Recently, Roberto Velez, the head of the National Federation of Coffee Growers in Colombia, and José Sette, Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization, skillfully framed the considerable challenges faced by the coffee sector at one of coffee’s major global conferences. Fittingly, at the 31st Sintercafe event COSA President Daniele Giovannucci offered a distinct action plan that built on their assessment: to take charge of sustainability by employing intelligent metrics and doing it collaboratively using platforms.

Daniele’s remarks reflect the ideas of Kate Wylie, Global Vice President of Sustainability for MARS who recently argued at the Responsible Business Summit in London for companies and organizations to “go beyond cooperation to collaboration.” Director of U.S. Sustainable Sourcing from McDonald’s, Townsend Bailey, similarly lauded the sector’s collaborative spirit remarking at Sintercafe that “bringing everyone together helps deepen the conversation.”

COSA by design is collaborative. As a consortium, our work is increasingly oriented towards facilitating platforms and sector-level sustainability. COSA offers partnerships and technologies to understand and to drive sustainability. Daniele left the audience of leaders from around the world to consider: “are you driving sustainability or are you being driven?”