It was "Specialty Coffee Week" in Minneapolis, Minn., May 2-5, as declared by the City of Minneapolis and its Mayor's Office. The official proclamation, which took place on Saturday, May 3, honored the business of specialty coffee and the Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) 20th Annual Conference & Exhibition at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which wrapped up yesterday.

"I join all Minnesotans in welcoming the Specialty Coffee Association of America to our state. In Minnesota, we take our coffee pretty seriously. We're also serious about protecting our natural environment, both here and around the world. So it's important that this year's conference aims to give special attention to promoting sustainable and forward-looking growing practices," said U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

The "Specialty Coffee Week" dedication was delivered during a special ribbon-cutting and opening of the exhibition, which featured more than 700 coffee companies. Target and Caribou Coffee Company, both Minneapolis-based businesses, were major sponsors of this year's SCAA conference, which is the specialty coffee industry's biggest event. To coincide with the conference's theme of 'Roots,' the nation of Ethiopia -- which is widely recognized as the birthplace of coffee -- was this year's SCAA's Portrait Country Sponsor. The Twin Cities is also home to one of the largest communities of Ethiopians living in the United States.

The term "specialty coffee" refers to the highest-quality green coffee beans roasted to their greatest flavor potential by true craftspeople and then properly brewed to well-established standards.

As the industry's premier specialty coffee event, the conference featured in-depth educational sessions covering a variety of coffee topics, hundreds of exhibit booths, a keynote presentation from Michael Shuman, author of The Small-Mart Revolution, the 2008 SCAA United States Barista Championship, the 2008 SCAA Coffee of the Year Competition, and the 2008 SCAA Roasters Choice Tasting Competition.

In accord with the SCAA's mission of promoting sustainability in the specialty coffee industry, the association created a carbon neutrality program to help offset emissions related to conference travel, lodging and energy consumption. The funds collected will be donated to nonprofit organization Trees for the Future for the purchasing and planting of new trees.