OUR ROOTS
Our name, Cereza Coffee, pays homage to the coffee fruit. In Spanish, “cereza” means cherry, and in most Latin American coffee origins the coffee fruit is referred to as “cereza de café”. We are proud to bear the name of coffee’s first step in its journey from farm to cup.
Cereza Coffee’s foundation is rooted in a unique origin story that diverges from the conventional path. Our founder, Joey Wein, was born and raised in New York City where he developed a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of our world. Over the years, Joey’s community broadened his perspective, leading him to develop an affinity toward Latin America. When Joey was 18 years old, this influence inspired him to travel to the remote region of Urabá, Colombia, as part of a volunteer program. The mission was to build humanitarian zones to protect farmers from the violent armed conflict and displacement that had been ravaging this lawless region of Colombia.
While in Colombia, Joey was immersed in the raw realities of a rural agricultural economy for the first time. He witnessed the origin of the products that fill supermarket aisles back home, and saw firsthand the most important, vulnerable, and often exploited individuals at the foundation of this system. This experience had a profound impact on Joey’s future and was the catalyst for developing Cereza Coffee.
After graduating from college a few years later, equipped with a basic understanding of the coffee supply chain and a passionate drive to improve the status quo, Joey returned to Colombia. This time, he moved to a small town in Colombia’s Coffee Axis, Marsella. Here, the lush coffee farms became his classroom, local coffee producers his mentors, and Joey, a sponge, soaking up as much education (and coffee) as possible. It was during this transformative time that Cereza Coffee was born, and we launched our first imports into the U.S.
Over the next 4 years, Joey lived in South and Central America, forging deep relationships with farming communities, developing Cereza Coffee’s network of producing partners, and building a talented team of coffee professionals. As we reflect on how far we’ve come, we are grateful that Cereza Coffee was founded with the support and guidance of coffee farmers, and continues to operate with a framework rooted in their perspective. At Cereza Coffee we are committed to honoring our origins, and we take pride in being true to the source.
At Cereza Coffee, we are dreamers, pioneers, and innovators. We’ve come a long way, but we didn’t start with a grand vision. Instead, there has always been a consistent thread that drives us forward: a commitment to service. Today, as we expand globally, this dedication to service remains at our core.
WHY US?
We believe that Cereza Coffee offers advantages that most coffee importers do not. Most other specialty coffee importers fall into one of two categories. One is a subsidiary of a large multinational company. While these subsidiaries employ new branding and marketing campaigns, they are beholden to their parent companies and often serve the needs of the larger commodity-style trade houses that own them. The other category consists of small specialty importers that buy coffee from exporters or well capitalized farms. In this category, the
importers’ level of involvement in the production process, commitment to coffee producers, and presence at origin is limited.
Cereza Coffee is a different kind of coffee company—a rather unusual one. We are 100% independent, with no affiliation or connection to large legacy trade houses. The majority of our team is based in coffee-producing countries, with deep cultural and personal ties to coffee production. By having full-time team members both in the U.S. and at origin, we are able to be locally ingrained at both ends of the supply chain. We build relationships with our producing and roasting partners from the ground up.
OUR PRACTICES
We believe that Cereza Coffee offers advantages that most coffee importers do not. Most other specialty coffee importers fall into one of two categories. One is a subsidiary of a large multinational company. While these subsidiaries employ new branding and marketing campaigns, they are beholden to their parent companies and often serve the needs of the larger commodity-style trade houses that own them. The other category consists of small specialty importers that buy coffee from exporters or well capitalized farms. In this category, the
importers’ level of involvement in the production process, commitment to coffee producers, and presence at origin is limited.
Cereza Coffee is a different kind of coffee company—a rather unusual one. We are 100% independent, with no affiliation or connection to large legacy trade houses. The majority of our team is based in coffee-producing countries, with deep cultural and personal ties to coffee production. By having full-time team members both in the U.S. and at origin, we are able to be locally ingrained at both ends of the supply chain. We build relationships with our producing and roasting partners from the ground up.
