ernesto illy Foundation
International Masters (Second Level) in: —Coffee Economics and Science “
January 2010
Introduction on Masters in Coffee Economics and Science
Masters degree in Coffee Economics and Science is a university masters degree, organized and proposed by a renowned group of leaders in the field of education: the Ernesto Illy Foundation, the Università del Caffè of illycaffè, the University of Trieste, University of Udine, International Superior School of Advanced Studies of Trieste (Sissa), the Association of Molecular Biomedicine and the District of coffee (Trieste Coffee Cluster).
The masters degree is composed of 400 hours of lessons divided into 20 educational modules and 60 formative university credits. The course work, to be given entirely in English, is open to graduates worldwide in Economics, Engineering, Sciences, Agriculture and similar disciplines. It embraces the entire productive cycle of coffee and it is developed in three disciplinary areas: economical-administrative, biological-agronomic, and technological.
The cost for this Master program is ⁄15,000, however, the Ernesto Illy Foundation offers a limited number of full and partial scholarships available to worthy graduates, in particular to those who come from coffee producing countries.
This 4-month program is scheduled to begin either in September 2010 or January 2011, depending on organizational issues, and it will be held on the premises of illycaffè (Trieste, Italy). Its objective is to offer an in-depth multidisciplinary preparation to graduates interested in working in the world of coffee, and more generally, in the field of agro-alimentary -- in every stage of the productive cycle -- from the cultivation to the catering industry, including logistics and the industrial process.
The program also aims to consolidate and develop relations between the regional Universities and the world of business by transferring the technological and cultural know-how of illycaffè, the moral and scientific legacies of Dr. Illy and the role of Trieste as the world‘s most advanced city of coffee.
For more information, write to [email protected]
Presentation on Masters in Coffee Economics and Science
The International Master (II level) in —Economics and Coffee Science“ is devoted to post- graduate students coming from different faculties (Agriculture, Economics, Engineering and Science), who intend to acquire a specific professional training on the agronomical, technological and economical aspects of coffee science; in other words, from the coffee plant until the final product. Therefore, the proposal of this Master is to provide a broad knowledge that favours a multi-disciplinary approach. Nevertheless, the unifying criterion is the achievement of the best quality throughout all the production processes and the commercialization of the product: from crop production in the field, through sustainable agricultural practices, to the complete healthiness of the final product. For this reason, the Master must be, first of all, pervaded by an ethical principle based on the respect for man and environment.
This Master is dedicated to post-graduate students interested in the production and commercialization of coffee and, in particular, to those coming from coffee-producing countries. Considering their heterogeneous academic and geographic origin, the courses will be preceded by lessons focused to fulfil the possible gaps in basic arguments (biology, agronomy, economics, etc.). The topics of this Master are subdivided in specific areas, such as biology-agronomy, technology, economics and management that, as a whole, allow to acquire a complete knowledge on the process and on the product.
The Master on —Economics and Coffee Science“ arises from an initiative of the Ernesto Illy Foundation and involves the Universities and some research Institutes of the Italian region, Friuli Venezia Gulia. These Institutions possess the competence in coffee science and, in some cases, a long and consolidated tradition. This Master is explicitly inspired to the values, the scientific and managerial approaches that characterized the personality of Ernesto Illy, trying to collect his cultural heredity. Therefore, the dedication of this Master to such a great entrepreneur represents a homage to his memory and an exhortation to continue along the path he had traced.
INTERNAZIONALE MASTERS (SECOND LEVEL) PROGRAM (60 cfu) IN: COFFEE ECONOMICS AND SCIENCE“ (Ernesto Illy)
Biological œ agronomic area: 15 CFU
• Botany and Physiology (3CFU)
o Systematic of Coffea genus. Morphological and anatomical characteristics of the plant. Phenological stages: germination, development, flowering, fruit development and maturation. General and environmental physiological aspects. Micropropagation techniques. Secondary metabolites in fruits: synthesis, accumulation and effects on human health. Biotic and abiotic degradation (pre- and post-harvest).
• Genetics (3CFU)
o Genes and environment. Differentiation Arabica-Robusta. Self-fertility and self- sterility. The genome of Arabica. Varieties of Arabica and genetic diversity. Molecular methods for the traceability. Genetic base and bean quality.
• Agricultural Chemistry (3CFU)
o Physical-chemical properties of tropical soils. Soil degradation. Effects of soil management on biological fertility and recycling of crop residues and organic wastes. Nutrient cycling in the soil-plant system. Principles of plant mineral nutrition and plant responses to nutrient deficiency or toxicity. Fertilizers use and management. Mechanisms of action, metabolic breakdown in plants and fate in the soil of the main pesticides.
• Agronomy, Cultivation and Plant Protection (3CFU)
o Classical propagation techniques. Soil preparation and fertilization. Planting systems. Weed control. Crop evaluation. Harvesting processes. Principles of methodological statistics. Plant protection: principles of integrated control. Insect and pest control. Fungi, bacteria and virus control. Green coffee storage control.
