Roukiat Delrue Named CQI Director of Q and Educational Programming

Roukiat Delrue (second from right) pictured in Kenya in 2010. Photo courtesy of CQI.

The Portland, Ore.-based Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) has announced that Roukiat Delrue has been named the new director of Q and educational program services.

A Q Arabica and Q Robusta Instructor, Delrue comes to the position having consulted on numerous CQI projects through her 12 years in the specialty coffee industry.

“Rouki has such a unique set of skills — expert cupper, extraordinary teacher, World Coffee Events veteran — and a deep understanding of coffee standards,” CQI Operations Director Lisa Conway said in an announcement of the appointment. “She is respected globally for all of this and much more.”

Delrue, who is fluent in three languages, began her career in coffee after being exposed to coffee farms and mills in Guatemala while working as an interpreter. She then landed a position with Guatemala’s Asociación Nacional del Café (Anacafé), and she has since gone on to become a World Coffee Events certified judge and head judge. CQI said Delrue will also be joining the Specialty Coffee Association Education Advisory Council.

Said Delrue, “After 10-plus years of being involved in training coffee professionals at different levels — barista, barista competitions, judging, cupping, brewing — and witnessing firsthand how training and education can change lives for the better, I’m very honored to step into this role at CQI.”