Richard Schukkink
Co-founder, Tea Growers Academy & Director, ITC Academy
Richard Jan Schukkink is a tea educator, trainer, and advisor with over 28 years of international experience in the tea and coffee sectors. As co-founder of Tea Growers Academy and director of the Netherlands-based ITC Academy, Richard has worked with farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, and governments across Africa and Asia to develop sustainable, high-quality tea value chains.
With a background in psychology (University of Amsterdam), Richard combines human insight with technical precision. He has received formal training in tea making from the Tea Board of India, TRES in Taiwan, and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, and specialises in tea processing, defect analysis, and sensory evaluation.
Richard has led practical training programmes in Myanmar, Laos, India, Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru, helping farmers transition from leaf suppliers to tea makers, tasters, and exporters. His expertise spans field management, machine selection, cost modelling, quality scoring, and storytelling for direct trade.
Driven by the belief that knowledge should be shared and owned locally, Richard is passionate about building farmer-led models of learning, entrepreneurship, and pride in tea.
Martine van der Nolk- van Gogh
Business owner and entrepreneur with Management & Finance background.
Next to consultancy my focus is on development of speciality tea knowledge in The Netherlands.
Linda Cebrian-Rampen
Owner of ‘Het Zuyderblad’, small scale tea plantation in The Netherlands with the focus on speciality tea and tea tourism.