Third Annual SCAA Roasters Guild Retreat Auction Raises Nearly $15,000 for Coffee Kids.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., USA (Sept. 26, 2007) – During its 3rd Annual Roasters Guild Retreat Silent Auction, Specialty Coffee Association of America netted nearly $15,000 for Coffee Kids, a non-profit organization.  The auction took place throughout the 7th Annual SCAA Roasters Guild Retreat, Aug. 16-19 at Sugar Lake Lodge in Grand Rapids, Minn.  

A check in the amount of $14,739 will be presented to a Coffee Kids representative during SCAA’s Conference Committee Meetings at the Minneapolis Convention Center, 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 29.  This year’s Roasters Guild Retreat Silent Auction proceeds significantly surpassed last year’s sum of $8,609.  

The popular auction items during the four-day Roasters Guild Retreat included a Probat Burns Probatino Table-Top Roaster, several Bunn-O-Matic Home Coffee Brewers, a trip to El Salvador and a full-year of advertisements in CoffeeTalk Magazine.  The Probatino Table-Top Roaster secured the highest bid of $8,000.

“The SCAA Roaster's Guild is thrilled about donating the silent auction proceeds to Coffee Kids,” said SCAA Roasters Guild Executive Council Chair Geoff Watts.  “Their community-based projects aimed at promoting education, health care, and improving quality of life are first-rate and very much in harmony with the goals of our membership.  By funding vital community projects to promote education, health care and credit programs, Coffee Kids instills hope to many needy families in coffee-growing regions throughout the world.”

About SCAA
Celebrating its silver anniversary in 2007, SCAA is the world's largest coffee trade association. Association members are located in more than 40 countries and represent every segment of the specialty coffee industry, from coffee growers to coffee roasters and retailers.

The SCAA's dedication to excellence in coffee is realized through the setting of quality standards for the industry.  The association's annual conference is the coffee industry's largest gathering.  Coffee Kids is a non-profit organization that has been working to improve the quality of life in coffee-farming communities for the past 19 years.  Emphasizing micro-credit, health care, education and small community-based projects, Coffee Kids fosters stable, long-term projects that help people pull themselves out of poverty.  Bill Fishbein, a coffeehouse owner, founded the organization with two partners in 1988 to give back to the millions of people working in coffee.  

SCAA’s Roaster’s Guild Retreat an annual four-day event for coffee professionals to bolster their industry acumen.  During the retreat, attendees have access to an array of helpful and information sessions to enhance their coffee cupping, roasting and industry knowledge.  The classes, which are taught by experienced industry professionals, range in topic from organic farming and coffee farm economics to more hands-on roasting and cupping workshops.