Orientation Planning and a Complete Coffee Curriculum

An autumn view of Neumann Gruppe USA headquarters in Hoboken, New Jersey.  

At Neumann Gruppe USA, we’re busy making final preparations for the arrival of the inaugural Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Partnership to Advance Coffee Equity (NKG PACE) Partners. Their May 2 arrival will kick off a one-week orientation that’s as comprehensive (and we hope also engaging, educational and fun) as the rest of the one-year program. Although this year’s Partners will also join offices in Seattle and San Diego, all three will begin here together in Hoboken.

NKG PACE is far more than a QC internship. It’s part apprenticeship, part education program and much more. While NKG has a history of educating individuals around coffee quality, it has never offered anything quite like this before.  

The three Partners will work together remotely over the course of the year, so orientation week will be a rare opportunity for them to share the same physical space and build community. With the help of the talented educators at Atlas Coffee, they’ll receive an introduction to topics that will be revisited in depth over the course of the program; these will include Sensory Science Basics; Practical Introduction to Cupping; Explorations in Quality Cupping; Commodity vs. Specialty Coffee; Flavor Concepts & How to Use Tasting Language; Green Coffee Basics; Green Grading 101; Brewing & Extraction; Basic Roasting Concepts and more. (Yes, seriously, more.)  

The week will also include conversations with NKG Group CEO David M. Neumann and CCRE Founder Phyllis Johnson, who together conceived of NKG PACE, as well as Steering Committee Member Michelle R. Johnson, founder of The Chocolate Barista and Ghost Town Oats.   

One purpose of this intense week is to give the Partners some perspective on the industry, NKG and NKG’s position along the entirety of the supply chain; another is to get them comfortable in the lab so that when they arrive at their respective offices, they can confidently contribute on day one.

Post orientation, the Partners’ education will continue remotely as a mixture of online learning sessions, guided independent study and assigned readings, alongside daily responsibilities in the lab.  

Quality Control and Beyond

While NKG PACE’s primary focus— physically and intellectually — will be on the Quality lab, the curriculum also offers views into all NKG US responsibilities as green coffee importers. Creating access to seasoned experts — both in their respective home offices and in the larger NKG network — is one of the great strengths NKG has to offer. The NKG PACE curriculum includes time with colleagues in all NGUS departments, including Trading, Logistics and Futures & Risk Management (and should one of these spark a great interest, we’ll support further exploration of that field).  

In developing the curriculum, we collaborated with our international colleagues, as well as SCA content creators and leadership at the Coffee Quality Institute, ensuring a full year that’s rigorous and thorough. It considers all aspects of green coffee, with areas of focus including: Farm Management; Processing; Sensory Science and Evaluation; Lab Administration; Robusta; Decaf and Soluble Coffee; and Sustainability.

We’re excited for every bit of it, but we’re especially eager for the coming days in the Quality lab. The Hoboken lab (like the Atlas lab in Seattle) is an SCA Premier Training Campus. But more, it’s a room that functions as the hearth of the office. It’s where numerous facets of green coffee intersect, invaluable conversations are had and our excitement for coffee and all its nuances continually grows.

We are also keenly aware that this is an extraordinary time to work in coffee. As a seasoned colleague recently noted, the industry has seen drought, frost, an inverted market, a global pandemic and supply chain woes before, but never all at once. There couldn’t be more to learn, consider and discuss.

We’re looking forward to having some fascinating conversations over the coming year and to learning alongside the NKG PACE Partners as we set off on this journey together. •