Being the Roastmaster for Coffee Planet is no ordinary job. But then Coffee Planet is no ordinary coffee company.
We are a complete ‘crop to cup’ coffee company that guarantees quality and freshness in every cup of coffee we serve. My job is to make sure that what you are drinking has been picked and sourced from the best growers, roasted to a very exact standard in our own Roastery in Dubai and then blended together to give you different flavours for different occasions or different times of the day. Sounds complicated?! Well, it’s not too bad –but then I have been doing it for 16 years.
I am a true kiwi (that’s somebody from New Zealand!) with a love of rugby and cricket and anything to do with water-sports.
In my early years I worked for a variety of different coffee companies and learned a lot about coffee, sales, maintenance, training and machine setups , which of course play an important part in the final coffee in your cup. I have been in Dubai for 3 years now and as well as running the Coffee Planet Roastery here, I have continued to remain involved in the wider coffee industry and community. I share my experiences wherever I can through different mediums for others to share and learn from whilst volunteering my time and services to helping out as a judge at international barista competitions as well.
Well, I love coffee for the process. There is an entire story to be told before it gets into the hands of a coffee drinker. From the very beginning with sourcing the coffee beans from farmers and watching how they pick it, wash and dry it, to packing it and shipping it, I have travelled to many coffee growing countries to assess and promote quality in every step of the supply chain. I feel that we at Coffee Planet are just one stage in the journey of a coffee bean from its tree to the cup. Our part is to make sure that the final coffee is the best that it can be. If you have tried our coffee, we hope you believe that to be true.
There is also great variety in what I do. I enjoy the creative side in creating new blends and flavours for our coffees and thinking up new ideas for cafes, espresso bars and even other roasteries on ways to improve or simplify their processes. I have always enjoyed learning more and there is always so much more to learn about coffee - about the people who grow it, sometimes for generations of families; to the exporters and agencies that buy and sell it; to the agents that ship it and move it around the world; and to people like me who blend it and roast it to get the best out of every bean. Coffee is a fascinating world that turns every day. And all because we desire to have that one perfect coffee moment. It’s worth all the hard work!
So I hope you enjoy the special coffee blends that we create. We are passionate about our coffee and take a lot of care in its production and strive to make some of the best coffees you will ever taste.