Kind Words from Colleagues & Coffee Clients

“I worked with Nicole when she was hired to design a full project based on a concept note that I had prepared for the EU SWITCH Asia II. She gently challenged me on weaker areas of the concept note and developed a design that met the criteria in a more robust and pragmatic way.

We later worked on other project designs and bids, and in developing stories for Perfect Daily Grind. Nicole is highly principled and is committed to speaking truth to power when needed.”

“Dr Nicole Motteux is a keen advocate of ethical coffee sourcing. Nicole is an expert in international development and has her own unique experience of growing up on a coffee farm. As such, she’s able to bring her readers close to the realities of where good coffee comes from.

I had the opportunity to work with Nicole on research projects in Laos and Australia. On both occasions, I was amazed by her talent of looking at situations from different angles and her ability to articulate that in her writing.”

“I have professionally known Nicole Motteux since 2006. She was a freelance consultant working in Vietnam and carried out several contracts for CARE International in-country. She has notably conducted the research work and writing of high quality and successfully granted project proposals for the CARE Vietnam Health and Social sector.

Nicole is an outstanding facilitator and communicator with a variety of stakeholders, including local community and international organisations, government representatives, donors and the private sector.”

“Nicole follows a multidisciplinary approach covering the economic, social and environmental aspects of small scale farmers’ livelihood improvement. She’s experienced in community participation, environmental management and support for sustainable behaviour change at all points of a project cycle, including project management, monitoring and evaluation.

She worked on projects at different levels, from farmers in their local communities to District and Provincial Departments and Ministries at National Level. Nicole can develop programs that require communication, coordination and negotiation with individuals, families, communities, government agencies, donors, NGOs and private sectors. She strives for and is able to integrate and balance, the interests of the relevant stakeholders into the project design and implementation.

I very much appreciate her enthusiasm in all her projects. Nicole will go the “extra mile” to make any of her projects successful.”

“Nicole understands that coffee is a people business and that the producers, whether big or small, are equally important to the industry and have a story to tell. Her recent publications are well researched, highly readable and informative, so much so that I look forward to reading whatever she produces next.”

“Nicole’s work led to positive change in the Vietnam water and environment sector.”

“Nicole Motteux wrote an in-depth article “Could Zimbabwean coffee once again be on specialty menus?”, published in Business Report, a title read by 1.5 million readers. Motteux, growing up on a coffee producing farm in Zimbabwe, is an expert commentator on the coffee sector with her background and research in the industry. She is able to provide comprehensive, analytical commentary on the sector, which is a rare skill.

I hope to carry more of her articles on coffee in Africa in the near future. ”

“It has been my pleasure to work with Dr Nicole Motteux on a number of coffee-growing articles for my magazine, ZiMunda Farming. Any query of mine was promptly responded to, pictures were provided and, furthermore, she put me in touch with her contacts regarding the story. I sent her the proofs of the layout and in a day, they were read and returned.

This work ethic was refreshing and it will be a pleasure to work with her again. Nicole’s level of commitment is excellent, as is her “can do” attitude.”

“Dr Nicole Motteux has a great insight into coffee farming business and is a keen advocate of ethical coffee sourcing. I’m amazed by her talent of looking at things from different angles and articulating it in her writing.”

“Nicole is a well-informed, collaborative, and culturally-sensitive researcher and writer. I had the opportunity to connect with Nicole at Saffron Coffee - a crop to cup coffee company in northern Laos working with remote hill-tribe farming families. Nicole ensured a high level of trust by undertaking extensive research, maintained confidentiality where necessary, and verified quotes and opinions related to the work of coffee producers and related development issues prior to publishing. I highly recommend Nicole and her work.”

“I had the opportunity to interact and work with Nicole during her research for coffee articles in Madagascar. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Nicole. She is very driven, thorough in her research and an excellent writer with great work ethic. As a social scientist, she strives to make a difference in the communities that she portrays in her articles by bringing the issues faced by these communities to the forefront. ”

“It was so interesting and enlightening to read Nicole’s articles in Perfect Daily Grind. The wide knowledge and research shows the huge potential Zimbabwe had and could still have in the world of coffee. I am from Zimbabwe and grew up on a farm but never knew to what extent the coffee producers in Zimbabwe impacted the world market. I’m so encouraged and hopeful because of what Nicole has done. ”

“In 2016, Nicole worked with us on the WFP Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. As local planning is still in its infancy in Laos, and is normally only applied at village level with the support from projects, Nicole’s insights into best practice and opportunities to improve the process were invaluable.”

“In 2016, I worked with Nicole Motteux on the Stocktaking of Local Participatory Planning processes in the Lao PDR. I learned from her all about government participatory planning systems and the importance of harmonising approaches for poverty reduction. Nicole was very professional, focused, organised and committed. I learned a lot working with her.”

“Nicole’s private sector approach to CARE’s work was extremely helpful in linking our community-based experience to market based practices, significantly enhancing the effectiveness of our work.”

“I invited Nicole to speak at an event of international and domestic investors and other professionals concerning ethical and sustainable coffee production. Nicole was the consummate professional; she spoke and presented with complete authority and knowledge of the topic. It was engaging and insightful and we had to cut the question time short! Nicole is a pleasure and a privilege to work with.”

“Listening to Nicole at the Double Shot Espresso Festival was an eye-opening experience. Her presentation was pitched at the perfect level but with enough information to keep people interested and connected. I learned so much about production issues, ethical consideration and the way their environment affects the coffee producers’ success. I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and now consider bean origin and other factors when deciding on my roast.”

“Nicole’s presentation informed our program designs, with her experiences and research from her fieldwork. Nicole’s research ensured that the program would effectively respond and address the communities’ real situation.”

“I am a tour guide of over 10 years. I assisted Dr Nicole Motteux to capture photographs covering Madagascar coffee. Nicole is enthusiastic, courteous and engaged respectfully with everyone. Her photographs of wild coffee, coffee traders in bustling markets,and street vendors have brought to life the Malagasy coffee obsession. ”

“Nicole Motteux has a unique way of connecting with people from diverse communities whether she speaks their language or not. She is welcomed and embraced, as her ethical intentions to uplift and assist with knowledge and support are inherently understood.

Nicole’s photography shows a unique sensitivity to the communities she interacts with. Her understanding of how best to tell their story is evident in the photographs. The process of editing her latest photographs has revealed her multi-level approach to her work.”

“Nicole Motteux grew up on a coffee estate in Zimbabwe. She knows about coffee and most importantly about people in coffee. Nicole makes people comfortable from farm workers to small and large coffee producers. She has the ability to grasp the impact of politics, business enabling environment, human development and environmental factors on coffee production.

Nicole brings a great mix of skills together with writing, photography and research.”

“I had the pleasure to work with Nicole while she wrote the article “Could Zimbabwean Coffee be on Specialty Coffee Menus Again”. I found Nicole to be highly professional in all respects of the process from initial drafts through to the final content. She made sure to approve and check all photography and at every stage was very confidential and made the process very clear and easy to follow.

The article highlighted her honesty and passion and spoke volumes of her work ethic – her research and interviews were spot on and intrinsic to the overall result which will hopefully have a positive impact on the Zimbabwean coffee industry.”

“As a director of feature films, series and some documentaries on development issues, I have travelled all around the world. On my path, I met Nicole Motteux, daughter of a coffee planter in Zimbabwe.

Years later, we met again in Laos where I was overwhelmed in the way Nicole is passionate about how to bring coffee to the attention of producers and consumers. Through her very thought-out and nicely illustrated articles, she really makes the difference in supporting and understanding development issues!”