Member of the Month

February 2009: Africa Coffee Academy [ACA]

At the Africa Coffee Academy [ACA] Coffee is our business. We focus on thoroughly understanding every aspect of each client’s coffee business needs, as well as getting in touch with their specific individual requirements. We are proficient in the formulation of comprehensive coffee business plans.

At ACA, we have a team of combined individuals who are able to effect and develop these innovative coffee business development plans, guaranteed to take your business to the next level.

At ACA we believe in the power of an enthusiastic and collaborative approach to everything that we undertake. Everyone at ACA is passionately committed to what they do and more than ready to go that extra mile to make your business or project a success.

At the Academy, we provide a “Total Coffee Experience”. Our services include consultancy, training and trade in coffee machinery, equipment and accessories.

TRAINING COURSES

The Africa Coffee Academy (ACA) offers standard or customized course curricula to match its students’ particular needs.

1. Coffee Agronomy Course

Coffee agronomy deals with the coffee field management practices. It is an ideal course for individual coffee farmers, coffee farmer’s associations, coffee agricultural extension workers and coffee nursery operators. The course is intended to train farmers on how to produce best coffees for better quality and income.

Course outline includes:

• Land Selection and Preparation
• Planting materials
• Planting out
• Management of the young plantation
• Management of mature coffee plantation
• Coffee Farm Tour

Duration: A total of 12 hours for lectures (2hrs/day) plus a day for the farm tour

Cost: 150,000/= or 85 US $

Minimum class: 4 people

2. Basic Coffee Brewing Course

Preparing coffee based beverages is not as easy as it seem. This course is an introduction to coffee and basic coffee brewing methods. This is the beginners’ course for intending baristas.

Objective:
After successful completion of this course students will have basic coffee knowledge including coffee History, Production, Processing, Roasting and grinding: and will be able to brew good coffee using the filter machines, plungers and espresso machines.

Duration: 36 hours (3 hours daily)

Cost: 175,000/= or 100 US$

3. Barista Course

This course delves deeper into the coffee knowledge and skills needed to prepare and serve espresso and espressobased beverages and how to operate and trouble-shoot equipment used. It covers setting the grind, dosing, tamping, extraction, milk-frothing techniques, latte art, etching, order processing and service.

Students applying for this course must have some basic coffee knowledge or should have completed the Basic Coffee Brewing course.

Objective:
At the completion of the course, students should have extensive skill in operating the espresso machine and grinder and troubleshooting effectively, understand the grind, dosing, tamping and their relation in getting the perfect extraction, tasting skills, match equipment to grind, milk frothing, latte art, etching, how to prepare espresso beverages, barista operations and work flow, order processing and good service.

Duration: 60 hours (3 hours daily)

Cost: 260,000 or 150 US$

4. Coffee Trading Entrepreneurship Course

This coaching and mantling course intended for fresh entrants in the coffee trading business, Marketing and Shipping staff of coffee exporters (those that handle the task of marketing and shipping including documentation), Clearing and Forwarding Agents and Transporters.

Course covers:

• Commodity market/ world markets activities
• Modes of sale, buyers and bargaining for a price
• Marketing risks/ company risk management
• Futures
• Green coffee sales contracts
• Arbitrations
• Market reports and information interpretation
• Documentation; clearing and forwarding; transport mode and Kampala –sea port intricacies
• Internal market contracts
• Uganda’s international affiliations and their purpose
• Knowing your customers and the market and distribution chain
• Keeping the supply and the quality
• FOB, FOT/R, CIF, etc. Incoterms
• The Insurance element
• Areas of competition for profit margins
• Special markets
• How to promote Uganda coffee

Duration: 60 hours (3 hours daily)

Cost: 260,000 or 150 US$

5. Basic Coffee Sustainability Certification and Verification Course

The objective of this course is to introduce coffee practitioners to the sustainability concepts as they relate to social, environmental and economic dimensions in the production, postharvest processing and trading of green coffee for all actors along the coffee chain and the basic requirements for the various certification and verification programs. The coffee sustainability movements aim at sustainable livelihoods, and have social, environmental and economic dimensions:

Coffee production can only be sustainable if it allows for decent working and living conditions for farmers, their families and employees. This includes respect for human rights and labour standards as well as a decent standard of living.

Protecting the environment such as primary forest and conserving natural resources such as water, soil, biodiversity and energy are keys to sustainable coffee production and postharvest processing

Economic viability is the basis for social and environmental sustainability. It includes reasonable earnings for all in the coffee chain, free access to markets and sustainable livelihoods.

Duration: 60 hours (3 hours daily)

Cost: 260,000 or 150 US$

The ACA Classroom

Classes at the ACA are kept small in size; they may even be held on a one-to-one basis. If, however, a larger group, such as the entire staff of a café, wants to participate in training, the ACA can facilitate up to 10 clients’ at a time depending on the nature of the course. The normal class size will be 4 people, but the number of students in a class will depend on the client’s objective

Location

Plot 31 B Bandari Rise, Bugolobi
P. O. Box 4925 Kampala Uganda

Contact

Phone: +256 414 571 956
Mobile +256 752-442-480
Fax: +256 414-342-082
E-mail: office@africacoffeeacademy.com

* * *

See other Members of the Month