Before anyone can count the beans, someone’s got to track them down.

Enter Jon Ferguson, who has been hired as the new Bean Hunter at The Roasterie in Kansas City. Ferguson’s primary mission will be to scour the planet for the best quality coffee beans he can acquire to be air-roasted at the Roasterie’s 33,000-square-foot factory, one of only two coffee air-roasters in Missouri.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE ROASTERIE’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Ferguson will also direct redevelopment of the Roasterie’s Coffee College training program for coffee devotees, collaborate on menus with more than 150 area eating places that serve Roasterie coffee and endeavor to improve the daily experiences of independent coffee shop customers.

Before coming to the Roasterie, Ferguson was director of quality control at Dogwood Coffee Company in Minneapolis, and he founded a coffee technician servicing company in Lincoln, Neb. In 2012 and 2013, he won the North Central Regional Brewer’s Cup Championship. In 2011, he was credentialed as a lead instructor in the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Instructor Development Program. In 2006, he started Cultiva Coffee Roasting Company in Lincoln. Ferguson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Nebraska.