Who Are Mercanta?

Stephen Hurst has been in the coffee business for more than 35 years. He spent the first 11 years of his career as a commodity coffee trader for the J Aron Division of Goldman Sachs group, who were at one time the fifth biggest coffee trading company in the world. In 1996 he founded Mercanta The Coffee Hunters and migrated into the emerging specialty coffee world.

Stephen spent over a decade as a board member for the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, which runs the Cup of Excellence programme and has served on numerous Cup of Excellence juries around Central and South America since 2000. He has also served on the board of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (2002-2006).

In 2004 he founded Mercanta’s sister company, the London School of Coffee, with the aim of educating and informing consumers and the wider industry about specialty coffee.

Leah is a proper veteran of the coffee industry!

Born in Los Angeles, Leah began her career in coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area, managing cafés and retail shops. She later left the Bay Area for Portland, Oregon where she worked in retail coffee and café management for seven years.

Leah moved to Southeast Asia, where she managed a roaster retailer business for 12 years, covering Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan. She returned to the United States in 2008 and that same year began working for Mercanta as our regional manager in North America.

Leah is an avid photographer and is responsible for many of the excellent images you see across the Mercanta website.

She has more than a decade of experience as a Cup of Excellence juror, and has judged for the WBC and USBC.

Leah is another professional who sees every day as an opportunity to learn more about our crazy industry.
“Coffee is a remarkable adventure. My experience in coffee may be many in years, but every day feels new to me.”

Christian Schaps was born and grew up in Guatemala. He is a fourth generation coffee producer and has considerable experience as both a farm manager and owner.

Christian is passionate about coffee and began cupping at home while he was still an undergraduate at Cal Poly in California. After graduating he returned to Guatemala to work on his family’s coffee farms and went on to source coffee for various companies worldwide.

Christian joined Mercanta in 1997 to source coffees from Guatemala and El Salvador. He has since set up the Mercanta Central America office and lab, dealing with purchasing, logistics and quality control for Central America, Bolivia and Mexico.

Christian has served on Guatemala Cup of Excellence juries in 2008, 2009 & 2012.

Gayle has managed the London School of Coffee since it was founded in 2004 and oversaw the design and installation of the school’s current labs.

Previously, Gayle worked in film postproduction in central London (we suspect they also tried to grab her gorgeous self for screen work, but we are lucky she resisted). Her career in coffee began in 2001 when she joined Mercanta, where she assisted with all aspects of the business – from sample roasting and cupping, to sales and shipments.

Since joining the London School of Coffee, Gayle has led field trips to both Nicaragua and Guatemala to visit producers and learn more about the coffee supply chain. She has also represented the London School of Coffee at numerous coffee events and exhibitions in Europe and Japan.

Currently, Gayle’s main role is to work alongside her fabulous trainers and ensuring that they have all the support they need to provide our diverse range of courses. Managing the LSCs booking systems, social media, website, accounts and most importantly, she nurtures and ensure that the schools reputation in this industry is maintained.
For more information about the school and its trainers please check out the London School of Coffee.

Stephen has been with Mercanta for a long time, and is a critical member of the team – he is a huge contributor to systems, sourcing, quality management and, of course, sales.

Stephen joined Mercanta in 2011, in London, as the coffee lab assistant. Having just graduated from Uni and keen to dive headfirst into the world of specialty coffee, this position at Mercanta offered him key foundational exposure to begin his career in specialty coffee.

Stephen’s sentiments today continue to reflect his approach to work, and continue to mirror those of Mercanta – learning, sharing and building. “I really like how much there is to learn and how willing people are to share what they know with each other. I also value how much trust there is in the industry and how it’s been built brick by brick on quality relationships at every step.”

Stephen also points out that when looking forward at the future of our business, it is sometimes worthwhile looking back at what we have achieved and the successes we’ve managed to have thus far, “There are some obvious challenges ahead of us, but there are also some behind us as well which we overcame, I’m optimistic about the future of coffee, as the audience has grown over the years more and more farmers and groups have gained market access which can only be a good thing.”

Megan has been with Mercanta for a third of her life time.

Megan discovered her love of coffee while working as a barista at Starbucks in Wisconsin during her college years.

After an internship at Disney World and spending some time in Brazil, the student loan payments persuaded her to return stateside to become a grown-up. During her travels, Megan had visited coffee farms in Guatemala and Brazil and she was finding it difficult to get rid of that coffee bug. Instead of resisting, she purged her belongings and stuffed what was left into her Mazda 3 and drove across the country to the specialty coffee hub of Seattle, WA for her role with Mercanta.

She supports our expanding Mercanta North America operations through sales and logistics. In her free time you’ll find her pursuing projects in woodworking, block printing, and needle work. Or you’ll find her hanging out with the dogs down at her local Humane shelter, where she regularly volunteers.

