community’s shock and concern about the “evolved” Q grader programme underscores their belief that the decision was made without their input.

“As an SCA member, I was struck by the apparent contradiction between both organisations’ missions and visions and the lack of member involvement in the decision-making process through consultation,” says Krzysztof Blinkiewicz, the founder of coffee education platform Red Ink Coffee, Authorised SCA Trainer, and Q grader. “Above all, it’s the disappointment that comes from making important decisions about the community, in closed offices, without their participation.”

Additionally, the perceivedly sudden announcement highlights a divisiveness in the industry, which could exacerbate confusion at a time when the industry is facing unprecedented challenges like price volatility and climate-driven supply shortages.

“I have spoken with a couple of Q graders on both the buyer and producer side of the value system, and almost all of them felt the value of their certifications evaporated overnight,” says coffee researcher Spencer Ross. “Many of them felt they had spent a lot of money on certification and would no longer see any return on that investment, while trying to decide if it would be worth investing in the new licence.

“I’ve also seen some Q graders immediately pivot to the CVA to try to align with the SCA’s new standards,” he adds. “At a minimum, it causes chaos and confusion; at a maximum, it shifts the structure of the industry in terms of who will be instructing and obtaining new CVA licenses and can possibly reduce the number of ‘CVA graders’ as an unintended consequence.”

More market consolidation

Both the SCA and CQI originate from majority-consuming countries. The consolidation of both organisations to oversee coffee scoring and, therefore, pricing raises questions about value distribution along the supply chain.

“Twenty years ago, in their book, The Coffee Paradox, Benoit Daviron and Stefano Ponte wrote that a shift to privatisation in the global coffee value chain would result in more consolidation along the buyer side of the value chain,” Spencer Ross says. “So, as the price crisis, climate change, and tariffs have significantly affected coffee markets, I’m not surprised that the SCA sought to consolidate the standards it has long set from the buyer side to the producer side, with the instruction of evaluation of those standards previously offered by the CQI.”

Through recent partnerships with the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation and Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association, technical teams and cuppers will be trained in the application of the CVA. The SCA says the partnerships “are expected to deliver tangible benefits to producers”.

But for some, the larger issue at play is that the consolidation of coffee education and scoring systems has the potential to stifle industry innovation and impede value distribution.

“The issue with consolidation in any private industry is that the market reduction of choice also concentrates industry power, and not necessarily in a way that is collectively beneficial,” Spencer Ross adds. “Consolidation concentrates industry power on the buyer side, which the SCA seems to focus on. Some folks might seek alternative certifications, such as from the Sustainable Coffee Institute, and those certifications may offer market legitimacy and quality accountability in different ways.”

How will the CVA affect coffee scoring and pricing?

Arguably, one of the biggest unknowns about the “evolved” Q grader programme is how it will impact coffee scoring and pricing. Transitioning from a single cup score to a more holistic approach will have repercussions across the entire supply chain.

“Typically, stakeholders who buy and sell coffee, product developers, and quality assurance professionals will test new methods of analysis side-by-side with existing protocols to compare analytical results,” Spencer Turer says. “This helps ensure similar decisions for approval and rejection are made, and that quality determinants don’t shift due to the change in evaluation.

“This sudden change from the 2004 cupping form to the CVA challenges the rollout and overall success of the new Q. We need to recognise that functional testing is required before adopting a new method of analysis,” he adds. “I believe there will be competing opinions about which method of analysis to use. This will cause confusion and may impact both supply chain operations and quality determinations.

“I hope this sudden change won’t increase coffee rejections solely due to the change in evaluation format, and the value of coffee, specifically the price paid to coffee producers, won’t reduce.”

Unfamiliar territory

With over 10,000 certified professionals and two decades of operations, the Q programme is a familiar institution in the coffee industry. Conversely, significantly fewer people are aware of how the CVA protocol works, which raises concerns about its implementation across the supply chain in the coming months.

