CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati

What CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati does

CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati (legal name: Associazione Caffè Speciali Certificati) is an Italian nonprofit association founded in 1996 and headquartered at Via Pieroni 27, Livorno. It operates as a coffee quality certification body, providing end-to-end quality assurance across the specialty coffee supply chain, from plantation identification and on-site inspections at producer sites, through annual crop sampling and discharge verification at unloading, to double-tasting by qualified tasters covering both espresso and infusion methods. CSC does not purchase or trade green coffee; instead, it organizes and executes the controls required to certify quality, issuing progressively numbered anti-forgery labels that members apply to their certified coffee packets as a recognized quality mark. The association also acknowledges and aligns with international schemes including UTZ Certified, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade, and SA 8000, and holds ISO EN ISO 22005:2008 REP-15 certification from Bureau Veritas Italia for traceability in agri-food supply chains.

CSC's commercial model is a subscription-based membership structure targeted at Italian and international coffee roasters, traders, and agents. Prospective members pay a one-off joining fee in the first year and an annual subscription thereafter; admission is decided by the Board of Directors within six months of application. As of the latest available data, the association has approximately 10 enterprise member roasters and traders (Italian names include Barbera 1870, Goppion Caffè, DiniCaffè, Le Piantagioni del Caffè, Caffè Agust, Mondi Caffè, Carrara Coffee Agencies, and CBC; Swiss members include Blaser Cafe AG and Blaser Trading AG). Members receive access to certified raw materials, a quality differentiator for their packaging, marketing support, organized professional visits to producing countries, and participation in social projects supporting producer communities. CSC is governed by a General Assembly, a Board of Directors, and a Technical Commission (the organ that guarantees quality of coffees used by members), and is led operationally by a small secretarial team of approximately 6 staff.

Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: CSC recruits members through direct outreach at major specialty coffee trade events (Sigep in Rimini, Host Milano, World of Coffee), referrals from existing members, and the association's professional network. It maintains active presence at these events, sponsors Cup Tasters Italian championships, and supports members competing internationally (e.g., Fabio Dotti). The association is a member of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and holds strategic partnerships including a technical partnership with Slow Food (joint Ethiopian presidio) and a 2020 social-project partnership with Amka in Guatemala. Current leadership comprises President Paola Goppion (Goppion Caffè SpA), Vice President Serena Nobili (Dini Caffè Srl), and Technical Commission President Graziano Carrara (Carrara Srl Coffee Agencies); the secretariat is led by Barbara Nannicini, who assumed the role in May 2024.

Name

CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati

Legal name

Associazione Caffè Speciali Certificati

Website

https://caffespeciali.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati is an Italian nonprofit association, founded in 1996, that provides end-to-end quality certification for specialty coffee. It serves approximately 10 enterprise coffee roasters and traders in Italy and Switzerland through subscription-based membership, issuing ISO-aligned certified labels and anti-forgery marks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Quality Certification

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee (Roasted, Ground, Whole Bean) (CRADAHAG)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee certification
• Coffee quality assurance
• Green coffee supply
• Coffee association membership
• Coffee traceability certification

Headquarters

HQ city

Livorno

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: One-off joining fee in the first year plus an annual subscription each year thereafter. Members (roasters and traders) pay dues to belong to the association and access certified raw materials.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CSC is a non-profit association that certifies specialty coffee quality through rigorous multi-phase controls from coffee plantation to cup. It does not purchase or sell coffee directly but organizes annual crop sampling, periodic on-site inspections at producer plantations, discharge sample verification, and cupping by qualified tasters. Members (roasters and traders) gain access to certified raw materials and apply progressively numbered anti-forgery CSC labels to their certified blends.

Product overview

CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati is an association that provides quality certification services for specialty coffee. The core offering is the CSC Quality Certification, which guarantees superior coffee blends through rigorous controls across the entire production cycle. Associated with this is the CSC Certified Green Coffee Supply service that provides members with certified raw materials. The association also offers member support services including marketing assistance and access to production site visits. CSC does not purchase coffee but organizes and carries out the controls necessary to guarantee quality through its Technical Commission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CSC Quality Certification
• CSC Certified Green Coffee Supply
• CSC Member Support Services

Quantifiable outcome

• ISO EN ISO 22005:2008 REP-15 Bureau Veritas Italia certification for product certification and traceability system in agri-food supply chains

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• AmkaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with Amka to support women coffee producers. CSC and Amka collaborated on the 'caffè doña Lucero' project launched in 2020 in the province of Petatán, Huehuetenango region, Guatemala, supporting 80 women producers of coffee in vulnerable conditions.
• Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSC recognizes and adheres to SCA standards and protocols. CSC sponsors SCA competitions including Cup Tasters championships. The partnership involves shared commitment to specialty coffee quality standards.
• Slow FoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSC is a technical partner of Slow Food. Together they have realized a presidio in Ethiopia, the country of origin of coffee and the only place in the world where wild coffee plants are found. Working on similar initiatives in other producing countries.

Scale indicators2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• World Coffee Research: Nonprofit collaborative agricultural research organization focused on coffee variety innovation, genetic diversity, and origin quality. Comparable to CSC as a quality-focused nonprofit serving the specialty coffee ecosystem, though operating upstream at the agricultural/variety level rather than at roasting/blending level.

Broad incumbents

• Fairtrade International: Global certification organization whose Fairtrade coffee label CSC explicitly acknowledges as one of the international schemes it accepts. Comparable as an internationally recognized coffee certification, though Fairtrade focuses on social/economic standards rather than sensory quality.
• Specialty Coffee Association (SCA): Global trade association setting specialty coffee standards and protocols, including the Coffee Value Assessment that CSC's leadership has publicly discussed adopting. CSC explicitly recognizes and adheres to SCA standards, making SCA the most direct structural analogue — though at vastly larger scale.
• Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE, now part of SCA): European arm of specialty coffee development, training, and competition — historically a counterpart to CSC's continental mission. CSC's engagement with SCA competitions and standards places it adjacent to this now-integrated European specialty coffee community-building function.
• Rainforest Alliance: Global sustainability certification body whose coffee program CSC explicitly acknowledges. Competes for the same roaster certification spend but covers sustainability rather than sensory quality, making it an adjacent rather than overlapping certifier — though the two can be substitutes for some roasters.

Direct peers

• Coffee Quality Institute (CQI): Nonprofit focused on coffee quality through Q Grader certification and producer training programs. CQI and CSC operate parallel missions of building verified quality infrastructure for the specialty coffee industry, with both offering training, standards, and quality assurance services to roasters and producers.
• Alliance for Coffee Excellence / Cup of Excellence: Organization running Cup of Excellence competitions and quality auctions that identify and reward top specialty coffees globally. Comparable to CSC in that it certifies and differentiates premium coffees through rigorous evaluation, though ACE uses competition-based rather than ongoing plantation-to-cup inspection-based certification.

Regional players

• Associazione Italiana Caffè (AIC): Italian coffee industry trade association representing the broader national coffee value chain (production, roasting, vending, HoReCa). Comparable to CSC as a fellow Italian coffee association, though AIC serves the mainstream coffee industry while CSC focuses specifically on specialty coffee quality certification.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/caffe-speciali-certificati

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CSC - Caffè Speciali Certificati