ST. LOUIS, September 29, 2016 – The duo that form the innovation team at Ronnoco Coffee Co. in St. Louis have each been named Specialized Instructors by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), a title reserved for an exceptionally rare group of coffee experts.
Dan Janson, director of innovation and business development, and Dan Pabst, specialty coffee consultant, join a group of just over 100 specialized instructors from around the globe. This achievement is the result of completing the required coursework and instructing hours while demonstrating a robust knowledge and skill in the science of coffee.
“Coffee used to be a labor trade, and learning would involve some sort of apprenticeship,” Janson said. “Even just in the past year or so, it has transitioned into more of a formal education. The more education and experience you have, the more successful you can be in the coffee industry. This is why specialized instructors within the SCAA program are so important.”
As the leading global authority on coffee, the SCAA recently introduced this new certification as it continues to formalize its global educational curriculum. Both Janson and Pabst were invited to join this inaugural class of instructors because of the depth and breadth of their coffee knowledge.
Ronnoco hired Pabst last year to join Janson as part of an innovation team that would introduce exciting products to market. They have collaborated to launch two new programs at Ronnoco, starting with a new coffee product line called Black Ice. Black Ice is available as a cold brew coffee, an iced coffee, and a nitrogen-infused coffee served from a keg using Ronnoco’s patent-pending process. Nitro coffee has been around specialty coffee shops for several years, but Ronnoco is the first in St. Louis to make it available for broad distribution.
“Everyone is trying to execute a cold-coffee program, but it’s either not very tasty or it’s too difficult to execute,” said Janson. “We’ve solved both of those problems.”
The second program involves Ronnoco offering to loan and provide full maintenance on superautomatic espresso machines, the only machines of this kind being offered on a loaner program in St. Louis. This program is available to eligible businesses of all sizes and is meant to extend the reach of quality espresso throughout the Midwest. For more information on either the Black Ice or espresso machine program, call 1(800)-HAV-A-CUP.
About Ronnoco Coffee
Ronnoco Coffee LLC roasts, blends, grinds, packages and distributes premium-quality coffee and teas under five primary brands: Ronnoco, Seattle Roast, Wild Horse Creek, Henderson and Camellia. The company provides a variety of other beverages, such as cappuccino, hot chocolate, and smoothies, and coffee-related products and equipment, including cups, flavoring syrups and condiments.
Ronnoco supplies its products directly to its convenience store, foodservice and office customers, as well as through a network of third-party distributors throughout 16 Midwestern States, with leading market share in major cities including St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.
Ronnoco Coffee LLC is jointly owned by Huron Capital Partners and Ronnoco management. Huron Capital has raised more than $1.1 billion in capital for equity investments in private companies, where it seeks to partner with management teams to grow their business.
