NKG pace is a one-year paid training program created by the company Neumann USA Group and Coffee Coalition for Racial Equality to provide hands-on experience for black coffee professionals looking to transition their career into the green coffee trade. The only real downside to NKG Pace is narrow availability; It is hard to offer this type of paid training on a gigantic scale.
To remedy this, NKG Pace announced Open Access Seriesfree monthly educational events “designed to support knowledge sharing and professional development, particularly among BIPOC in the coffee industry” and will accompany NKG Pace’s curriculum.
Starting in July, the online series will consist of three events taking place over as many months. Topics to be discussed include “sustainability, farm management, logistics, purchasing green coffee and how to be a better coffee drinker,” according to a press release. Each session will be led by global members of the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, as well as other experts in a given area of the coffee network.
“When it comes to learning about the pre-baking supply chain, finding earnest learning opportunities can be intimidating and high-priced. Almost everyone we spoke to during the last application process mentioned this,” says Amanda Armbrust-Asselin, Education Manager at NKG PACE. “We took this feedback to heart and looked at how we could expand the program’s curriculum to ensure that more people benefit from each NKG PACE cohort.”
The first event will take place on July 10 and will be dedicated to “The Power of Processing”. The one-hour course will cover various processing methods and the reasons for using them, the impact of processing on cup quality, and the risks, costs and needs that influence processing decisions. Speakers will include Gloria Pedroza, NKG Quality Director from Switzerland, third-generation NKG producer and exporter in Costa Rica Diego Guardia, and Ecuadorian coffee consultant and Chain Collaborative member Camilia Khalife.
Attendance at each Open Access Series event is completely free, but RSVP is required and can be submitted Here. For more information about the Open Access series, to view the full list of topics, or to RSVP, visit the NKG Pace website official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the editor-in-chief of Sprudge Media Network and a Dallas-based writer. Read more Zac Cadwalader at Sprudge.
