Meet Our Chief Quality Controller...

John Turnyagyenda has been working for Kawacom for over six years as the Chief Quality Controller. He has just turned 51 years old. He is married and all five of his children are currently still living with him at the family home in Kampala. Originally from rural South-Western Uganda, he moved into the capital decades ago to attend the country’s top university, Makerere.

John’s vast experience in the Uganda coffee industry dates back 20 years to when, on graduation from Makerere University, he was accepted by the then parastatal Coffee Marketing Board (CMB) as a trainee quality controller. He worked in both the production and liquoring sections for 6 years gaining the sort of quality experience in Uganda coffee that you cannot get anywhere else.  John’s success at the main processing unit in Kampala led to a job in the export facility at Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, where he was responsible for all CMB exports. John then returned to Kampala where he became a key figure in the management team that assisted in the installation of the new 80 metric ton per hour processing plant at Bugolobi, Kampala.

He finally left the public sector and joined Kawacom shortly thereafter. Today, John is fully responsible for all qualities that are received and exported from Kawacom, making him one of the key factors in the company’s success over the last six years. John and his team of three ensure that all receipts and exports are cupped to ensure that the quality matches the guarantee that we make to our customers daily.

John  describes his main role as:

‘to determine the inherent value of coffee by tasting its liquor. Good coffee is known by the quality of its cup, the aroma, body and the acidity being the basics for good attributes’

We leave him to do what he enjoys best...