Experiencing the intellectual and financial support of the CQI has been heartening, motivating and validating for all of us at NKG PACE. Our warmest thanks to the CQI team and its instructors!

Coffee roasters across the United States have applauded the NKG PACE program since its inception and asked how they can get involved in this work. This year, we’re thrilled to announce the availability of a variety of sponsorship options, at all levels of support. Please take a look!

You asked for it, and we’re thrilled to deliver! The new NKG PACE Open-Access Series offers substantive educational coffee content, at no charge, to everyone! We hope you’ll join us and spread the word to new, and especially underrepresented, coffee professionals!

NKG PACE Partners receive an education that’s both deep and wide, as well as hands-on experience apprenticing in Quality Control, Logistics and Customer Service. Hiring? We can’t imagine more qualified candidates.

The NKG PACE experience includes a week with an NKG export company, learning about its operations, the export process, farms it purchases from and how coffee travels in that country. Over the last two years, the Partners have been hosted by Ceca, in San Jose, Costa Rica. When asked about the experience and her main takeaways, Zakiya Mason had the following to say.  

Neumann Gruppe USA (NGUS) is thrilled to announce the selection of the third class of Partners in the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Partnership to Advance Coffee Equity (NKG PACE)!

For the 2024–2025 NKG PACE program year, we will be accepting two Partners. They will be placed in our Hoboken and Seattle offices, which have the largest teams and greatest QC needs.

As part of the NKG PACE program, Partners Jayy Terrell and Charles Umeano spent time with NKG export company Ceca, in Costa Rica. The experience, Jayy writes, was “full of revelatory moments.”

If you have a passion for coffee and want to understand the full value chain that precedes retail, and if you’re interested in a career in coffee, we warmly invite you to apply to NKG PACE! Applications are being accepted starting Oct. 23.

A week at Peet’s Coffee HQ, writes NKG PACE Partner Shaa’ista Sabir, “broadened my perspective on what specialty coffee is capable of with consistent and intentional care and dedication to quality.”

Zakiya Mason, the NKG PACE Partner in the Neumann Gruppe USA headquarters lab, shared her thoughts about settling in to the program.

New NKG PACE Partners Shaa’ista Sabir, Zakiya Mason and Jalen Kelly arrived in Hoboken for an orientation, and the learning (and laughter) was immediate.

Neumann Kaffee Gruppe and the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity are celebrating the first NKG PACE Graduates, Porttia Porttis, Jayy Terrell and Charles Umeano.

The Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Partnership to Advance Coffee Equity is delighted to announce the selection of the 2023-2024 NKG PACE Partners!

Taking this intense exam four months early surely wasn’t in my original plan for completing the NKG PACE program, but I was grateful for the experience …

Barista Magazine Online spent “10 Minutes With” each of the 2022 NKG PACE Partners, asking about their experiences to date, what they want to do next and the advice they’d give anyone who’s considering applying.

Jayy Terrell, the NKG PACE Partner in San Diego, has had a busy fall season. They visited NKG headquarters in Hoboken, attended New York Coffee Festival and LA Coffee Fest, spent a week at Peet’s Coffee headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., and recently participated in a Glitter Cat Bootcamp for the SCA Coffee in Good Spirits competition.

Six months into the NKG PACE program, CCRE Board Member David Dávila checked in with the Partners to ask about their experience and what feels possible looking ahead. The answer? “Literally anything.”

We knew that the different practices in each lab would create some asymmetries. To address this, as well as to build the Partners’ confidence in their sensory abilities and comfort using the SCA cupping form, we began the joint, remote effort of bi-weekly cupping calibrations.

Applications are now being accepted for the NKG PACE 2023–2024 program year! Please apply by Dec. 1.