diff --git a/resources/config.sample.json b/resources/config.sample.json
index e4954af..12dd806 100644
--- a/resources/config.sample.json
+++ b/resources/config.sample.json
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
     "bootstrap_servers": [
       "HOST:9092"
     ],
+    "individual_message_commit": false,
     "enable_auto_commit": true,
     "auto_offset_reset": "earliest"
   },
diff --git a/src/scicat_configuration.py b/src/scicat_configuration.py
index e736a59..fe99737 100644
--- a/src/scicat_configuration.py
+++ b/src/scicat_configuration.py
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ def build_main_arg_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
 
 @dataclass
 class RunOptions:
+    """RunOptions dataclass to store the configuration options.
+
+    Most of options don't have default values because they are expected
+    to be set by the user either in the configuration file or through
+    command line arguments.
+    """
+
     config_file: str
     verbose: bool
     file_log: bool
@@ -102,12 +109,36 @@ class RunOptions:
     pyscicat: Optional[str] = None
 
 
+@dataclass
+class kafkaOptions:
+    """KafkaOptions dataclass to store the configuration options.
+
+    Default values are provided as they are not
+    expected to be set by command line arguments.
+    """
+
+    topics: list[str] | str = "KAFKA_TOPIC_1,KAFKA_TOPIC_2"
+    """List of Kafka topics. Multiple topics can be separated by commas."""
+    group_id: str = "GROUP_ID"
+    """Kafka consumer group ID."""
+    bootstrap_servers: list[str] | str = "localhost:9092"
+    """List of Kafka bootstrap servers. Multiple servers can be separated by commas."""
+    individual_message_commit: bool = False
+    """Commit for each topic individually."""
+    enable_auto_commit: bool = True
+    """Enable Kafka auto commit."""
+    auto_offset_reset: str = "earliest"
+    """Kafka auto offset reset."""
+
+
 @dataclass
 class ScicatConfig:
     original_dict: Mapping
     """Original configuration dictionary in the json file."""
     run_options: RunOptions
     """Merged configuration dictionary with command line arguments."""
+    kafka_options: kafkaOptions
+    """Kafka configuration options read from files."""
 
     def to_dict(self) -> dict:
         """Return the configuration as a dictionary."""
@@ -119,7 +150,7 @@ def to_dict(self) -> dict:
             if isinstance(value, Mapping):
                 original_dict[key] = dict(value)
 
-        copied = ScicatConfig(original_dict, self.run_options)
+        copied = ScicatConfig(original_dict, self.run_options, self.kafka_options)
         return asdict(copied)
 
 
@@ -153,4 +184,5 @@ def build_scicat_config(input_args: argparse.Namespace) -> ScicatConfig:
     return ScicatConfig(
         original_dict=MappingProxyType(config_dict),
         run_options=RunOptions(**run_option_dict),
+        kafka_options=kafkaOptions(**config_dict.setdefault('kafka', dict())),
     )
diff --git a/src/scicat_ingestor.py b/src/scicat_ingestor.py
index df888cc..b9bf2c2 100644
--- a/src/scicat_ingestor.py
+++ b/src/scicat_ingestor.py
@@ -1,9 +1,20 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 # Copyright (c) 2024 ScicatProject contributors (https://github.com/ScicatProject)
+import logging
+
 from scicat_configuration import build_main_arg_parser, build_scicat_config
+from scicat_kafka import build_consumer
 from scicat_logging import build_logger
 
 
+def quit(logger: logging.Logger) -> None:
+    """Log the message and exit the program."""
+    import sys
+
+    logger.info("Exiting ingestor")
+    sys.exit()
+
+
 def main() -> None:
     """Main entry point of the app."""
     arg_parser = build_main_arg_parser()
@@ -14,3 +25,7 @@ def main() -> None:
     # Log the configuration as dictionary so that it is easier to read from the logs
     logger.info('Starting the Scicat Ingestor with the following configuration:')
     logger.info(config.to_dict())
+
+    # Kafka consumer
+    if build_consumer(config.kafka_options, logger) is None:
+        quit(logger)
diff --git a/src/scicat_kafka.py b/src/scicat_kafka.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11fcd36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scicat_kafka.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+# Copyright (c) 2024 ScicatProject contributors (https://github.com/ScicatProject)
+import logging
+
+from confluent_kafka import Consumer
+
+from scicat_configuration import kafkaOptions
+
+
+def collect_consumer_options(options: kafkaOptions) -> dict:
+    """Build a Kafka consumer and configure it according to the ``options``."""
+    from dataclasses import asdict
+
+    # Build logger and formatter
+    config_dict = {
+        key.replace('_', '.'): value
+        for key, value in asdict(options).items()
+        if key not in ('topics', 'individual_message_commit')
+    }
+    config_dict['enable.auto.commit'] = (
+        not options.individual_message_commit
+    ) and options.enable_auto_commit
+    return config_dict
+
+
+def collect_kafka_topics(options: kafkaOptions) -> list[str]:
+    """Return the Kafka topics as a list."""
+    if isinstance(options.topics, str):
+        return options.topics.split(',')
+    elif isinstance(options.topics, list):
+        return options.topics
+    else:
+        raise TypeError('The topics must be a list or a comma-separated string.')
+
+
+def build_consumer(kafka_options: kafkaOptions, logger: logging.Logger) -> Consumer:
+    """Build a Kafka consumer and configure it according to the ``options``."""
+    consumer_options = collect_consumer_options(kafka_options)
+    logger.info('Connecting to Kafka with the following parameters:')
+    logger.info(consumer_options)
+    consumer = Consumer(consumer_options)
+    if not validate_consumer(consumer, logger):
+        return None
+
+    kafka_topics = collect_kafka_topics(kafka_options)
+    logger.info(f'Subscribing to the following Kafka topics: {kafka_topics}')
+    consumer.subscribe(kafka_topics)
+    return Consumer(consumer_options)
+
+
+def validate_consumer(consumer: Consumer, logger: logging.Logger) -> bool:
+    try:
+        consumer.list_topics(timeout=1)
+    except Exception as err:
+        logger.error(
+            "Kafka consumer could not be instantiated. "
+            f"Error message from kafka thread: \n{err}"
+        )
+        return False
+    else:
+        logger.info('Kafka consumer successfully instantiated')
+        return True
diff --git a/tests/test_logging.py b/tests/test_logging.py
index f7e11dc..daf3f2e 100644
--- a/tests/test_logging.py
+++ b/tests/test_logging.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from scicat_configuration import RunOptions, ScicatConfig
+from scicat_configuration import RunOptions, ScicatConfig, kafkaOptions
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ def scicat_config(tmp_path: pathlib.Path) -> ScicatConfig:
             check_by_job_id=True,
             pyscicat='test',
         ),
+        kafka_options=kafkaOptions(),
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_scicat_configuration.py b/tests/test_scicat_configuration.py
index 193ac8e..09fb5d2 100644
--- a/tests/test_scicat_configuration.py
+++ b/tests/test_scicat_configuration.py
@@ -77,3 +77,9 @@ def test_scicat_config_original_dict_read_only(scicat_config: ScicatConfig) -> N
     assert isinstance(scicat_config.original_dict, MappingProxyType)
     for sub_option in scicat_config.original_dict.values():
         assert isinstance(sub_option, MappingProxyType)
+
+
+def test_scicat_config_kafka_options(scicat_config: ScicatConfig) -> None:
+    """Test if the Kafka options are correctly read."""
+    assert scicat_config.kafka_options.topics == ["KAFKA_TOPIC_1", "KAFKA_TOPIC_2"]
+    assert scicat_config.kafka_options.enable_auto_commit