2018 Best of Show Coffunity Is Building a Global Coffee Library

A bag of coffee tells you a lot about what’s inside—generally you’ll find information about where the coffee comes from, the day it was roasted, and maybe some details about how it was sourced. But perhaps you’re looking for more facts on your coffee, for coffees that are similar, or maybe even for what your friends are drinking this week. Coffunity is here to help.

Coffunity is an app that won the Best New Product—Best of Show award at this year’s Global Specialty Coffee Expo in Seattle this past April. The app allows allows people to learn more about a given bag of coffee and chronicle coffees they’ve tried or purchased. Unlike many of the amazing products we were excited about at Expo 2018, Coffunity paves a different direction for growth and engagement in the specialty-coffee world by connecting all types of coffee drinkers and making information accessible, all on an easy-to-use platform.

The app is incredibly simple to use: You simply take a photo of the bag of coffee, and the app will find any information it has on the coffee and allow you to log in notes about the coffee. Over time, the app learns your preferences so it can help make recommendations, show you what your friends are drinking, and tell you what coffees Coffunity users are enjoying. “Users can rate the coffees they taste and share their review with everyone around the world,” a press release states. The app aims to give its users objective information and reviews of coffee, demystifying what’s in the bag and helping consumers go beyond simply shopping for coffees based on brand recognition.

This app is the work of cofounders Federico Bolanos and Andrea Pacas, along with their team of developers and engineers based in both Miami and El Salvador. Federico says that Coffunity winning the Best New Product award at SCA was a thrilling honor. “This is just our first step in a hopefully long journey ahead,” Federico says. “We are honored and thrilled with the awards at such an early stage of our business development … it is an important validation that further motivates us to take Coffunity to the next level.”

The goal of the app is to build the world’s largest coffee community, but Coffunity started as a small idea from its cofounder. “Andrea, my partner and cofounder, came up with the idea to start this app, and when she shared it with me I thought it would be an amazing way for the specialty-coffee industry to connect with coffee consumers that haven’t discovered high-quality coffee yet,” says Federico. “Coffunity is all about creating a worldwide coffee community … about bringing people closer through their taste experiences.” The app is free to use, and it’s not just for consumers—roasters are encouraged to upload pictures of their own coffee bags and add information, ideally bringing potential new customers to their coffees. If you’re not sure where to start or want recommendations from someone else, the app also features reviews from coffee professionals that are public to Coffunity users.

The app is currently in beta and is available on Apple phones—check it out today!