“By this time last year, the SCA had released the initial CVA for use. However, almost no one I interviewed as part of my ongoing research was aware there would be a new cupping standard that varied from the form used over the past couple of decades,” says Spencer Ross. “Given slow information flows, plus the time it takes norms to align in an industry, I imagine it will take some time for producers to understand how the CVA will impact them and their businesses because many producers rely on third parties to evaluate their coffees.”

Others, meanwhile, have been able to access and implement the CVA, but knowledge gaps and a lack of clarity still persist.

“We have been closely following the development of the CVA programme. Our laboratory manager, Vincent Caloiero, completed the CVA for cuppers class as soon as it was available in 2023,” Spencer Turer says. “In my judgement, the combined package of descriptive, affective, and extrinsic assessments provides a complete profile and identification of coffee.

“The affective form is the most controversial, however,” he adds. “There is no alignment in quality and no calibration with flavour standards for this assessment. It records each individual’s impression of quality, which can be directional and create confusion at the same time.”

A Q grader scores coffees during a cupping.

What’s next for Q graders?

The global applicability of the CVA remains a topic of discussion in the coffee industry. Many are now questioning what the future holds for their Q grader status, or whether they want to “evolve” their certification.

“I have a Q certification valid until 2027. I can’t say that I definitely won’t transition to an ‘evolved’ Q grader status,” says Krzysztof. “As a Sensory Skills AST, I could become a Q instructor, but I think that would be disrespectful to long-time instructors who have devoted many years and lots of effort and money to becoming one.

“I am seriously considering not renewing my soon-to-expire SCA trainer’s license, focusing on my own and other alternatives,” he adds. “There are many coffee professionals who have already become independent.”

Will price be a barrier to uptake?

The SCA recently announced a new pricing model for its educational courses, including the CVA Q programme. The organisation says it now categorises countries into five groups based on data from the International Monetary Fund and the Purchasing Power Parity per Capita Index, ensuring that costs reflect local economic realities.

Although this could mitigate some concerns about the additional costs of the “evolved” Q programme, broader uncertainty still persists.

“I wonder how many stakeholders will change to the new CVA, how many will continue to use the 2004 SCA cupping form, and how many will maintain their independence and continue to use their company-specific protocols and methods of analysis,” Spencer Turer says.

Moreover, the transition of leadership has prompted some in the coffee community to question the future of other educational programmes.

“The uncertainty that prevailed after this Q transition, without consultation and the lack of answers to key questions about the future of the programme, has also caused concern about the future of the AST programme,” says Krzysztof. “It doesn’t seem to make sense in the medium to long term to keep Q instructors and ASTs active in one organisation at the same time; it’s duplicative.”

Comments from the SCA

The SCA provided the following responses when contacted for comments:

What happens if certified Q graders don’t meet the fast-track deadline of 31 December 2025? Is there an alternative to the fast track?

“Certified Q Graders (both Arabica and Robusta), whether current or lapsed, can fast-track to the evolved Q Grader status by completing the two-day CVA for Cuppers course by December 31, 2025. This fast-track option is available only until that date. If you miss this deadline, you’ll need to complete the full evolved Q Grader course.”

How long will it take to transition to an evolved Q grader status?

“The duration depends on the pathway:

Fast-Track Pathway: Completing the two-day CVA for Cuppers course before December 31, 2025.
Take the full evolved Q grader course, which will launch later this year.”

What happens if Q graders don’t want to/can’t take the course?

“Your existing Q Grader certification remains valid until its expiration date. If you choose not to transition to the evolved Q Grader status, your current certification will remain valid until it expires. After that, to regain certification, you’ll need to complete the full evolved Q Grader course.”

How will the CVA affect coffee pricing?

“Specialty coffees have value in the marketplace because people care about their unique flavors, stories, and attributes. The CVA is a part of our larger project to help market actors – from producers to shop owners – discover, maximize, and share in the value of specialty coffee. CVA is designed to help the green coffee trade transparently and completely document the attributes that create value in specialty coffee. Only market actors themselves can determine prices, but the CVA can help them understand the entire value of a coffee, which can help them negotiate knowledgeably.”