New Positions Help Us Source Smart

“My new role is a lot more focused,” Felice says. “Since Sucafina doesn’t have export operations in Central America (CAM) and Peru, it’s important for us to develop strong third-party supply chain networks. This role enables me to focus a lot more on developing strategic relationships with producers, exporters and cooperatives there.” In addition to Sucafina North America, Felice will also be sourcing CAM and Peru coffees for our destination offices throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. “This role gives us the opportunity to deepen our expertise and knowledge of the region. I just spent 3.5 weeks in Honduras and visited over 30 groups, including about a dozen new suppliers, with the goal of understanding each group’s current strengths, challenges and opportunities for collaboration.” Felice’s work will provide more opportunities for relationships that benefit producers and roasters.

Kat’s new position as Specialty Managing Trader will put an emphasis on Specialty coffee trading. “Since 2016, we’ve been doing a good job of supplying excellent quality coffee to roasters at great prices while still delivering more benefits and services to smallholder farmers than any other specialty importer in the industry,” Kat says. “I’m proud of that. The idea behind my new role is to pay even more attention to our service to specialty roasters.” Kat’s position will focus on supporting specialty roasters and the specialty trading team and clients. “We’re taking a sustainable long-term view. We never want to stop innovating about how we can serve farmers and roasters better. In my new role, I’ll be able to help us do that. We’re on the cusp of a new wave of awesome.”

Congratulations to both Felice and Kat on their new roles. If you have any questions about what this means for you or your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Felice Chay first encountered the coffee industry when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in a coffee-growing region of Western Honduras. At the time, coffee was trading at historic lows under 50 cents a pound, so her work with coffee cooperatives helped her experience first-hand the impact of low prices. She spent over 8 years working with NGOs and cooperatives in Honduras and then Nicaragua before starting with a green coffee importer in 2012. She began working with Sucafina in 2016 and has been an essential piece of our Central American and Peru sourcing ever since. She continues to source with an eye towards strategic relationships and long-term trade flows.

Kat Nolte Ferguson was a philosophy and music major at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest and didn’t know what she wanted to do, so she quit school, joined a rock band and became a barista. She went back to school after she found coffee and got a degree in accounting and music. She took that business degree and two years of experience working in rural Africa with subsistence farmers to enter the green side of coffee trading as the financial controller for a specialty importer. Her passion is cultivating greater sustainability in the coffee industry. She continues to care about the success of farmers, roasters and the coffee industry as a whole. Today, she lives in Seattle with her husband, two young daughters and very big dog.