John Cossette
Vice President, Green Coffee Purchasing, Royal Coffee
John Cossette leapt into the green coffee business shortly after graduating from UC Berkeley where he studied Biogeography and Latin American Studies. Hired by Berard Trading, he trained for 2 years as sample roaster and cupper and learned inbound traffic logistics until the company disbanded in 1991. Rootless and unemployed, Cossette then traveled extensively in Latin America, obtained his organic crop inspector license, and inspected coffee operations in Mexico and Guatemala. He was lured back to the green coffee business by Royal Coffee in 1994 to kick start their organic coffee operations and has been there ever since.