NCA Distinguished Leadership Award

The NCA Distinguished Leadership Award was created to recognize individuals who have demonstrated exemplary leadership, service, and commitment to the NCA and the coffee industry by promoting and advancing the NCA’s mission, contributing to the advancement of the coffee industry, and going above and beyond of what one may usually undertake.

The Distinguished Leadership Award is for continuous and sustained leadership, service, and contribution, rather than for a single act, no matter how monumental. Nominations come from NCA members, and nominees must be current or prior members of the NCA in good standing.

Please review the Terms & Conditions for award criteria and nomination requirements.

Questions: Terri Bartlett, Director of Member Relations, at trbartlett@ncausa.org

2025 Distinguished Leadership Award Recipient: Allan B. Colley

The NCA is honored to award Allan B. Colley the 2025 NCA Distinguished Leadership Award, sponsored by the Eight O'Clock Coffee Company, in recognition of his many contributions and distinguished career spanning over 50 years in the coffee industry.

Colley started his career at the Dupuy Group in 1973, working under his father and with his four brothers. He learned the business from the ground up and became president of Dupuy, a position he held until the sale of the company in 2023. He now serves as a valued consultant to the company’s new owners.

Throughout his time with Dupuy, Colley maintained the company’s steadfast support as an NCA member. Within the NCA, he advocated for the warehouse industry, engaged in many working groups, and sponsored and attended NCA Conventions for decades. He served as president of the Southern Coffee Association and the Green Coffee Association, and he represented the coffee industry as the president of the New Orleans Board of Trade.

In 1992, Dupuy Group helped to establish the first green coffee silo in the U.S., and in 2005, Dupuy opened a second state-of-the-art green coffee silo in Jacksonville, Florida. Dupuy also installed unique blending and upgrading equipment in several locations, all groundbreaking investments and technological solutions in the world of coffee warehousing.