diff --git a/src/main/scala/code/bankconnectors/KafkaHelper.scala b/src/main/scala/code/bankconnectors/KafkaHelper.scala
index 5352c53fe..8674f1d59 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/code/bankconnectors/KafkaHelper.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/code/bankconnectors/KafkaHelper.scala
@@ -45,18 +45,13 @@ class KafkaHelper extends MdcLoggable {
   consumerProps.put("value.deserializer", "org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringDeserializer")
 
   var producer = new KafkaProducer[String, String](producerProps)
+  var consumer = new KafkaConsumer[String, String](consumerProps)
+  consumer.subscribe(util.Arrays.asList(responseTopic))
 
   implicit val formats = DefaultFormats
 
   def getResponse(reqId: String): json.JValue = {
-    var consumer = new KafkaConsumer[String, String](consumerProps)
-    consumer.subscribe(util.Arrays.asList(responseTopic))
-    //if (consumer == null) {
-    //  consumer = new KafkaConsumer[String, String](consumerProps)
-    //  consumer.subscribe(util.Arrays.asList(responseTopic))
-    //}
-    //if (consumer == null)
-    //  return json.parse("""{"error":"kafka consumer unavailable"}""")
+    consumer.seekToBeginning(consumer.assignment())
 
     val consumerMap = consumer.poll(100)
     val it = consumerMap.iterator