I read somewhere that 80% of university graduates don’t actually work in the field that they studied. That’s most definitely true for me. Many years ago, now, I moved to England to study politics. I spent 3 years doing a degree that I pretty early on lost interest in but stuck with. After I finished my degree, I did a Master’s in business management which I was far more passionate about and that has served me well over the years in the coffee industry. 

After finishing my Master and moving down to London my friends and I did not receive the warm welcome we had hoped for by the job market. It was the height of the recession and we all ended up doing jobs with minimum pay. But after a year luck stroke and I applied for a 3-month internship at a coffee importer who had also turned e-shop for rare and exotic coffees. The 3-month internship turned into a 9-year career in coffee. I had found my passion!

 My job allowed me to learn about the many different sides of the coffee industry. I worked with importing, exporting, sourcing, brand creation, brand building, B2B, B2C and much more. Coffee is such a special and diverse product. Where and how it is grown, the processing and the roast profile makes a huge difference to the cup profile. And just like with wine, people have incredible different tastes when it comes to how they like their coffee.

 One and a half year ago when I left England and was on maternity leave, I knew that I would no longer be able to continue working for my old company, but I wanted to stay in the coffee industry that I had grown to love so dearly. I wanted to work with what I was passionate about, build my own brand and bring my expertise to my new home. Source coffee that fit different tastes and preferences. This is how The little bean co. came about.

It has been a work of labour and love to build this site (with the help of my web designer, who has brought my vision to life), but I am so happy with the result. I have chosen the different brands for their uniqueness, not only from each other but also from what else is on the market. Whilst some people love the taste of high-quality blends of unaltered coffee, such as our range from Brown Bear coffee, others have more of a sweet tooth and prefer a flavour infused coffee such as cinnamon and Hazelnut from the Fantastically flavoured coffee co.

Decadent Decaf is especially dear to my heart as it is a brand that I started with a dear friend of mine, it has been a pioneering brand for decaffeinated coffee in the UK and Europe. My personal opinion is that with this brand we re-invented the concept of decaf in Europe, by roasting high-quality single origin coffees and only using the Swiss Water Method for our decaf coffees.

Now a new chapter is being written and I hope you will be as excited as I am about these coffees.