Training Coffee’s Next Gen at Origin
- Jeanine
- Apr 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 4
JNP Coffee has been persistent about providing education at origin, and its coffee farmer partners have been thirsty for that knowledge.
“Teach us more,” they said, after they completed our financial literacy classes for women. And one group pooled their resources and built a wet mill.
“We want to learn more,” they said, after we offered a one-week training for farmers and wet mill managers so the green coffee they produced could become certified by the Rainforest Alliance.
“Help us gain the coffee industry knowledge we need to succeed here,” they said, after the inaugural classes offered through the new Coffee Academy of Burundi.
That remains the purpose of JNP Coffee. And the company continues to see the gaps, listen, then find new ways to support the people of Burundi in the coffee industry.
Classes make history
Close to 50 students came to the JNP Coffee training facility in Bujumbura the week of January 20, eager to improve their understanding of specialty coffee – its techniques, technology and business opportunities. More than half were women, a story in itself. Another 30 students remain on a waitlist for the next session.
Day one made history. JNP Coffee and its partners offered the first SCA-developed Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) training in Africa – a new program launched by the SCA in 2025. Thirty students in the classroom represented a mix of coffee enthusiasts who wanted a foundational background to enter the profession and those already working in coffee as baristas. Their instruction was both theoretical and practical.
Days two through five included more advanced classes on Green Coffee and Sensory Skills, which prepared students for certification exams. Students included managers and those working toward Q grader status.
Long-time professional Ludovic Maillard of NKG provided the training in French for the students. JNP Coffee staff members assisted with the cupping and other logistical details.
“The students came from diverse horizons, with diverse skills, but high interest,” said Maillard in an interview. “I was particularly impressed on the first day with 30 people. They remained focused all day.”
“This training will help me because as a barista, I’ll know exactly what to offer my customers,” said Muco Christa Bronia, who is studying to become a barista while working for a health department in Bujumbura.
CVA the basis for everything
The Coffee Value Assessment training was just introduced by the SCA in late 2024 as the new quality evaluation protocol. It’s shifting the way coffee is evaluated across the industry, so an introductory course on CVA is an appropriate way to introduce students to the world of specialty coffee.
To discover the value of coffee, the class learned to examine four attributes of coffee – physical (size, moisture level, etc.), descriptive (sensory), affective (their overall impression) and extrinsic (information about where it was grown, who the farmers are and how they produced it). They also cupped coffees from Mexico and Burundi, both natural and fully washed.
For those who had used an earlier system, they found the forms were much easier to work with to record their assessments.
The second cohort experienced the four-day green coffee and sensory intermediate training programs. They learned more about the global coffee business, how coffee is produced, processed, stored and transported, as well as equipment and maintenance details.
For the sensory training, they set up a sensory panel, gained cupping and calibration skills, and developed an analytical understanding of how to perceive aromas, intensity, and the sensory analysis of physiology and personal activity.
Students who pass the Green and Sensory SCA exams will also receive certificates from SCA.
“If you want to understand coffee,” said Maillard, “it was a good idea to start with the CVA and then green coffee and sensory skills, because that is the basis for everything.”
With 32 years in the coffee business and a Master Teacher for the past decade, Maillard is an Authorized SCA Trainer and co-creator of the Coffee Skills Program.
Of course, one week could not cover everything students need to learn about coffee. “Coffee is a vast field. You can’t learn everything in one session,” said Muco Christa Bronia. She is one of the students who requested more training after the first class.
Barista Elton Iranezereza had some suggestions to enhance the training. “I would like to visit a coffee cultivation field to learn how coffee is planted and to understand all the procedures involved,” he said.
He also wanted to enjoy Burundi coffee in his home country. “They don’t reserve any for us here in Burundi,” he noted. “It would be better if some remained locally rather than entirely exported.”
Recruiting challenges
The goal for this first training cohort was to have 50 percent women students. With much effort, they achieved 53 percent. JNP Coffee staff recruited at local universities for agronomy students, and those in barista training courses. They also encouraged washing station managers and women coffee farmers to join the training. Outreach to churches and community leaders also helped recruit women students to the program.
“What we found is there is a great thirst for learning,” said Niyonzima-Aroian, Founder and CEO of both the US-based JNP Coffee LLC, and Burundi-based JNP Coffee Burundi.
While the Coffee Academy of Burundi got a jump-start with funding from the U.S. government, ongoing operations require philanthropic dollars and in-kind donations. JNP Coffee is grateful to Peet’s Coffee for its early commitment to the Academy.
“We welcome support from anyone in the coffee marketplace,” said Niyonzima-Aroian. “Training baristas requires special equipment, and we need underwriters for the training itself, as this cost is beyond most students’ budgets.”
Surprises in training
Because Burundi is a tea-drinking country, not every student had much exposure to coffee and the industry of exporters, roasters and café owners.
“I tasted coffee from Mexico for the first time,” said Joana Mohamed, who has worked as a professional barista. It was too acidic for her taste.
“Something new I learned is how to differentiate between types of beans and how to separate the bad beans from the good ones,” said Elton Iranezereza.
“They were asking very intelligent and clever questions,” said Maillard, “even people who were not working in coffee.” He noted there were “a few shining stars in the class.”
“Burundi is a very young country,” notes Niyonzima-Aroian. “Fifty percent of the population is less than 30 years old. So to have a great number of baristas interested in learning skills that will help open doors for them, as well as create jobs themselves in the field, not just in Burundi but in the region and globally, is amazing.”
The work continues, as JNP Coffee’s model is to share knowledge. Many students from the January cohort expect to share their knowledge with their co-workers and colleagues. As Maillard summarized, “We give them the tools so that they share the tools and they use the tools.”
Promoting “knowledge at origin in producing countries is worth sponsoring,” said Niyonzima-Aroian. “It’s an honor as a Burundian and also American to be able to provide this knowledge to my people. I am grateful and glad that we can fulfill this dream.”
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