• Coffee and sustainable development. Business ethics (3CFU )1
o The pessimistic view in international commodity markets. Coffee marketing boards and commodity market reforms. Quality and vulnerability of small scale farmers. Climate change and coffee production: the Ricardian approach. Ecolabels and standards, fair trade and market failures. Specialties and terroir. Business ethics. Corporate social responsibility and the relationship with the supply chain.
Technological area: 12 CFU
A. Selected modules
• Harvesting and raw coffee (3CFU)
o Crop evaluation. Manual harvest. Mechanical harvest. Picking from the ground. Post-harvest selection. Crop quality. Raw bean processing: dry, wet and semi-wet processing. Process influences on coffee quality. Cleaning and sorting processing. Storage, packaging, logistics and transportation of raw coffee. Raw bean defects and their origins.
• Industrial process (3CFU)
o Preliminary operations: cleaning, hulling, grading and electronic sorting. Basic principles of heat and mass transport. Decaffeination process: methods and industrial machinery. Roasting process. Roasting methods, industrial roasting equipments. Grinding process. Chemical, physical and structural changes of grain. Packaging, chemical-physical changes during packaging, roasted product shelf-life. Other products: pods, capsule and ”ready-to-drink‘.
• Coffee Brewing (3CFU)
o Extraction methods: infusion and percolation. Chemical and physical characteristics of brewed coffee. Preparation methods and characterization: filter, moka, espresso. Brewing machines and main control parameters. Espresso definition. Other preparations.
• Coffee characterization (3CFU)
o Physiology of perception, chemical senses: taste and olfaction. Cognitive processes. Introduction to sensory analysis. Sensory analysis typology and goals: filter coffee, espresso and moka cupping. Main chemical-physical methodologies of analysis to characterize coffee. Evaluations of different origins. Evaluation of raw coffee defects and off-flavours. Chemical characterization techniques: volatile, non-volatile compounds. An outline of regulation and food safety.
1 A —mixed“ module with informative content on agronomics and socio-economics according to the most modern concept of sustainability.
Economics - management area: 30 CFU
A. Selected modules
• International sourcing (3CFU )
o The sourcing process, supplier evaluation and selection, buyer-supplier partnership, the organization of purchasing activities, centralization and decentralization of purchasing responsibilities.
• Complex systems management (3CFU )
o Complex systems: main features. Complexity principles. Complexity principles applied to economics. Fundamentals of business dynamics. Fundamentals of agent based theory and simulation. Self-organization. Ecosystems as complex adaptive systems. Strategies in business ecosystems. Visual thinking fundamentals. Management applications of visual thinking. Case histories in food sector.
• Marketing and distribution channels. Horeca and Retail (3CFU )
o Marketing management and marketing planning. Experiential marketing: concepts and development. Product decisions: global products and services; standardization versus adaptation; product features and perception; branding decisions in international markets. Pricing decisions: factors influencing pricing decisions; objectives, strategies and pricing policies. Distribution decisions: factors influencing distribution decisions; direct and indirect distribution channels; conventional versus vertical marketing systems; distribution strategies; Types of channel intermediaries; Retail and Horeca channels (Hotel, Restaurant, Coffee bar and Catering channels); selection of channel members; channel management and control; franchising; branded coffee shops; e-commerce. Promotion decisions: strategies and decisions in the coffee industry.
• Green coffee markets and price formation (3CFU )
o World patterns in production and consumption. The green coffee market from colonialism to national markets. The ICA regulatory system. The post-ICA regime: from price controls to asymmetric free markets, oligopolies and price instability. Price patterns since the ”80s. Cost elasticity and transfer mechanism in coffee markets.
• Markets and consumption models (3CFU )
o Geographical markets and purchasing/consumption habits. Consumption typologies: roasted ground coffee, decaffeinated and non-decaffeinated coffee; instant coffee; in-home consumption (family channel), away-from-home consumption (coffee bar and catering), serving & vending; innovative consumption: pre-dosed coffee in pods/capsules. The purchasing process and consumption experience: the decisional process; cognitive and experiential aspects; consumer values, beliefs and attitudes; the post-modern consumer. The factors influencing the purchasing/consumption process: cultural influences, social aspects, personal characteristics, purchase and use context.
• Quality management and product planning (3CFU )
o Setting Quality Standards. ISO certification. Six Sigma. The Kano Model. The balanced scorecard. The Quality Function Deployment (QFD). Benchmarking. The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA).
• Competitive strategies in the coffee industry (6CFU )
o Change drivers and PEST Analysis for the coffee industry. Industry analysis: a five- force approach. The role of complementary products. Competitive forces: a Supply Chain approach. Globalization drivers and internationalization processes. Does size matter? Industry consolidation and competitive dynamics in the coffee industry. Upwards and downwards integration: strategic implications. The conquest of the coffee consumer: competitive strategies in coffee retailing and the Starbucks model. Case histories.
• Supply chain management (3CFU )
o Supply Chain Management: the evolution. Supply network design. Supply network material management.
• Trading techniques and risk management (3CFU )
o The volatility of coffee prices, speculation and fundamentals in commodity markets. Forecasting techniques. Evaluating coffee price risk exposure. Price risk management in practice: standard futures and options in the coffee market, over- the-counter market and mixed products.