Meet Franciska Apró: Quality Manager & Q Arabica Grader

With over 15,000 coffees cupped and a love for coffee, Franciska leads Sucafina NV’s QC team in Antwerp while also supporting global quality initiatives and harmonization. We sat down with Franciska to hear her thoughts on quality, calibration, sensory trends and building a future in QC. 

This article at a glance: 

• Franciska emphasizes setting aside personal preferences. When evaluating coffees, cupping is always done with client needs, market trends and quality requirements in mind. 
• Common misunderstandings around green grading and coffee consistency highlight the importance of continuous education and calibration across the supply chain. 
• Data collection in QC drives insights that constantly help cuppers and suppliers optimize their workflow, and establish stronger links between origins, destination teams and our clients. 

What are your main roles as a Quality Manager? 

Franciska: I share my time between managing the team in Antwerp and working on global quality projects, so it’s a bit of a split role. In Antwerp, I make sure the team runs smoothly. I’m not so involved in daily activities anymore, but I still cup regularly with the team to stay calibrated, and I step in when there’s a debate about a coffee or doubt about approving or rejecting samples. 

As a manager, I support the career development of the QC team, helping them grow and keeping the job interesting so they stay engaged.  

My role as  a business process owner (BPO) in quality is more global, I work with IT and other QC teams on things like software development to meet quality needs, strategic quality questions at a group level and harmonization with other teams. I work on process mapping to get a better idea of how the different quality teams operate within the Sucafina Group. I try to pinpoint similarities and differences, and ask if they have any issues or need to find solutions to problems. Then I work on cross-pollinating good practices. I'm not forcing anyone to change how they work - I just give advice based on how other teams are handling certain situations. In the long term, the goal is process harmonization and calibration within the Sucafina Group. But of course, we know different countries operate differently, for example, green coffee buying is different in Tanzania versus Colombia, where one might buy through auctions and the other directly from farmers or cooperatives, so we can't enforce the same system everywhere, but we try to harmonize where it makes sense. 

This is also important because Sucafina is working on digitalizing and using systems to manage our data better. Our main project currently related to quality data management is Tastify. Tastify is a digital tool built to optimize and simplify the work of quality teams and eventually help to establish stronger links between origins, destination teams and our clients. I work closely with the Tastify team to make sure that the solutions they develop are not only covering business needs, but they are optimizing the workflow of our quality teams. Saving time on administration with the help of automated solutions will allow us to put more focus on quality analysis, communicating about our products and keeping up with market trends. 

I also collect efficiency trackers from different teams to analyze things like workflow versus team size, see how others are doing and what tasks could maybe be done faster or better as well.  

What are your primary objectives when cupping specialty coffee? 

Franciska: The most important thing is to keep roaster needs at the center. That’s one of the challenges of being in quality control, you can't just approve coffees based on what you like. 

This shows up in my day-to-day work. I have very specific taste preferences. I really like washed coffees: clean, bright, floral, fruity. I’m not a huge fan of extended fermentations or funky cup profiles, but that’s just a personal preference.  

Being a QC professional means I have to put those preferences aside when I’m cupping. If those coffees are selling well, if clients are asking for them, then that’s what I need to focus on.  

How do you work with specialty roasters to ensure that they are purchasing coffee that suits their needs? 

Franciska: We work with our sales teams to meet this goal. That might be a quick request like, “Hey, my client is looking for this kind of profile,” and then we check our QC software for good matches and make recommendations. 

Sometimes we work directly with the client, who often appreciate talking directly to someone in QC. I enjoy it because I used to work in a coffee shop and roastery, and I miss having that type of contact with roasters and consumers. 

We also organize cupping events in the office to calibrate and understand preferences. It’s great feedback for us because it gives us insight into trends and evaluations that we might not be immediately connected to. 

How do you calibrate samples with clients? 

Franciska: Right now, for example, we are running a quality ring test with selected clients. We send them a few samples, they send back their cupping results, and we compare. It’s a way to do a “sanity check” to make sure we’re aligned with the market. 

