The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has announced the candidates for its latest Board of Directors elections.

Following nominations and subsequent interviews with the SCA Nominations Committee, three industry figures have been shortlisted: Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC; Sunalini N. Menon, President of Coffeelab Limited; and Karsten Ranitzsch, Global Head of Coffee at Nestlé Nespresso S.A.

Bin Sulayem leads DMCC, the Dubai government authority that operates one of the world's largest free zones and a major international commodities trade hub, which also runs the DMCC Coffee Centre serving the global coffee trade. Menon heads Coffeelab Limited, an India-based coffee quality analysis and consultancy firm, and is a veteran of the Indian coffee sector, one of Asia's major coffee-producing origins. Ranitzsch oversees coffee operations at Nespresso, Nestlé's Switzerland-based premium portioned-coffee business and part of one of the world's largest coffee companies. Taken together, the shortlist spans much of the coffee value chain — trade-hub logistics, origin-side quality expertise, and global consumer-brand sourcing — for an association whose standards, research, education programs and competitions reach across the global coffee sector.

Under the association's election procedures, a Nominations by Petition period will run from 1 to 30 September. Applicants who were not selected through the nominations and interview process can still be added to the final ballot by petition if they collect at least 100 signatures from SCA professional members or from the primary contact of an SCA company member — a mechanism that keeps the final ballot open beyond the committee's shortlist.

The final ballot will be announced on 13 October. SCA members will then be invited to vote for the new director from 1 to 30 November, with the result of the election to be announced on 15 December.

The SCA Board of Directors consists of 15 volunteer members, supported by CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos and the SCA staff. According to the organisation, the board supports the work of the SCA and provides mission-based leadership and strategic governance.

The SCA is the world's largest coffee trade association. It was established in 2017 through the merger of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe. The association is widely known for developing coffee standards and protocols, publishing industry research, providing education programs, and organising events and competitions that include the World Coffee Championships.