By Jeremy Martin
Sometimes, lost among the endless espresso shots, day-long workshops, and hard product sells for new water filters is the fact that you will spending an entire weekend in relatively close quarters with just under 10,000 other people.
Who these folks are, where they come from, and what they hope to achieve here in Seattle is a mystery to many of us, but what if we could take a few minutes, put names to some of these faces, and figure out just what the heck they are up to? Oh, right we can ”we have a magazine and a daily blog.
Here are just a few of the people we talked to on the showroom floor this afternoon, and a little bit about what brought them to the 2014 SCAA event.
Name: Heather Pegg
Lives in: Dallas, Texas
Company: The Coffee Stand
Number of years attending SCAA: 1st time
Heather intends to open a coffee stand in the heart of Texas next year and joined us at SCAA to make contacts and scout out products.
œI’m looking for contacts for smoothies, distrusters, cups, pretty much anything, she said.
After attending several lectures and meeting quite a few new people, Pegg will return to Dallas and hopefully make it big.
Name: Don Dominquez
Lives in: Portland, Oregon
Company: K&F Coffee Roasters.
Number of years attending SCAA: Too many to count
An SCAA stalwart, Don came up to Seattle to re-connect with colleagues and vendors.
œI’ve been in business over thirty years, so it’s about reacquainting myself with my equipment manufactures and see what’s new, new trends, new machinery, he said.
Don likes the Synesso’s – group espresso machine.
œI got to talk with the owner there and it seems like he’s very diligent and he seems like he’s on top of the business of making and perfecting an espresso machine. He’s proving that an espresso machine can be American made and I was impressed with that.
Name: John Chandler
Lives in: Portland, Oregon
Company: Oblique Coffee Roasters
Number of years attending SCAA: 2
The co-founder of the 5–year-old roaster started the company with his wife after realizing his dream of opening a bookshop wasn’t going to be commercially viable.
œWe work so hard, it’s a two person team with a couple of part timers as well, but it’s tough to get away from the shop, he said.
But Chandler said he and his wife are happy to be here, especially for the opportunity to see the new Loring Roasters.
œThose things are amazing. Fire safety is a big thing, and if you do have a fire it will be totally contained. It’s green, you can roast 90 plus coffees in it. Everybody gets scared about new technologies, but that thing is amazing.
Names: Steve and Brandon
Live in: Placentia, California
Company: Bodhi Leaf
Number of years attending SCAA: Brandon-1, Steve-5
The Orange County green coffee buyers came to the SCAA this year just to wonder around, see the sights and meet with folks who they might be able to partner with down the road.
œThere’s a lot going on, it’s bigger than I imagined, Brandon commented.
œIt kind of connects everybody every year, I get a chance to see some of my customers who I don’t get to see all the time, I think that’s a good thing, Steve added.
Names: Mario Joka and Sandra Goetting
Live in: Munster, Germany
Company: Roestbar
Number of years attending SCAA: 2
The German duo had no real plan for this year’s event and seemed pretty open to simply meeting people and discovering what was taking place I Seattle.
œWe’re meeting people from the origins, our traders, farmers. Our employee is with us, she’s watching the competitions. She is a German barista champion and will be at the WBC now she’s checking out everything, Sandra said.
Name: Celton Hayden Jr.
Lives in: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Company: CC’s Coffee House
Number of years attending SCAA: 3
If anyone had the opportunity to chat with Celton, they undoubtedly came away with a smile on their face and some extra pep in their step. The chatty and welcoming president of a Louisiana coffee house chain returns once again to the SCAA seeking an even greater specialty coffee education.
œEach year I come, I learn more, I get more excited. I learn about how the industry is evolving and what resources are available to chains like us and to independent shops. I am very surprised, not shocked, but surprised in the advancements in technology around the coffee processes, from roasting all the way though La Mazorca’s new technologies, it all moves so fast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Martin is a freelance writer and photographer who has reported on coffee, craft beer, college sports, and business for a variety of publications over the past six years. A veteran of the café industry and graduate of Western Michigan University, Jeremy lives in Seattle where can often be found making sandwiches from whatever is left in the fridge and cracking wise for the amusement of his adoring wife Amanda.