We try to gather as many details as we can: how they cupped it, what water they used, how they roasted the sample, how long they rested it, what brewing ratio they used. Then we try to replicate their setup and see where the differences might lie. 

But we don’t expect coffees to always taste the same. Some variation is normal. The key is to agree on the quality. 

How does cupping specialty coffee differ from cupping commercial grades? 

Franciska: Robusta and Arabica are completely different products. Arabica has more sugars, acids and volatile compounds. It’s generally more fragrant, flavorful, with brighter acidity and sweetness. Robusta tends to be heavier on bitterness and body. It’s often used in blends for body or crema. 

I’ve always worked with specialty coffee however, and that’s where my background is. I’ve probably cupped over 15,000 samples, maybe more. I’ve become a lot more open-minded since joining Sucafina. I now appreciate even a simple, clean cup, because I know how much work goes into it. 

I have discovered, however, that it's also important to help find a home for every coffee, not just the top lots. The highest-quality coffees often involve more waste, because more sorting means more rejected beans.  

What is the biggest challenge and/or reward of your job? 

Franciska: The biggest reward? Seeing my team grow. When I feel that I contributed to someone’s development, that’s really fulfilling. 

Another big one is seeing coffee quality improvements over time from long-term supplier partners. When we work with someone over time, give them feedback and see them act on it, that’s amazing. We’re not telling them how to process coffee, but if we can explain what we taste and what we think might be causing issues, and they respond, it’s very rewarding. It increases the value of their coffee, too. 

 The challenge? QC can be repetitive sometimes. It’s important to focus on the parts you enjoy: cupping, roasting, training, talking to people. There are always less exciting tasks like data collection or packing samples, but we’re trying to improve those through digital tools and eventually automation, even AI. At the same time, data collection can actually give very cool insights—like seeing trends in supplier performance or client sample ordering habits, which helps us make better decisions and improve how we work. 

How do you ensure green coffee maintains quality during storage and transport? 

Franciska: A lot of this is out of QC’s control, to be honest. What we can control is speed on our side. We prioritize pre-shipment samples, we cup them the next day and send results quickly to expedite shipment and avoid shipment delays that could impact quality.  

How do you train new cuppers or lab assistants to align with your sensory evaluation? 

Franciska: We look for coffee experience and ideally, cupping experience. But most importantly, they need a good palate, sensitive taste buds. It’s a mix of biology and skill. 

We ask them to focus on the basics first: acidity, sweetness, bitterness, mouthfeel. Then we move to broad flavor categories: citrus, chocolate, stone fruit. After this, they can start identifying specific flavors. 

Even experienced cuppers can fall out of calibration. So, we regularly cup together to align. We ask things like, “Do you think this is the same quality as that other 83?”  

We also do internal trainings, triangulations, organic acid tasting, fragrance kits and grade comparison sessions. 

What advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue a Q Grader certification or a career in coffee quality? 

Franciska: For a lot of people, QC in green coffee is seen as a stepping stone to trading, purchasing, sustainability and other roles. But I think QC is a really cool area to work in. I want people to see a future in it.  

For Q Grader or any cupping certification, the best advice I got was pay more attention to flavor in general. Be mindful of what you eat and drink. Think about what you’re tasting. Try to describe it, memorize it, name it. 

Also, cup a lot of coffee. Not just high-end stuff. You’ll be tested on all kinds of qualities. Cup different grades, origins, processes. Working in a QC lab and cupping thousands of samples a year was the best preparation I could have had. 

If you want a career in coffee quality, apply somewhere! For years, I thought I wasn’t experienced enough. But if this is what you love, just go for it. Talk to people, attend public cuppings, judge competitions. You’ll learn so much from those conversations. That’s how I grew into the cupper I am today. 

If you’d like to learn more about Quality Control at Sucafina or to hear from other QC team members, check out our Website!