The specialty coffee movement is increasingly focused not only on quality but also sustainability — and the two concerns are interlinked. Because both factors are largely determined before beans ever reach the roaster, coffee professionals need to understand the green coffee supply chain and its complex dynamics. An overview of the production and processing of beans is necessary to recognize where and how defects originate and how to increase efficiency and sustainability.
This is the rationale behind the new Green Coffee Academy, which recently began offering short, intensive training courses at the headquarters of IMA Petroncini, the maker of processing plants and roasting systems, in northern Italy. The next Coffee Academy events take place on March 29 and 30, to be followed by sessions in November.
The Academy is hosted by Petroncini’s IMA Coffee Lab, launched last year, which houses a fully functioning pilot plant covering all handling, processing, and packaging stages. Customers can visit and test their own coffee at any step of processing or use the facility to run a complete processing and packaging trial.
One goal of the training is to improve knowledge of the raw materials and the supply chain — from the growing countries all the way to the roasting plants — in order to identify the virtuous dynamics that help obtain a quality drink by eliminating waste and any defects that might become apparent when coffee is in the roasting phase and especially in the cup.
A second goal is to show how product processing becomes more efficient by using low energy impact technologies. Supply chain players are thus better equipped to implement corporate social responsibility initiatives by gaining accurate knowledge of both raw materials and the systems needed to optimally process them.
Two events will take place at the end of March:
March 29: Green Coffee Skills Course
One day of qualifying training at the IMA Coffee Lab green coffee reception and cleaning facility. By signing in for the training day, based on the SCA Coffee Skills Program, each participant will be able to discover key aspects of green coffee including production, processing, classification, shipping, storage, arrival at destination, as well as coffee portfolio management and contracts. At the end of the day, participants will be able to obtain an SCA Green Coffee Skills certification, for Foundation and Intermediate levels. The training will be delivered by a team of SCA authorised experts and trainers.
March 30: Academy Open Day – Green Coffee Processing Systems
The final stage of the Green Coffee Academy will be the Academy Day, a day of sharing and training attended by insiders, which includes a program packed full of papers and workshops on green coffee, with the participation of coffee experts, roasters, and international producers. During the day, it will be possible to see the Coffee Lab's green coffee processing plant in operation, including basic cleaning technologies and optical-color sorting being applied to the processing of up to two tons of Ethiopian Djimma Natural, a dry processed arabica.
The demonstrations examine how new handling and dosing systems ensure high energy efficiency, hygienic design standards and minimal maintenance requirements. The training also examines plant management and product traceability systems. Cupping sessions and comparative roasting tests will be carried out according to the modular and traditional method. Participants will meet green coffee dealers and join them for exclusive tests of their best batches.
The next session is planned for November. An earlier session in late February and early March took participants to origin in Honduras.
Interested coffee professionals can download the program agenda and reserve a seat at Green Coffee Academy. Or contact the organizers at: coffeelab@ima.it and www.ima.it/coffee/ima-coffee-lab