Megan back’s Mercanta’s view of income security for producers at origin – “I think we need to realize how many hands it takes to create that one cup of coffee we have every day, and start paying for the labour behind it. I hope the new norm will be people understanding what exactly they are paying for when they pay higher prices for the cup of coffee.”

A Spanish national, Carlos started his career within the shipping industry after graduating from The Nautical University of Barcelona. In pursuit of better options for both his life and career, Mr. Torres set sails to London where he chanced upon Mercanta.

Mercanta proved to be an ideal environment in which he could develop his skills, allowing him to better understand the complexity of an industry that thrills all of those who are involved in it.

6 years later he can say he made the right move, as his adventure with Mercanta continues!

Alda joined the Mercanta team from her home country of Brazil. We suspected she might know a little something about coffee, so when she first joined she was put to work on quality control!

Alda has attended Cup of Excellence juries as judge (in Brazil, of course) and is a certified Q Arabica Grader. She has worked at many key Mercanta conference and events, with the Brazil Embassy in London and shows and conferences all over the world where Mercanta has been exhibiting – like SCA, SCAE, and SCAJ as well as many regional and national events.

Alda manages a number of specialty coffee roaster accounts and has numerous contacts with the Brazil specialty coffee growing community.

She is responsible for the Mercanta UK office infrastructure and now manages all our social media accounts. There are two things Alda loves above all else, Mercanta and her home country Brazil, wait sorry not two, three, she also loves coffee of course!

Juan and his donkey, Conchita, are world famous mascots for Colombian coffee producers.

What? Huh? Wrong Juan? Sorry….

The problem is that Juan and Juan come from the same town – Fredonia in the famous coffee growing region of Antioquia. Our Juan may not be the new Juan Valdez, but he has plenty of coffee pedigree himself. His father is a coffee producer and his mother worked for over 35 years for one of Antioquia’s coffee cooperatives.

After years of resisting the pull of the coffee business, working successfully in other fields, in 2012 Juan finally gave in. Stephen Hurst offered him a cup of coffee, and that was that.

Juan has some pretty solid sensory training and has been part of the jury in over 15 coffee competitions, including as a COE Colombia international judge in 2019. Juan knows his way around a cupping, and is always keen to get one going!

“Coffee is such a vast field you there is always space and potential for learning, growing, specializing, and finding your passion, all within the same industry and with the same product. I also love understanding taste and working with people.”

After some time running Mercanta operations in Colombia, then doing a stint in the HQ in London, in 2019, Juan relocated to Berlin – his mission: to establish Mercanta’s European office and quality lab. His considerable knowledge and experience in different fields, along with his willingness to spend literally hundreds of hours of his free time (time he could have spent doing anything else) learning German, made him the perfect operative for this assignment.

Aster’s entry into the specialty coffee world was through Mercanta. In 2015 she joined the Singapore office to handle logistics and administrative tasks. Her pragmatic, good natured approach make her an effective and approachable professional. One of the great assets in a business like that of specialty coffee is humility.

Aster says that she loves the process of continued learning, “Coffee is a daily beverage for me and every day I learn more about how a cup of coffee gets from farm to table. This never stops being interesting.”

Aster’s buoyant and positive about the state of the business and the future outlook. She’s looking on all the bright sides, believing that, “people are not only enjoying a cup of good coffee anymore, but they are also now concerned about the origin development, sustainability and traceability of the aspects of that cup.” She believes that this is why the specialty business will continue to thrive. With her abilities and attitude, Mercanta Singapore will certainly thrive.

Ben has been in the coffee business since finishing his Masters in 2016. As many do, he found his way into the specialty coffee world via unexpected avenues. Taking on an internship with a commercial roaster in Bulgaria got the ball rolling!

“After begging for a job at the 2017 World of Coffee in Budapest, I relocated from Bulgaria to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk to help Vollers GmbH with the acquisition of Eniti.” After a period of getting his hands dirty and wrapping his head around the flow of coffee from Origin to the roastery door, his next opportunity didn’t require him to beg quite so much. Jamie Marler plucked Ben from the warehouse floor and brought him to a place and into a team where he could really spread his hummus…. I mean wings… Where he could really spread his wings!

Ben is now responsible for our UK & European sales team, and uses his charm and business acumen to great effect. He believes in “developing and deepening relationships with our network of suppliers, celebrating producer partners through the marketing of their brands in consumer markets, and delivering a quality product and a bespoke, efficient service on a global scale.” – not just a pretty face.

Pedro got his start in coffee early! As a child growing up in Venezuela, he would help his father in his restaurant. One of his main duties was to make the coffee, earning him the reputation of “Barista”. He learned all the different names for types of coffee (con leche, marron, marron claro, negro corto, negro largo and guayoyo) and served them up perfectly.

