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Congratulations: 2023 – a Year with many NKG Anniversaries
Atlas Coffee Importers,
25 Years
Atlas Coffee Importers joined NKG in February 2018 and has been an integral part of our US business ever since. We wouldn’t want to miss the team around COO Jennifer Roberts in our group any more!
Atlas is planning an anniversary party in September, to coincide with the anniversary of the physical opening of the business/first sales. Also, keep an eye out for their celebratory print ad in Roast Magazine.
On the occasion of the anniversary, Jennifer takes a look back: “Over the last 25 years, Atlas has been a vital part of the expansion of specialty coffee, in the Pacific Northwest and around the US. We’ve seen the development of more direct relationships in the supply chain and an ever-growing curiosity for innovation in coffee processing, traceability, and social impact work.”
But they are also planning the future to keep things moving: “Looking ahead, we are excited to be moving to a new Headquarters later this year, with a beautiful new cupping lab and office space. We are also happy to welcome Nordic Approach to the NKG family as kindred spirit in higher-end specialty market and hope to find areas of collaboration. Operationally, we have some big projects, along with our sister companies in the US, which will bring us greater alignment and efficiencies. We will continue our work to find markets for lesser-known or emerging origins, regions and producers as part of our commitment to a diverse, healthy, and vibrant coffee supply chain”, says Jennifer.
We are very excited about the upcoming projects and, of course, some party photos. 
NKG Statistical Unit,
25 Years
Where would we be without the data and analysis from our colleagues in London? Ana Wilks and Tom Copple provide us at NKG with the overview and insight that we need to run our business.
A lot has happened at Statistical Unit in the past 25 years. “25 years ago, a brand new product became available in normal PCs with Windows for data analysis and management. It was called Excel, and it was so much easier to use”, Ana tells us. “Information didn’t really come via email much at that time, it was mostly via fax or over the phone, often with very poor connection, little scraps of crop information from our friendly colleagues in the group passing on what they knew and could gather.”
Despite all the changes, one thing remains the same: “Coffee remains a people business”, Ana says, “and it’s impossible to understand the market from hard data alone. From the friendly coffee farmer who is happy to tell you about their crop to the barista passionately describing their latest blend, it is the people and the product, not numbers, that make the business so special.”
Thank you so much for your dedicated work!
City Coffee Tanzania, 30 Years
City Coffee Tanzania and the team around Yogesh Modhwadia (Admin & Operations, NKG East Africa) repeatedly sets a positive example in terms of cooperation and partnerships. One of their remarkable initiatives is a shared project with the customer Tchibo. The “Coffee Clubs Project” is an example of a highly impactful intervention with lasting positive effects. As part of the project, 12 secondary schools in coffee regions receive coffee seedlings, inputs and technical support to establish demonstrational farms on school lands. Interested students can join the Coffee Clubs, in which they learn about agronomic aspects of growing coffee and jointly take care of the school plantation. While the often-underfunded schools can generate additional income for enhanced school services and materials, the coffee club students receive seedlings to plant at home. With these plants, the students generate a small personal income, while it increases the chances that they decide to farm coffee when they are older. Often, students use the money to pay for staying at the school dormitories, which keeps them from having to walk long distances after school. How to further support the initiative: the coffees can be bought at Tchibo!
Yogesh Modhwadia says: “By making sure coffee is a good source of income compared to other crops, we provide choices to the young generation.”
Amazing work! Congratulations on this achievement and 30 years of passion for coffee!
More anniversaries in 2023
This time we are looking for cities where NKG companies are operating. Who can recognize our locations just by looking at the skyline? Put yourself and your skyline knowledge to the test and tell us, which cities do we see here? There are three answer options per skyline as a little help. A tip: You can find all our locations in the overview on: Our Network – Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG). Have fun and good luck with the guessing!
In the last issues, we have introduced you to a lot of strategic topics. One was of course the goal 20/200, which explains the importance of growth for us at NKG to be sustainably successful. Another focus was on the changes happening right now and how past and current challenges are mirrored in our values and have strengthened the commitment for them for us as a group. Now, we would like to get into more detail: Where do we already see opportunities and how do we deal with them? How can we live an open, flexible mindset and implement agile business? A great example we would like to show you is our business in Asia.
Traditionally, top management of our NKG group companies worldwide meet every couple of years for a few days full of work meetings and social events, usually at our headquarters in Hamburg. After a long period of online meetings, workshops and webinars, it was finally time to meet again in person! Many of our colleagues from all around the globe followed the invitation and came to Hamburg to connect, discuss current topics and plan how to proceed into the future. Amongst many others, these years topics were NKG’s status quo and plans in Asia & Oceania, an update on the current situation regarding the coffee markets and the ongoing supply chain struggles as well as digitalization within NKG and of our business.
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