Private Sector Consultative Board
The Private Sector Consultative Board (PSCB) is an ICO body which provides a platform for the representatives of private sector organizations of producing and consuming countries. Established in 1999, it consults with and advises the Council on issues relevant to the coffee sector, either on request or on its own initiative.
The PSCB comprises 16 leading industry representatives from producing and consuming countries, along with their alternates and advisers. It generally meets at the time of the International Coffee Council meetings in March and September each year and its Chairperson reports to the Council on the outcome of its meeting. At the meetings, PSCB representatives review a range of coffee issues including sustainability initiatives, food safety aspects, quality and coffee and health.
The PSCB has agreed that its main mission and objective should be to increase the world coffee market in value and volume. One of the constraints for increasing coffee consumption was the misconception that coffee is bad for your health held by part of the population. On the contrary, there is significant scientific information available on various positive health benefits associated with coffee drinking.
PSCB members support various initiatives in the field of coffee and health, including the Coffee and Health website and the Health Care Professions – Coffee Education Programme (HCP).
The newly launched website on “coffee and health,” from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) provides balanced, up-to date scientific information on coffee, caffeine and health to health professionals, academics and specialist health media. The website features three dedicated information centres, tailored to the specific needs of healthcare practitioners such as doctors, nurses and dieticians, the academic and research community, as well as specialist health media. The site includes fully-referenced, balanced information, based on the latest scientific research, as well as additional background data sourced from relevant authoritative bodies on a range of health topics including cardiovascular health, fluid balance, liver function, pregnancy, sports performance and type 2 diabetes.
The HCP-CEP programme supports activities undertaken by national coffee associations to bring up-to-date and authoritative scientific findings to medical and healthcare professionals. The Programme currently runs in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom.
