A team of 14 coffee quality control officers from Kahawatu Foundation, the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) as well as from Coffee Washing Stations operating within the Coffee Value Chain Development project co-funded by the European Union has fully completed a 5-day training on Coffee Quality Control Management from green coffee grading to the impact of processing in flavors.
The training was organized by Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria (ICU) in partnership with the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). The training was conducted by Mr. Alberto Polojac the founder of Bloom Coffee School, a Specialty Coffee Association certified school based in Trieste (Italy), and one of the most knowledgeable coffee expert in Italy.
The training, which lasted 5 days, focused on helping Rwandan coffee producers to better understand coffee quality and to give special care to the entire quality control system.
The 5 topics covered during the training period were:
- Introduction to coffee, green grading, defects analysis and Understanding cupping protocol following CQI standards
- Physiology of senses and training sensory skills and Fragrance detection
- Practical part on the impact on flavour of different methods
- Chemical and physical changes during roasting
- Identifying small changes in quality and the origin of different defects in the cup
At the end of the training session certificates were given to the participants.
The trained group is now going back to their respective washing stations to implement and train other staffs on what they learnt from these trainings. The lessons will surely prove useful to improve quality and economic outlook of the upcoming coffee season.
