Meet Susan Wilcox: Quality Manager & Q Grader Sucafina NA 

With over 11 years of experience in both commercial and specialty coffee, Susan Wilcox not only manages Sucafina North America’s QC lab but also supports global calibration and tech integration efforts. We sat down with Susan to talk about quality, client expectations, sensory trends and why people are still the most rewarding part of the job. 

This article at a glance: 

• Whether cupping a fruity Guji or a stock lot, Susan stays focused on calibration with roasters.   
• For Susan, coffee is a human industry. From training cuppers to building global friendships, the biggest reward isn’t rare coffee, it’s connection. 
• Macro and Micro-Economic issues can have significant impacts on regional flavor preferences. 

What are your main roles as a Quality Manager? 

My job is to evaluate and ensure that the coffee we’re bringing into North America meets our expectations. That can mean anything from commercial contracts to high-end specialty. 

In Florida, we’re the destination lab for North America, so we handle everything, from low-end stock lots (commercial) up to high-end specialty. The level of expectation can vary a lot depending on the quality tier. 

What are your primary objectives when cupping specialty/commercial coffee? 

For specialty, it can be more intricate when it comes to flavor profiles and attributes, in addition to cleanliness and a lack of defects. For commercial, our priorities are different, especially on the lower end. It becomes a little more black and white: is it defective or not?  However, when we're cupping, we're always cupping with the mindset: is this what the roaster is looking for and needs? 

Even within commercial there's a range. I don’t want to oversimplify commercial and say we’re only looking for defects. There's everything from high commercial to lower-quality stock lots. As I tell friends who are often curious about what I do, there’s a market for every type of coffee and coffee will always be used. It just depends on what it’s used for and what the price point is.  

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

We use the term calibration a lot, which means an ongoing, constant conversation with roasters to ensure that the coffee they’re buying is what they’re looking for. 

I keep a close eye on rejections or negative feedback. As helpful as positive feedback can be, negative feedback, especially rejections, can be even more useful. It helps provide guidelines and says, “OK, this is the bandwidth for fruitiness,” or “Maybe this client doesn’t like this flavor.” That constructive feedback helps us stay calibrated with what needs and expectations are. 

If I know a specific client doesn’t want fruity profiles in a certain grade, and I’m finding it in that lot, then sometimes it’s just noting: “this won’t work for that client.” 

If there’s no other option, we might get back to origin and say, “Hey, this won’t work for that client, let’s reallocate.” Maybe that super fruity lot fits better with a different client. It’s all about having those conversations and keeping an eye on any and all feedback we receive. 

Calibration can take a lot of forms. Sometimes we send samples simultaneously with the goal of doing a formal calibration, cupping the same coffee at the same time and comparing notes. Sometimes it’s in-person, traveling to cup with them in the same space. Sometimes they come to us. There’s no single set method. Palates differ. Preferences differ. And cupping, whether remote or in person, is always part of that alignment process. 

We’re here to support the traders and the clients to ensure they’re getting what they need. 

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

The biggest challenge is finding that balance between partnering with roasters and also being a resource. As an importer we have such a wide-reaching team in this company. That gives us access to incredible resources and global insights. Calibration can help align client expectations with the reality of what’s happening in coffee globally. 

But the challenge is: how do you calibrate while also helping to re-align expectations when necessary? 

Sometimes clients come in with expectations that might be outside the bounds of a specific crop year. And our job is to align with that but also redirect and provide alternatives if needed. 

For example, in some years the overall quality of coffee from certain regions is just higher. But if a client begins to expect the same level every year, and the next year quality dips, we help them understand quality contextually: Some years are better, some are worse. 

The reward? Definitely the people. I genuinely adore this job because of the people I get to work with. I have daily interactions with people all over the world. We talk about quality, but we also talk about family, holidays, favorite food, how they celebrate. 

It’s an incredible opportunity to connect with people – origin and destination – you might never otherwise get to interact with.  

What sensory attributes are most in demand from roasters in North America right now? 

It’s a really interesting time. There’s also a lot going on globally. Every day in the US something seems to change. Because of that, we’re seeing shifting priorities for American roasters. 

External factors like tariffs are creating  uncertainty. So now the question is: “How do I provide consistency in an uncertain market?” Consistency has often meant leaning toward coffees that aren’t extremely distinct, coffees that can be blended or replaced easily. Because if tomorrow, say, Mexico suddenly has a tariff slapped on it, roasters need to pivot quickly.  