Admittedly, it took a long time for Pedro to come back to his roots. He went on from these foundations to graduate from Santa Maria University Caracas-Venezuela with a degree in Industrial Engineering and went on to found his own company. He has always remained interested in manufacturing and process and applies that curiosity to his current role as Lab Assistant in the UK.

For Pedro, when he started at Mercanta, coffee was a “simple morning beverage to help you wake up”, but he now has a completely different understanding of the ‘behind the scenes’ aspects. As he says “behind that little tiny bean is a whole world of flavours and fragrance” that he is excited to continue understanding. Pedro ensures our UK lab is in tip-top shape, roasting and preparing all samples for clients, and daily team cupping sessions.

Pedro points out that Venezuela was a producer of some the best coffee in the world a hope in the nearly future Mercanta will have “café de mi tierra”. One of his goals is to see Mercanta begin buying from this beautiful origin someday soon.

Michaela got into the coffee scene early! She was just 18 when she first began working as a barista at a specialty coffee roaster in Las Vegas.

During her time at the University of Oxford, Michaela worked with coffee producers in Brazil to understand how natural benefits from surrounding ecosystems help producers improve the quality and yield of their coffee.  She then went on to study the impacts of climate change on smallholder coffee producers in Kenya and how to improve the Adaptive Capacity of these producers.

Throughout her years, she also spent time as a Sensory Analyst, coffee educator, and has visited a number of coffee-producing countries.  She seeks to help improve the sustainability of the coffee sector, spread awareness regarding the importance of specialty coffee and create a future for coffee in light of climate change.

“We have coffee, we drink coffee, coffee is on the shelves of our grocery stores and in our cafes all thanks to the hardworking and passionate producers throughout the Coffee Belt. My work is for them, to help create a future for their families and communities.”

With a strong international background in the FMCG sector, Anastasiya pivoted into the Coffee Industry, following her passion for the product.

Anastasiya discovered her love of coffee while working part-time in a coffee shop during her student years. “At that time, I’ve learnt that coffee is not only about the drink itself, but people and social aspect. Nevertheless, good morning coffee is the best way to start the day.”

She was graduated from St. Petersburg Agricultural University in Russia and holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Chemistry, Soil Science and Plant Protection.

Anastasiya spent the last years on developing a specialty coffee project throughout a sustainable sourcing strategy and creating a direct relationship with coffee growers. Anastasiya is proud to have become the first Belarussian woman certified Q grader.

Ryan started out his coffee journey at Starbucks as a high school barista. After falling in love with the artistry of coffee as well as the warmth of an established community of other industry professionals, he jumped in headfirst.

Continuing his passion for learning and growth about coffee, he deferred college to work at the Starbucks Reserve and later in the Starbucks Green Coffee Lab. However, he did not feel knowledgeable enough about coffee and left Starbucks to grow his skills as a barista at Hagen Coffee Roasters alongside the United States’ best coffee competitors. After a few years in a rigorous and fast-paced environment, he felt equipped and ready to resume his journey in green coffee quality and grading.

At Mercanta, Ryan strives to create a positive and lively environment while still focusing on growing his knowledge of green coffee quality. Although he has only been in coffee for 5 years, he looks forward to the decades of growth and learning that lie ahead.

His goals in his career include becoming a licensed Q Arabica Grader and owning a farm in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea

After finishing a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences and feeling fairly certain that the other guys had the cure for cancer covered, Sean decided to use his lab skills in a different capacity.

Sean joined Mercanta in London in 2022. He is someone who is always keen to learn and grow. A trait that serves one well in the innovative world of specialty coffee.

“The challenge of coming into a new industry knowing there would be a steep learning curve has turned into an exciting opportunity to learn. Becoming more familiar with speciality coffees has been mind-blowing.”

Sean enjoys the variety in coffee, and the way people’s preferences can be understood to cater to as wide a range of palettes as possible.
“Cuppings can sometimes generate a strong difference of opinion, and this leads to discussion. One of my favourite aspects of working at Mercanta is the ability to quantify what makes one coffee different from the next and the underlying reasons for that.”

Sean is eager to be part of the specialty coffee world’s increasing reach, and the adoption of the key values that underpin specialty coffee.
“I believe in coffee as a force for credible, lasting, and sustainable development in economies that need it most.”

“That last part was stolen from Ben. But doesn’t that sound great??”

Because he shows such passion, it’s ok that he also loves plagiarising his colleagues.

