Kenyan Coffee has been described as one of the best regionally and globally due to its quality.
Unlike tea however, coffee is brewed and sold at higher prices mostly in international markets and high end restaurants.
While anyone can prepare coffee using basic skills, most of the customers prefer quality coffee brewed by baristas thus price variations depending on the joint.
Baristas are individuals who are taken through rigorous training of brewing the coffee until they master the art of making quality beverages that can be accepted in high end and international joints.
Once certified, baristas can be easily absorbed in the market across the world. This is what Arobisca Training Centre in Nairobi has mastered; To train baristas and link them to the job market in other parts of the world when opportunity arises.
Nairobi Journal got a chance with Wesley Yeaman, the Managing Director of Arobisca Training Centre at Eco-bank Towers in Nairobi to share his journey in the sector.
Yeaman has been in the coffee industry for about two decades now and among the few the first international coffee coach.
“When I completed high school, I wanted to pursue more than just being given a can of coffee. That is where my passion grew,” he opined.
Pointing out, “I wanted to go and chase this drink which I had been having for years without knowing how it is produced and where it comes from,”
In his pursuit Yeaman settled for five marketable coffee skills: roasting, brewing, barista, sensory, and green in training that took me about 5 years to master.
And, when he was done, he decided not to look for job but to establish Arobisca Training Centre so as to impart knowledge to others in the coffee sector.
“The skills that we provide at Arobisca centre can help interested persons be absorbed in the international market. The barista course takes about 5 weeks,” Yeaman explained.
The admission and tuition fee varies; it ranges from 45,000 to 100,000 for master-class and entrepreneurs.
“The centre is accredited by Kenya Barista Organisation and is internationally recognised in around 20 to 35 countries where we send our expertise for work related in barista, roasting and other coffee skills,” Yeaman added.
Among the courses that we offered at Arobisca include; Barista, coffee roasting, sensory and green coffee which is purposely meant for exports and imports.
The green coffee courses are specifically tailored to helping individuals who want to grow coffee by knowing how to increase farm produce which equally resonates with the high quality harvest.
This majorly targets those who want to open up an export company and need to understand the whole chain of buying, exporting and how to run a licensed coffee company in Kenya.
Currently, Yeaman says the centre is reaching out to individuals from children’s homes to train in the centre and open up their potentials instead of depending on well-wishers.
This he says can be achieved through sponsors who are willing to help those at the children’s homes as a way of giving back to the society.
“We can partner with such sponsors to train them (those at the children’s home and those over 18 years) on how to get money and not give them money,” Yeaman explained.
“Our courses are internationally recognized. We have been able to secure our students and other institutional students’ jobs and any other person that needs our assistance as long as they have relevant documentation required,” he added.
There are about five coffee skills. Locally though, the most absorbed skill is barista, which is preparation and consumer perspective.
The trainee will learn the craft on how to make coffee, the specialty way, the knowledge of the coffee and how one relates one’s added value to the industry.
Arobisca Training Centre can be reached via [email protected]
Mobile : 0781726674 or 0724637787
