Coffee and Technology Podcast

Join Kelsey and Norbert for today's episode with Miranda Caldwell the founder of Coffee MBA. From her roles as COO and green buyer to her impactful public speaking, including a notable presentation at the Re:co Symposium in 2023, Miranda is a powerhouse of knowledge and innovation. Her work spans strategic planning, product innovation, and marketing, underpinned by a passion for design and ar...

Today we have a behind the scenes episode about building our latest product, Commerce, which was released in January 2024. Last month, Norbert and Kelsey sat down with Cropsterians Leo Cimoch, who is the Product Manager for Commerce and has extensive work experience in both the hospitality and tech industries, and Cassidy Nova, who is our Inside Sales Manager for Commerce and has had many roles in...

In this episode, we chat with Connie Blumhardt, who is the  founder and publisher of the award-winning Roast magazine. Connie has spent over 30 years in magazine publishing and has worked in the coffee industry for the past 25 years. She possesses a wealth of knowledge regarding magazine publishing, marketing, design and photography. On a daily basis, Connie serves 1000’s of roasters creating an a...

This episode we chat with Doug Graf and Liz Bishop from Vintage Coffee. Vintage Coffee provides consulting, training, repair and maintenance, plant design, and start up for coffee roasters of every size. Doug Graf has been in the coffee industry for over three decades in his family business whether it’s roasting coffee or helping fix the machines. Liz's coffee career has including being a bar...

Matt Brown, Senior Manager of Coffee Operations from Coffee Bar is joining this month's leading coffee industry podcast to chat about his international career in coffee, building out educational programs in cafes and communities, as well as sustainability programs he's implementing in California and Nevada. Learn more about Cropster: https://www.cropster.com/solutions/ We're social!...

Nick Castellano is the Creative Projects Manager at Ally Coffee and is based in Medellín, Colombia. Nick was previously the co-host of the Coffee & Technology podcast and now co-hosts a Spanish podcasts called Cafe Se Escribe En Español. Throughout his 5 years in coffee, he’s managed his own projects, worked as part of the marketing team Cropster, and has visited various origins speaking vario...

Felix Teiretzbacher is the 2022 World Coffee Roasting Champion from Vienna, Austria. Felix has grown from a home roaster to a world champion in a matter of years and now finds himself a roasting icon around the world. He’ll tell us the journey he took to become world coffee roasting champion and what his post-championship experience has been like. Learn more about Cropster: https://www.cropster.co...

Kevin Foley is the owner of Valley to Summit Sustainability, a sustainability consultancy based in California. Kevin is driven to help various businesses create and achieve a sustainability program. Kevin defines what is sustainability, his journey in helping Cropster become a B-Corp certified business, and what’s next for Cropster’s journey as a B-Corp. Learn more about Cropster: https://www.crop...

Andrea Allen is the Co-founder of Onyx Coffee Lab. She is head of operations for all Onyx cafes and for the roastery. She also holds the title of 2021 U.S. Barista Champion and the runner-up in the 2021 World Barista Champion. In her spare time, she is hanging out with her husband and two daughters, an avid runner, and a barrel-racer. In this episode, we’ll discuss her journey competing, her thoug...

Shelby Williamson is the Head Roaster and Colombian Green Coffee Buyer at Huckleberry Coffee Roasters, the 2019 US Roasting Champion, and a certified Q-Grader. Shelby started roasting about 8 years ago, and hasn't looked back since, falling in-love with the international trade and connection of coffee. We’ll discuss the impact her experience competing has had on her career and her journey to...

Martin Elwert is the Founder of Coffee Circle in Germany. Coffee Circle is a certified B-Corporation and has been an e-commerce leader of specialty coffee across the DACH region of Europe. Martin comes from a consulting background and has used his experience to grow a successful coffee business. Listen to Martin as he tells the founding of Coffee Circle, funding to scale his business, and the impo...

What does it look like and mean to code for the coffee industry? Nick and Norbert go into the technical minded part of coding for the coffee industry and what that journey has looked like for Cropster and beyond. Learn more about Cropster: https://www.cropster.com/solutions/ We're social! Follow Cropster on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/cropster/ Follow Cropster on LinkedIn: https://ww...

