AGM 2023: constitutional changes voted on at AGM

Membership constitutional change summary

For voting at the NZSCA AGM 2023, Friday 18 May, Sherwood, Queenstown.

What could one membership look like?

Executive Summary:

This is a proposal to move to one membership that includes hospitality groups and businesses that serve coffee into our membership.

1^st Point: We promote our Association as being open to businesses who are engaged in the specialty coffee community, yet we separate them with essentially two memberships (let’s put aside Lifetime at this point).

2^nd Point: Welcoming the “hospitality groups and businesses that serve coffee” into our Association:

The NZSCA is made up of coffee roasters, green bean importers, and any business that has a connection with the specialty coffee association, yet our membership is not open to cafes/coffee shops or hospitality businesses that ultimately sell and serve the coffee to the end user.

For example; what gives our Allied members access to a membership over the owner of the café who may possibly be more connected to the coffee, what’s in the cup, and direct customer feedback?

By including these businesses in our membership, we would be connecting with people at the coal face – baristas and business owners that are directly engaging with the end consumer.

Including hospitality groups and businesses that serve coffee in our membership broadens our reach in standardized education, national championships, and ongoing development.

In 2012 we moved away from being the New Zealand Coffee Roasters Association, to allow for a broader membership to include companies that were necessary for the continued development of the New Zealand Specialty market.

Background:

Currently, the NZSCA has three memberships: Primary, Allied, and Lifetime.

Membership categories are described as:

Membership is open to all individuals or businesses which are engaged in specialty coffee commerce for the New Zealand market. It is expected that members will register and pay dues within the category of their involvement in the specialty coffee industry.

(a) PRIMARY MEMBERSHIP shall be open to individuals or businesses that are directly engaged in the New Zealand specialty coffee industry. This includes but is not limited to, green bean importers and coffee roasters.

(b) ALLIED MEMBERSHIP shall be open to all individuals or businesses who supply products and/or services to the New Zealand specialty coffee industry.

(c) LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves in terms of making a significant contribution to the New Zealand specialty coffee industry.

NZSCA Objectives

The purpose of the Association is to:

(a) TO REPRESENT ALL STAKEHOLDERS in New Zealand specialty coffee by recognizing and engaging with the broad range of constituents in the industry

(b) TO PROVIDE A FORUM for industry participants to advance the New Zealand specialty coffee industry

(c) TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT through the provision of training, education, support, and other development opportunities

(d) TO PROMOTE PUBLIC INTEREST by increasing consumer awareness and understanding of specialty coffee in New Zealand.

What could one membership look like:

In the statement of membership description: “This includes but is not limited to, green bean importers, coffee roasters and businesses that are committed to the betterment of the specialty coffee industry of New Zealand.” This part of the statement is now inclusive of the industry as a whole. Therefore, there is no need to group our members into Allied, Primary, or Other.

Proposed membership:

Membership is open to all individuals or businesses which are engaged in specialty coffee commerce for the New Zealand market. It is expected that members will register and pay yearly dues.

(a) MEMBERSHIP Open to individuals or businesses that are directly engaged in the New Zealand specialty coffee industry. This includes but is not limited to; green bean importers, coffee roasters, hospitality outlets, and businesses that supply products and/or services to the New Zealand specialty coffee industry.

(b) LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves in terms of making a significant contribution to the New Zealand specialty coffee industry.

The changes that go to a vote to change the constitution in the AGM are listed below.

CONSTITUTION June 2021