Luke first grew intrigued by coffee after visiting a shop in Seoul five years ago, inspiring him to one day own a shop of his own. He then worked at Alchemist Coffee in Singapore for a few years as a Manager before becoming the Roaster. To challenge himself further, he joined Homeground Coffee Roasters as their Production Manager/Roaster. During these years – he learned a plethora about coffee and the beautiful world behind the intricate beans.

Luke is constantly inspired to continue learning as the coffee industry evolves. He sees a bright future for Natural and Washed coffees in addition to experimentally processed coffees.

Beginning her coffee career two years ago, Chloe began her career in coffee at Ovenbird Coffee Roasters, Glasgow. Her role was to manage the small team at the new café whilst also providing operational support to the roastery which included roasting and delivering coffee. It was here she learned more about coffee, how its taste can vary depending on the origin, processing method, and roast.

Chloe is fascinated by the journey coffee takes from bean to cup, and she values the work Mercanta does providing smallholders with the platform to sell and trade their coffee worldwide. During her time at Mercanta, Chloe is eager to learn more about the tastes of different origins and processing methods. She recognizes the looming threat of climate change for coffee, and that producers have the ability to adapt to these changes.

Interestingly enough, Chloe actually studied history, and completed her degree in 2018. She then worked for a jewellery brand for two years before being introduced to the wonderful world of coffee.

Poh joined the Mercanta Singapore team in 2023 to lend his expertise in administration. This is his first step into the world of coffee after working with various firms in Singapore.

He grew up drinking kopi, the traditional coffee drink from Singapore. Poh hopes to learn more about specialty coffee during his time with Mercanta.

Born in Ecuador, where coffee production is a significant part of our culture and economy, Brigitte developed a deep appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship involved in coffee cultivation and preparation. This upbringing nurtured her love for coffee and influenced her decision to seek opportunities to work within the coffee industry.

What gets Brigitte up in the morning is the opportunity to contribute and assist in the financial operations of the company while also enjoying the energising aroma and taste of freshly brewed coffee.

Working at Mercanta is incredibly fulfilling because not only does she have ample professional growth opportunities, but Brigitte also gets to collaborate with a fantastic team who shares a passion for coffee, making the experience even more enjoyable.

Hao is new to the coffee industry after joining Mercanta in 2024. Previously, he worked as an auditor, but is eager to expand his knowledge on coffee. He feels that the world of coffee is impressive and interesting, with an expansive global breadth.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee gets him up in the morning. In addition to coffee, numbers keep Hao going throughout the day!

Pascal started his coffee journey back in 2013 when he was training to be a pastry chef, he also had the opportunity to be a barista. He continued his passion for coffee, and obtained a degree in sustainable business management with a thesis focused on transparency in the specialty coffee trade in 2017.

The past two years, Pascal has worked as a production roaster at Five Elephant in Berlin. He finds coffee fascinating and appreciates the many relationships involved within the coffee supply chain. Other than coffee, Pascal also enjoys rock climbing and being outdoors.

George first entered the coffee industry after University, joining Keynote Coffee, Mercanta’s sister company. Thanks to his languages degree, George was able to navigate origin trips in Colombia and Brazil, where he learned more about coffee’s journey from seed to cup. He loves how the coffee industry is so heavily focused on the people, and the relationships created between the producers and the rest of the supply chain. These relationships provide farmers with market access and opportunities to grow in the coffee farming world. It is an industry where you are constantly learning and adapting to changes!

Looking to the future, George is hopeful that even though there are a number of challenges being faced, the coffee industry is resilient and supported, equipped with the tools to overcome any obstacle. He will be based in Mercanta’s Glasgow office assisting with logistics and continuing his education about the complexities of coffee!

Raheem joined the London team in October 2024, and this was his first exposure to the world of coffee. He is also new to drinking coffee, which Mercanta is teaching him how to drink and taste.

He never knew the coffee industry was so complex with so many moving parts. Raheem is eager to learn and grow with Mercanta, helping spread excellent coffee throughout the world.

Alwin has been involved with coffee since 2014, beginning his career after he ended his two years of mandatory National Service in Singapore. His passion and interest in coffee were pursued part time during his studies at the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

In 2016, Alwin tasted a Panama Gesha that opened his mind to the world of specialty coffee, pushing him to then compete in the Singapore National Brewers Cup in 2019. This was a huge learning journey for him as a coffee professional as it showed Alwin the amount of hard work needed, right from the sourcing of coffee, to roasting and brewing to ensure the efforts of an excellent coffee were rightly presented. Recently, Alwin was on the Finals judging panel for the Singapore National Brewers Cup 2024, which was both inspiring and humbling to learn from his peers, seasoned judges and WCE representatives during the competition.

Alwin is eager to continue learning during his time with Mercanta, and is always happy to inspire his friends and family to drink tastier coffees. In his spare time, Alwin enjoys taking photos, making pottery and brewing coffee with friends.