November 25, 2023:
Managing Director and CEO of the Mavis Bank Coffee Factory, Norman Grant has earned the designation of Q-Grader from the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI). This is the highest level for quality in coffee, having successfully completed a total of 19 courses at the Boot Coffee Campus in San Franciso, USA. Grant is the first Jamaican from the private sector and only the fourth Jamaican to earn the highly regarded qualification in the coffee industry.

In addition to his CQI Certified Q- Grader accreditation, Grant is also an international coffee taster and has been cup tasting coffee in excess of 35 years. Norman Grant, who is also the Chairman Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association, got his accreditation recently in San Francisco at the Boot Coffee Campus, where Principal, Willem Boot presented him with his golden cupping spoon and the highly coveted designation, after his successful completion of all the courses and examinations.

A Q Arabica Grader is a highly trained and calibrated coffee taster who evaluates coffee using SCA cupping standards and protocols. CQI’s Q Coffee System is an internationally recognised programme for evaluating cup quality based on a standardised system for Arabica Coffee using protocols developed by the speciality Coffee Association and the Coffee Quality Institute.

Grant said “this is an exciting accomplishment with which I will aim to implement programs that appreciates the value of having globally recognised quality standards in coffee and to help in the improvement of the quality of life for the 5,000 coffee farmers in Jamaica. It will also redound to the benefit of my own company, the Mavis Bank Coffee Factory which is now celebrating its 100th-year anniversary, our excellent staff and shareholders, as well as our customers locally and globally.

The CQI Certified Q-Grader, is globally recognized and works across the entire spectrum of the coffee value chain. This professional certification confers the skill and knowledge to perform coffee evaluation from farm to importation or exportation of green or roasted coffee beans in support of maintaining quality levels, in concert with other relevant professionals and is responsible for determining quality standards in the coffee industry globally.

For additional information please contact the undersigned.

Norman W. Grant
Managing Director and CEO
Mavis Bank Coffee Factory Limited
1-876-469-3242