Premier Training Campus Spotlight: Academy of Coffee Project NY
Coffee Project NY, a minority-women-owned and run business, started as a small “mom and mom” coffee shop--and is now New York state’s only Premier Training Campus.
Premier Training Campuses (PTC) are Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) member companies or organizations whose facilities have been inspected and certified by the SCA. The program recognizes that these facilities offer an exceptional education setting for coffee education.
This week, KALEENA TEOH and CHI SUM NGAI, co-founders of Coffee Project NY, told us about the company’s Premier Training Campus located in Long Island City, NY, USA.
Kaleena Teoh (left) and Chi Sum Ngai (right)
Co-founders of Coffee Project NY
Photo Credit Savanna Lim
Coffee Project New York was founded in 2015 by Sum and partner Kaleena who share a passion for coffee with New York City’s East Village neighborhood. Nearly six years of living their dream of owning a business together, they have opened three additional locations including a roastery and the state’s only Premier Training Campus serving coffee professionals and enthusiasts alike. “As the company and the team grows, we realized that we want to be able to provide growth for our team,” share Sum and Kaleena. “Now, we are a coffee company that provides roasting, education, and consultation services with four brick and mortar coffee shop locations in New York City. Promoting diversity and growth has always been vital in steering the direction of our company development.”
When Kaleena and Sum were in the process of becoming Authorised SCA Trainers (ASTs), they had to fly to Florida in order to complete their certifications. “It occurred to us that there is no SCA Premier Training Campus in New York. We basically wanted to fill in that gap and create a learning space for all.”
Alongside its co-founders, a majority of the managerial team at Coffee Project NY is made up of women, too. “We are probably one of the most diverse coffee teams in New York,” Sum and Kaleena proudly tell us. The team includes in-house certified ASTs offering all Coffee Skill Program modules.
Many businesses have pivoted their services and focus over the last year in order to continue to operate through the pandemic. At Coffee Project NY, customers are asked to wear face masks when entering the facility and take their orders to go. Alongside the changes within the shops, classes are now offered online as well as virtual corporate events. These shifts may have been difficult, but Sum and Kaleena were determined and motivated to find a way forward despite the challenges of the pandemic.“We really just wanted to be there for the team. It is definitely easier closing the shops temporarily, but we know the team's livelihood depends on the job. So when time gets really hard, we remember that we are fighting not just for ourselves, but for our team.”
Becoming a facility recognized as an exceptional educational setting is highly rewarding in many aspects. “Meeting a lot of people from around the country and the world is an amazing experience,” they mentioned in closing. , “Having access to state of the art facility makes carrying out classes a lot easier.”
Achieving SCA Campus certification offers global recognition of a company’s dedication to make coffee better. Learn more about how to get your own training facility certified here.
If you want to find a Campus near you, visit our Campus Map.
Photos from Academy of Coffee Project NY