building a coffee roaster training program

it’s an investment, not a cost

training programs do cost money to build well but they also pay dividends.
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if you already have a training program but never talk about it, you are wasting a huge opportunity to gain the attention of great candidates looking to learn and potential wholesale partners looking for support.
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this is a long play and truly something that will evolve and grow as time goes on. don’t feel like you have to knock it out of the park day one but seek to build helpful classes and courses that your team and partners will need.
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a few basic classes to start with would be:
- dialing in (espresso & batch / pour overs)
-cleaning & maintaining your equipment
- guest service
- merchandising
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don’t get too in the weeds to start. the basics are a good place and unfortunately many potential wholesale accounts don’t even know the basics.
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be a partner to your accounts and help them brew better coffee, lengthened the life of their equipment(or yours if you provide it), and increase their sales through your training program.

training is not a nice to have. it’s a must have.
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it doesn’t have to be earth shattering, mind blowing, life altering education but it does need to be a codified process for how you do what you do.
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your team and your accounts should be able to do their job well and your education should be an on ramp to the next level of professional development for them.
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neglecting this, is a mistake.
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make the investment in your people and your accounts…it will pay dividend over time.

Ethos & Success

whether you are roasting 500 lbs a week or 5,000, every roaster needs a training program for their people.
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often, the repetition of the production floor is mistaken for simplicity and something that can just be learned on the job.
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everytime a wholesale client comes in to pick up an order is an opportunity to further your mission but if your people are not trained in how they fit into that how can they be sure they are living up to the ethos of your company?
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don't overlook the opportunity to train your people beyond coffee knowledge, though that is important.
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seek to understand their giftings, their weaknesses, and their dreams. this will provide you with an opportunity to give them a chance to hone their skills and grow into their next role whether that is with you or not.
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success cannot be achieved without your team, invite them into it.

time - how long should roaster training take?

when we think about how long a training program should be, the answer is a bit nuanced and shouldn't be tied to time but rather established service standards and the ability to do the job without having you or your trainer holding a trainees hand.

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for smaller roasters, time is your enemy and having your training tied to time can cripple your company until your new employee is fully trained. you need to get new employees up to speed as quickly as possible. this is why tying your training program to a predetermined amount of time doesn't make sense. seek to establish benchmarks, services standards and equipment training to get your people up to speed as quickly as possible to keep green coffee coming in the back door and roasted coffee going out the front.

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tying your education to time holds seasoned coffee professionals back while simultaneously throttling the growth of less seasoned employees. parkinson's law is in full effect here because training will take up as much time as you allow it to take. Thus in both examples new employees growth is throttled no matter their competency prior to training.

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further, tying your education to time does not allow for differing learning speeds. having trained 100s of coffee professionals over the years, i've become acutely aware of how different people learn and absorb information in different ways and at different speeds.

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be sure your training program is equitable set up to not only cater towards seasoned coffee professionals but for people at various places in their coffee journeys.