Dale is a well-respected barista, trainer, and consultant with over 15 years of experience in coffee. He is currently the Chief Operations Officer at Ozone Coffee Roasters UK. As a World Barista Champion, Dale has traveled, trained, and learned from experiences in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and is constantly pushing to understand the connections between the global specialty movement and the local...

In another conversation between Nick and Norbert, we revisit what Iot means and this time we focus on how it can change the future of cafe's for the better. Learn more about Cropster: https://www.cropster.com/solutions/ We're social! Follow Cropster on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/cropster/ Follow Cropster on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cropster Like Cropster on FA...

During our 2022 year end episode, Nick and Norbert discuss the importance of data collection at origin and why digitizing data at origin is important. This topic is so important to both of them and has been a recurring theme throughout 2022. Learn more about Cropster: https://www.cropster.com/solutions/ We're social! Follow Cropster on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/cropster/ Follow Cro...

Matt Swenson is the Nestlé Coffee Partner’s Director of Coffee. He works in the technical and product side of the business, helping plan for the next big innovation in the coffee pipeline. Prior to joining Nestlé Coffee Partners, Swenson was Chameleon’s Chief Product Officer. He is one of only 51 Q Grader Arabica Instructors in the world, and serves on the board of trustees for the Coffee Quality...

Lucas Cuadros is the Co-founder of Unblended Coffee. Unblended Coffee is an importer that specializes on socioeconomic progress of young coffee growers in Colombia. Lucas is a young coffee entrepreneur that comes from a distribution background in the construction industry. We’ll discuss what entrepreneurship means to him in the coffee industry and the challenges/opportunities that come with workin...

Jeffrey Chean is the Co-founder of Groundwork Coffee in Los Angeles, California. Groundwork Coffee roasts certified organic coffee from producing regions around the world. Jeffrey tells us what it means to roast and grow a brand around certified organic coffees and supporting organic coffee producing communities. We even discuss coffee’s tie to hallucinating drug plant varieties and rethinking soc...

Carly Green is the Head of Coffee Education at Cometeer. Cometeer makes a freshly frozen coffee capsule roasted by various roasters and brewed by you at home. Carly tells us what excites her about the frozen capsule market, how data collection is vital to this business, and what the future looks like for Cometeer. Learn more about Cometeer: https://cometeer.com/ Learn more about Cropster: https://...

Ibrahim Al Mallouhi is the Founder of the Espresso Lab in Dubai. Ibrahim has become a leader of specialty coffee in the Middle East and has been an advocate for technology’s role in the coffee industry. Ibrahim tells his story of growing a successful roastery and cafe in Dubai, the importance that tech has had on his business, and the responsibility he has taken as a leader of specialty coffee in...

Wilford Lamastus Jr is the son of a world-renowned Panamanian coffee producer, Wilford Lamastus. Wilford has grown his career as a next generation coffee producer, cafe owner, and coffee competitor. In this storytelling episode, Wilford tells the story of Panama’s growth in coffee, the brand building of Panamanian Geisha, and the role his family holds in the world of specialty coffee production. F...

Raphael Studer is the Co-founder and CEO of Algrano. Raphael has a PhD in Economics and has spent a significant amount of time at origin understanding how to empower those in origin. Raphael brings his perspective on the democratization of information in the coffee value chain, the challenges and opportunities of empower producers, and blockchains place/impact in coffee. Learn more about Algrano:...

Tim Wendelboe is the Founder of Tim Wendelboe Coffee and is the host of the Tim Wendelboe Podcast. Since his 2004 World Barista Championship win, Tim has become a notable name in the world of coffee. We’ll discuss Tim’s passion for organic farming, his views on transparency, and using tech across the supply chain. Follow Tim Wendelboe on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timwendelboe/ Learn mor...

Matthew Torres is the Founder of Long Beach Coffee Club, a coffee community based in and around the Long Beach/Los Angeles-urban area. Matthew’s social media growth in the local coffee community has grown substantially and we discuss what that means to him and what kind of responsibility that holds for himself. We also discuss ways to continue connecting consumers with the rest of the supply chain...

Michael Phillips is the Director of Global Education & Engagement at Blue Bottle Coffee. Prior to his work in coffee, Michael worked in the film industry. In this episode, we discuss his journey to the WBC, how coffee retail has evolved, and what the future could be for high-quality instant coffee. Follow Michael on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/1shot4theroad/ Learn more about Blue Bott...