We have an exciting opportunity to join our Volcafe Germany, Specialty Team in Bremen. You will benefit from working in an attractive, river-view, historic building, in Bremen city centre with a friendly and modern office environment in which to collaborate and innovate with colleagues. We are a family of coffee passionate people, working with mutual respect, high integrity, transparency and willingness to help each other.
As an experienced and high calibre Specialty Coffee Trader you will work in a truly global coffee business who has been an integral part of the global coffee community for over 175 years. In this role you will forge strong relationships with specialty coffee roasters, develop innovative marketing strategies, and represent Volcafe’ s sustainability mission at industry events. You will become an integral part of a highly motivated, passionate and experienced commercial trading team, reporting to our head of specialty trading also based in Bremen, Germany.
Volcafe Ltd is one of the world’s leading international green coffee trading companies, operating in over 20 countries globally. Our expertise spans green coffee procurement and preparation, sustainability, blending, quality control, risk management and export as well as importing and distribution. We supply the world’s major coffee roasters and retail distributors with their green coffee requirements, with significant strategic growth ambitions for the future.
Volcafe works across the whole green coffee supply chain to make coffee business better, together with our partners and employees. We have built and operate sustainable coffee supply chains across all our origins, addressing key economic, social and environmental issues in coffee farming communities. Our Volcafe Way farmer support programme engages with thousands of coffee farmers and provides a holistic response to the challenges they face.
Volcafe Speciality was founded in 2001 and has become a relied upon supply chain partner to the specialty coffee industry working with small roasters just starting out in the business through to medium sized industry offering premium coffee with a story. We see ourselves as an integral supply chain link between producers and coffee roasters, enabling us all to make the coffee business better.
Key Accountabilities
- Develop and maintain direct relationships with roasters seeking curated specialty lots, micro-lots, customized sourcing solutions as well as mainstream coffees
- Establish new commercial relationships with small to medium sized roasters to drive revenue and support the organization’s growth strategy
- Develop and implement marketing strategies to engage and sell coffee to the targeted segments
- Source curated specialty lots, micro-lots as well as mainstream coffees strategically for the targeted segments
- Travel to origin to maintain activity and establish new commercial relationships and supply chains
- Develop and implement marketing strategies to engage and sell coffee to the targeted segments
- Collaborate with the traffic, finance, quality, and communications teams, to streamline processes and enhance and improve the customer experience
- Represent Volcafe Germany at trade shows, cuppings, and regional coffee events, showcasing our portfolio and proactively networking
- Perform outreach and education to the specialty coffee community through visits, virtual sessions and in person cupping events
- Provide market intelligence to the trading team and management
- Monitor and measure KPIs developed with management to track sales growth and objectives
Skills and Experience
You will be driven and passionate about specialty coffee, combined with an appreciation of the impact we have on our communities and the world through its production, trade and consumption. You view coffee trading as an opportunity to connect, and become an ambassador of Volcafe’s origin operations, to the specialty coffee community at large.
- 3 – 5 years’ experience in coffee trading, specialty sales, and/or green coffee procurement
- Excellent relationship-building, numeracy, negotiation and communication skills
- Fluency in English and business German is essential, other languages would be highly advantageous
- Solid knowledge of coffee contract terms and of export and import processes
- Competent in the assessment of coffee quality, grading and cupping, sample roasting and/or Q grade certification highly advantageous
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team of experts
- Highly self-motivated with good commercial awareness, with the drive and focus to deliver commercial results
- Takes a proactive approach to managing tasks, completing priorities, meeting targets
- Excellent communication and cultural awareness to successfully work in a diverse portfolio of colleagues and clients
- Committed team player who is willing to be flexible and assist with a whole range of tasks to support colleagues
- Confident use of Microsoft Office suite of tools including Word, Excel, Power BI
- Willingness and ability to travel predominantly in Germany/Northern Europe
- Driving license
We recognise that talent comes in many forms, and we value potential just as much as experience. If this role excites you but you don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply.
Our Offer
We provide a fast-paced, stimulating and truly global environment, which will stretch your abilities and channel your talents. We also offer competitive salary and benefits combined with outstanding career development opportunities in one of the global leaders in soft commodity trading.
Our Values
Respect, Integrity, Meritocracy, Client Focus, Entrepreneurship
Volcafe shares the values of our parent company, ED&F Man Commodities. Our values define who we are. They are the fundamental beliefs that determine our actions and guide our behaviour. They influence the way we communicate and collaborate, and define the way we engage with our clients, partners, and communities.
Our Commitment
Volcafe shares the commitment of our parent company, ED&F Man Commodities. We are committed to creating and sustaining an inclusive and diverse work environment where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment and are focussed on actively building and developing diverse teams. All qualified applicants will receive equal treatment without regard to race, colour, sex, gender, age, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, marital or civil partner status, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender reassignment (identity, gender expression), genetic information or any characteristic protected by local law.
We are willing to make any reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process.
