For 25 years, Time Magazine has been putting out the Time Best Inventions list, an annual collection of 300 new ideas and innovations poised to change the world. The inventions could be anything from a rollercoaster to a sprinkler system to an AI detector for teachers. And this year, the Time Best Inventions list is honoring one such initiative in the coffee world, the Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network by World Coffee Research.
We first reported on Innovea back in 2022 when it was first launched. By bringing together 11 different producing countries to share information about coffee breeding, Innovea is accelerating the rate at which genetic improvements to coffee plants is made. With the initiative, WCR has created a global repository of genetic information from which government-affiliated research institutions can pull in order to create new more resilient coffee varieties. And when one emerges, the producing country can share their findings with the rest of their cohorts. And now Time is recognizing WCR for it.
“We are honored that TIME has recognized Innovea as a transformative force for the global coffee sector,” states WCR CEO Dr. Jennifer Long. “We share this award with the 11 partners around the world who make up this unprecedented collaboration network and who together produce over 40% of the world’s coffee.”
Participating countries include Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Rwanda, Uganda, the USA, and Vietnam. Nine of them have already begun breeding trials to find rust- and climate-proof new varieties. The results are still 12 years away from reaching commercial viability for farmers, but that is significantly faster than it would be if the countries went at it alone.
Perhaps I’m biased, but I’d argue that Innovea is one of the most important honorees on this year’s Best Inventions list. Coffee is more than just a beverage, it is the livelihood for literal hundreds of millions of people across the globe. And securing its future against existential threats is a step towards securing theirs as well.
To see the full list of honorees, visit Time Magazine’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
