Second Annual California Coffee Summit Draws 75
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A wide angle shot showing guests seated at tables listening to a speaker make a presentation at the Coffee Summit.
The Huntley College of Agriculture’s second annual California Coffee Summit drew 75 participants to learn about the emerging industry.
The two-day summit began on Jan. 17 at the AGRIscapes Center on the Cal Poly Pomona campus.
Participants heard experts from Good Land Organics – California’s first commercial coffee farm – and Frinj Coffee talk about the current state and future of the California coffee industry.
Other experts and farmers spoke about coffee production, developing the specialty coffee market, and establishing coffee farms. The speakers included a farmer who grows specialty coffee in Panama and experts from the Los Angeles County Department of Agricultural Commissioner and the University of California Cooperative Extension, respectively, who spoke about protocols for disease and pest security.
The second day of the summit consisted of an all-day tour exploring two coffee farms in San Diego County. The tour, which was completely sold out, visited a Mellano Farms operation in Carlsbad and another coffee farm in the Rancho Santa Fe area.
For the past two years, the Department of Plant Science has conducted a research trial by planting coffee in a secluded spot on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. The trial included 13 different varieties from Honduras and El Salvador to see which could tolerate the range of temperatures in the Pomona area.
Students participated in the research by measuring the plants to chart growth, weeding, fertilizing, mulching, and irrigating the coffee.
The plant science department is also working with the nutrition and food science department to process the coffee berries so they can be consumed as