Sahra Nguyen, Founder and CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply, Announced As Keynote Speaker For 2022 IWCA Breakfast In Boston
The IWCA annual breakfast will be held on April 9, 2022, at the SCA Expo in Boston, Massachusetts. This event brings together a global audience representing a variety of roles within the coffee supply chain. IWCA staff and board members are excited to share that Sahra Nguyen, Founder, and CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply will open the event as Keynote Speaker.
Sahra will share her unconventional journey from documentary filmmaker to Vietnamese coffee importer and roaster, and more so, a champion of the robusta bean and less recognized coffee growing regions, such as Southeast Asia. When she noticed that the Vietnamese coffee industry, and more specifically, the robusta bean were excluded from the global coffee conversation she set out to change the narrative. Breakfast attendees will hear about the challenges and deep-rooted industry preconceptions Nguyen faced on her path to bring Vietnamese coffee and robusta beans to mainstream coffee consumers.
“Working with IWCA, specifically IWCA Vietnam Chapter, has allowed me to deepen my work in the coffee industry through creating a pipeline for shared knowledge,” said Nguyen. “For us, as a direct-trade importer and roaster, we need to understand the needs and challenges of farming communities and how we can help fill the gaps. For the producers, it's understanding the standards of global markets and how they can evolve their growing practice to increase opportunities. With a direct relationship we're able to work closely together to achieve our goals; and through a global network like IWCA, we're able to ensure that women producers all around the world receive the attention and support they deserve.”
IWCA Executive Director, Dr. Sarada Krishnan, is looking forward to connecting with industry supporters and partners at the breakfast and listening to Sahra Nguyen share how she is empowering producers through direct partnerships. “The annual breakfast at SCA offers us an opportunity to showcase some of the amazing work by women in coffee,” said Dr. Krishnan. “At this year's breakfast, we are thrilled to have Sahra Nguyen as our keynote speaker. Her story from filmmaker to coffee entrepreneur promoting her cultural heritage will leave all of us inspired and provoke conversation on how we define specialty coffee.”
Tickets for the IWCA Breakfast are on sale now and can be purchased when registering for the SCA Expo.
Information about event sponsorships can be found here.
Sahra Nguyen is the founder & CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply -- the first specialty Vietnamese coffee company importing directly from the source and roasting in Brooklyn, New York. On a mission to transform the coffee industry through diversity, inclusion, and sustainability, Nguyen Coffee Supply has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, VICE, New York Magazine, New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, and honored with the 2019 StarChefs Rising Star Award. Early January 2020, Imbibe Magazine featured Sahra Nguyen as one of the #Imbibe75 -- people, places, and directions that will shape the way you drink in 2020. She is a Gold House Collective Founder for Spring 2020 cohort, a leading network to celebrate and elevate the Asian American community. In 2021, Nguyen graced the July cover of Food & Wine as one of their 25 Game Changers.