Fruity, unique coffees are still around. We’re very individualistic in North America, especially in the US, and I think that comes out in our flavor preferences. We want a coffee that’s completely strange and unique. But there are global/regional differences too. On the West Coast, we like spiky coffees – very punchy, with standout acidity and fruit. Still harmonious, but very expressive. On the East Coast or in Central regions, people may love fruit but prefer it in a more balanced way. 

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

What I always say is: learning to cup is like learning a language. 

Most people are capable of doing what we do. But if you spend hours a day doing it every single day, you’ll fine-tune that skill. 

New cuppers start by cupping alongside those of us who are already calibrated. Early on, you’ll hear things like, “This just tastes like coffee,” or “I don’t like it” from the new cupper. But over time, they start to connect what they’re tasting to calibrated language, flavor attributes, acidity levels, mouthfeel, etc. Sometimes someone will say, “This reminds me of my grandmother’s pie,” and when we dig into that, we realize it’s raspberry pie. So we help them translate that personal association into something usable, like “raspberry.” That’s calibration, it’s language. 

I tell people: pay attention to the world around you. We live in a sensory-rich world. The things you taste, smell, or feel daily, on the street, in your kitchen, in nature, they all inform your sensory vocabulary. 

Just take a moment to enjoy the world and put language to it.  
 
What advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue a career in coffee quality? 

Do it. It’s been an incredible experience. I’d say: start cupping coffees. Get comfortable with it. Cup with other people. You don’t want to cup in a vacuum. We learn from one another and grow as cuppers through constant feedback, comparison and conversation. 

If you’re working in a café, start there. That’s where I started cupping. I had the opportunity of learning from the owner of the roastery I worked at, he was interested in training us, and that opened the door. 

Also, start gathering as much information as you can. There’s a lot of free material online. Learn about coffee quality in general. The SCA system is a widely recognized framework, but it’s not the only one. 

Evaluating coffees has nothing to do with personal preference. I know what I prefer to drink, but that doesn’t affect my ability to evaluate coffee fairly. If you have the means, go ahead and invest in courses/certifications. But if you don’t, there’s so much that’s free and available. You can also get in touch with me. I’ve made it a personal project to collect and compile as many global QC systems and expectations as I can. I’m always happy to share. 

How has QC changed since you started in the industry? 

I started in 2018, when the current North America team was just gearing up. At that point, we were a much smaller team, and Sucafina was less known in North America. It’s been incredible to be part of that shift, both in helping Sucafina become a well-known name in NA and watching our team grow significantly. Internally, we’ve gone through big changes as a team. Externally, the industry itself has been in a volatile and interesting space.  

What are your thoughts about integrating automation tools/AI into the QC process/lab? 

I’m helping develop one of the projects, so I’m all for it. We’ve been partnering with a company called ProfilePrint, and I’m working closely with Carl Sara (Global Head of Tech Innovation & MD Sucafina NZ Ltd) and our counterpart on the ProfilePrint team. I definitely think AI is everywhere at this point, and it really can contribute. 

Like anything else, it’s about taking AI and figuring out where it can best be integrated into quality control. If we choose to ignore it or pretend like it’s not going to be useful, that’s not helpful. 

It’s not about being ahead of the curve but realizing that it’s not something to be  threatened by. To me, it feels similar to when computers came out – it’s about learning how best to use them and realizing they’re an incredible tool. Now we use computers everywhere, and I think it’s the same with AI. 

What’s the craziest coffee you’ve ever cupped? What was the most astounding or best coffee you’ve ever tasted? 

The craziest coffee I’ve ever cupped is one we still have a single bag of – Indonesia Halo Cinnamon Processed coffee. 

Around the holidays you’ll see pinecones in grocery stores that smell intensely like cinnamon. This coffee tasted exactly like that, like an actual flavored cinnamon stick. I’ve never had anything like it. I love being surprised, so I’d say that was the weirdest and most unique one I’ve cupped. 

As for the best? I have several but if I absolutely had to pick one, I’d probably choose Rwanda Natural from Sucafina's Nyamyumba washing station 

What’s your go-to morning brew? 

My favorite coffee is the Nyamyumba Natural, but right now, I’m drinking an Ethiopia Guji Gr 1. 

Given enough time, do you think that you could train a giraffe to cup coffee? 

Given enough time, I would love to become a giraffe trainer. Full stop. 

Want to dive deeper into the world of quality control, learn from more QC professionals, or explore how we’re integrating tools into our labs? Visit our website to explore more insights and meet the people driving quality at Sucafina.