Lecture Description
This lecture explores a central idea: the future of coffee depends on the forest landscapes where coffee originally evolved. Coffee is not simply an agricultural commodity, but a forest product shaped by biodiversity, shade, soil ecology, and climate stability. Some of the highest quality and most distinctive specialty coffees in the world come from forest and agroforestry systems, yet global coffee supply chains have largely developed in ways that degrade these ecosystems, creating long-term risks to supply, quality, and farmer livelihoods.
The session argues that forest and agroforestry coffee systems should be understood not only as conservation priorities, but as productive landscapes and investable assets. It will present models of landscape restoration and regenerative production that demonstrate how forests can produce high-quality coffee while generating carbon, biodiversity, and long-term supply security value.
The lecture reframes forest coffee not as a sustainability niche, but as critical infrastructure for the future stability, resilience, and economics of the global coffee industry.
Date: Friday, April 10, 2026
Time: 9:00 am - 9:45 am
Location: Room 24C
Category: Sustainability
Access: This lecture is free to attend with a World of Coffee entry badge. Register to attend World of Coffee here.
Please note that lecture sessions are open on a first-come, first-served basis. Early arrival is highly recommended to secure your seat.
Speakers
Baemnet Aschenaki
Slow Group COO, Slow Forest Coffee
Baemnet Aschenaki is a sustainability and climate finance professional specializing in asset integration, regenerative value chains, and nature-based solutions across the Global South. At Lombard Odier / holistiQ, he focuses on integrating newly acquired real-asset platforms, particularly in coffee, cocoa, and broader nature-capital sectors, ensuring operational alignment, impact delivery, and long-term value creation.
With more than 15 years of experience across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, he brings deep expertise in regenerative agriculture, commodity value chains, and blended climate finance. His work sits at the intersection of investment, operations, and sustainability, with a focus on scaling nature-positive assets and building resilient value chains that support both ecosystems and rural livelihoods across emerging markets.
Arthur Karuletwa
Vice President Procurement and Impact, Chobani La Colombe
Arthur Karuletwa is a globally respected social entrepreneur with over 23 years of leadership across coffee, cocoa, and agricultural value chains. He currently serves as Vice President of Sustainable Sourcing and Impact at Chobani // La Colombe. A pioneer in traceability, ethical sourcing, and human-centered supply chains, he has worked across 20+ countries. Arthur has held leadership roles at Starbucks, Westrock Coffee, and founded two retail roasteries. His work has been featured in Omnivore and The Rise of Espresso. He has advised governments and institutions including Rainforest Alliance and ICAFE.
Danilo Barbosa
COO, True Coffees
Danilo is a Brazilian coffee professional with over 15 years of experience, specializing in logistics, export and import operations, and supply chain management. He is currently the COO of True Coffees, a company focused on connecting coffee producers directly to international markets with transparency, traceability and operational excellence.
Born in the Chapadas de Minas, a traditional coffee-producing region, he represents a second generation connected to coffee origin. He built his career transforming complex logistics and export challenges into reliable, scalable processes that enable efficient global coffee movement.