About Us Updated
The NCC Coffee Lab is a learning and research lab that focuses on the business of coffee.
The Coffee Lab, as it stands, was founded in 2019 when we were donated a roaster by PROBAT, but the history of the lab started much earlier than that.
North Central College has a long history of Enactus (previously SIFI). Our Enactus Team is made up of students from a variety of academic disciplines, but all with a common thread of wanting to create change for a better tomorrow. The first team was started at North Central College by Dr. Gary Ernst in 1987. The team has served thousands of adults and students through their projects. In addition, the team has competed at the highest level, finishing in the top 4 nationally multiple times. It was out of this rich history that the Coffee Lab was born.
Professor Jerry Thalmann was approached in 2004 about a church that was buying coffee from farmers in Guatemala at a fair price, allowing them earn a higher price for their beans. He, along with the SIFE students, had a similar hesitation about the new project. How do we know the people are being treated well? Enter Dr. Krystal, an anthropologist who had been traveling to Guatemala for his work already. In 2005, the first group of students went on the trip to Guatemala to meet the farmers and make sure they were being treated fairly. Our direct trade partnership has continued to grow from there. We travel to Guatemala at least once a year to talk with our partners. We learn from them, and they learn a few things from us.
Before the Coffee Lab's founding in 2019, all the coffee we purchased was roasted off-site. The addition of the roaster allowed us to all of roast our coffee on site at North Central. In fact, all the coffee available on the North Central campus is roasted on campus by students and faculty.
NCC Coffee Lab is focused on the business of coffee. It is a faculty-student-partner collaboration that focuses on direct trade and relationship-based social enterprises. Our business has expanded beyond Guatemalan coffee, and we also sell chocolate, artisan goods, and student-designed merchandise. We have expanded our direct trade partnerships to other locations, allowing us to offer other origins and blends. We also offer Roast for a Cause blends where a portion of the profits go to various causes.
At the heart of The North Central College Coffee Lab's purpose is growing the cycle of mutual empowerment.
What is the cycle of mutual empowerment?
The idea of the cycle of mutual empowerment came out of the need to break the traditional cycle of poverty where people can’t ever create a sustainable living. To make the cycle of mutual empowerment work, it takes everyone involved including our NCC Enactus team, our partners, and our customers. All involved benefit from the relationship:
- Students gain skills and develop as individuals through a one-of-a-kind hands-on learning environment
- Partners are able to apply their trade and business skills in a sustainable manner
- Customers are able to receive high quality products that support a more socially responsible marketplace
Students
Run the day to day operations with oversight from the advisors. This includes everything from designing product labels to packaging coffee to holding tastings across campus. In addition, students collaborate with other departments across campus on new innovative initiatives such as the viability of utilizing coffee grounds for water filtration and engineering a vacuum pump device to remove the physical limitations from the roaster’s job.
The impact on our students is long-lasting. They leave with not only new and expanded skills and increased passion for making a difference, but a better understanding of how to be a socially responsible leader. Students have gone on to start their own social enterprises, serve in the Peace Corps, and be leaders in their corporate community.
Our partners are exactly that, partners. Whether here in the US or abroad, our partners are entrepreneurs with a desire, drive, and passion for making a decent and meaningful livelihood whether that be as coffee farmers or artisans in Guatemala or realtors or musicians here in Illinois. Our partners also share the same goal of wanting to create change for a better tomorrow.
Together with our customers, we can not only keep the cycle of mutual empowerment going but expand it to include more students, partners, and customers.
Support The Lab and Student Engaged Learning:
In addition to purchasing coffee, you can support student engaged learning and our direct trade model through donations and/or as a sponsor. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities here or donate today at this link. All donations are through North Central College and tax deductible.
Check out some of the most recent collaborations:
Nutrition Class Coffee Facts Project
Visit Us:
We welcome visitors! The Coffee Lab is located at 309 E. School St. in Naperville, Illinois in the Larrance Academic Center building on the campus of North Central College. While there's a good chance you'll find us outside of the hours listed below, these are the set hours. Please note that the Lab does observe the college's holiday calendar.
We are open all year:
Monday - Thursday: 9 AM - 3 PM
*Please note hours may be change due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather and illness. We also observe college holidays.