In January, Hui-Ling “Kelly” Wang, founder and instructor of Green Stone Coffee Academy, successfully passed the doctoral qualifying examination at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and officially became a PhD candidate in the field of hospitality and tourism management.
Her doctoral research focuses on micro independent cafés, coffee entrepreneurship, and the evolution of business models, exploring how small coffee businesses can survive, adapt, and develop in an increasingly competitive specialty coffee market.
As both a coffee educator and researcher, Kelly hopes to bring academic insights closer to real-world coffee entrepreneurship. Her research aims to better understand the challenges faced by independent café owners and identify practical pathways that may help emerging coffee entrepreneurs strengthen their brands and improve long-term business sustainability.
For Green Stone Coffee Academy, professional coffee education goes beyond learning how to roast or brew coffee.
Technical skills are an important foundation, but building a sustainable coffee business also requires an understanding of customers, value creation, brand development, resources, and business models.
Through her doctoral research, Kelly hopes to continue integrating academic research with practical coffee education, providing future coffee entrepreneurs with a broader perspective as they develop their own cafés, roasting businesses, and coffee brands.
Coffee Education × Research × Entrepreneurship
Green Stone Coffee Academy will continue to explore how professional coffee skills, industry experience, and academic research can work together to support the next generation of coffee entrepreneurs.
