“Ric has always brought a thoughtful and deeply principled wisdom and welcome humor to our collaborations,” says Daniele Giovannucci of COSA’s newest Board member. Ric Rhinehart, the former CEO of the Specialty Coffee Association, has joined the COSA Board of Directors as it expands with advisors who bring best-in-class skills and a diverse spectrum of thinking to guide our mission. 

“The desire to create change in the world is ultimately meaningless without a mechanism to make that change and a means to measure it. The COSA has long been the gold standard for measurement and working with this team has made change a real possibility,” he says. During his SCA tenure he led the organization to become the world’s largest and most influential coffee association with more than 10,000 members in 45 countries. He was also a founding member of the American Premium Tea Institute, where he served on the Board of Directors and as President.