Background
The International Trade Centre (ITC) is implementing the "Market Access Upgrade Programme" (MARKUP), which aims to contribute to the economic development of the East African Community partner countries by improving their market access to the European Union (EU) and the East African region. Financed by the EU, the programme supports post-harvest organisations operating in agro-industrial crop and horticultural sectors, including coffee and tea, in five EAC partner countries.
While there exists a number of technical assistance activities aimed at improving the trade competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), accessing vocational training still remains a challenge. The ITC supports in technical assistance activities by partnering with Authorised SCA Trainers (ASTs) to deliver specialist modules on Sensory Skills and Green Coffee. Both modules aim to contribute to the skills sets of people within the coffee industry, especially by improving their abilities to assess and manage high quality coffee.
The Professional level is suitable if you want to pursue specialist knowledge at a high level in your subject. Success at this level should indicate to employers competence to work in the field. Extensive relevant experience is recommended before attempting this level. Candidates must hold the Intermediate qualification in the module before attempting the Professional level. Courses at this level would be expected to take 6 days.
Participants are to be awarded an SCA Professional Certificate for each module they pass.
Training Modules
SCA Sensory Skills
Sensory Skills teaches us about the essentials of sensory evaluation in a practical and interactive manner. It investigates the way we perceive what we taste and how to apply this knowledge when evaluating coffee's natural characteristics. It also informs us of how to identify specialty coffee qualities that can be used as knowledge for business. The Professional Level is ideal for someone already working in the industry and looking to develop a high-level of knowledge on sensory skills. The module is broken down into three areas: (1) How we taste, perceive and interpret; (2) Running a cupping session and identifying the diversity of coffee; and (3) How to apply sensory skills to improve your business.
SCA Green Coffee
The Green Coffee module covers the life cycle of coffee. Key concepts and principles of Green Coffee are given, from the level of production, harvest, processing, grading, shipping, storage, to arrival at a roaster. Additional lessons on coffee contracts and portfolio management tie up the module. Ideal candidates should have extensive experience in this industry. The module is broken down into three areas: (1) Principles of Green Coffee growing and processing; (2) Introduction to Green Coffee grading; and (3) Coffee contracts and portfolio management.
Trainer
Asli Yaman is from Istanbul, Turkey. She earned her MBA from Istanbul Bilgi University, where her dissertation analysed the international proliferation of Starbucks. She began her career in coffee 12 years ago, as the Trainer and R&D Department Manager at John's Coffee - a wholesale roaster and retailer and a pioneer of specialty coffee for Turkish coffee.
She worked with Soyuz Coffee Roasting, as Director of Production, where she managed coffee buying, production and quality control of SCR's specialty coffee line. After five years of experience in Kaliningrad, Russia, she is back to Turkey and working on her own project to increase the knowledge within the coffee community.
In March 2014, she attended the National Brewers Cup Championship in Turkey, where she won first place for the second time in a row. Following this success, she moved on to represent her own country at the 2014 World Brewers Cup Championship in Rimini, Italy, where she ended up in third place at the Finals. Asli is also now on the other side, participating in the judging of brewers at National Championships.
From 2016 onwards, Yaman founded KiMMA Coffee Roasters with Hanife Ozyurt.
She is also currently spending a lot of her professional time in roasting, education and consultation. As an AST, she runs official SCA trainings in all the modules of the SCA Coffee Skills Programme, including Sensory Skills and Green Coffee. Travelling across the world, she has run coffee courses in Turkey, East Africa, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia.
Yaman is also a licensed Q Arabica Grader of the Coffee Quality Institute and worked as a SCA Turkey Educational Coordinator. She is a Board Member of the Specialty Coffee Association and a member of the Events Advisory Council.
Dates and Venue
Dates: To be determined soon
Venue: A venue will not be used due to Covid-19-related risks. Virtual Learning will be the format of delivery where recorded video sessions will be sent to selected participants.
Application Criteria
The target participants for this training are SMEs operating in the Tanzanian coffee sector. Participants can be from a wide profile within the industry ranging from company owners, managers, quality controllers, coffee traders, roasters, café owners, baristas, etc. Applicants will need to show they have experience in the field of coffee, is currently working in a position where knowledge can be applied and provide a brief motivation for participant selection.
Participant numbers are limited to 20.
Please note: Depending on the number of applications received, applications are likely to be limited to one person per company.
In case of any questions, please contact:
Nick Watson, MARKUP Programme Officer, International Trade Centre, Geneva Switzerland. nwatson@intracen.org
Safari Mayala Fungo, MARKUP National Coordination, International Trade Centre, Tanzania. sfungo@intracen.org
Please note that the deadline for applications is now extended until May 31, 2020.
To apply to participate, please complete the short questionnaire: