Our Story
An accidental quest
Our journey began nearly two decades ago in Ethiopia when our founder Menno – then a trader of organic sesame seeds – stumbled upon a hillside of beautiful coffee trees ripe with red cherries. It was love at first taste. Menno vowed then and there to introduce it back home – help the farmers he’d befriended to get an organic certification– and make them benefit from their hard work.
Back home in Amsterdam, Menno hid away in his garage with a small PROBAT Roaster and experimented with the different ways of roasting his haul of Ethiopian coffee beans. Before long, he was selling small batches of coffee to delighted friends and neighbours. And taking repeat orders. Bocca was born. And thus began a lifelong pursuit of perfection.
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Amsterdam Entrepreneur of the year 2018
In November 2018, Menno won the ‘Amsterdamse Ondernemersprijs’. An award for the Amsterdam entrepreneur who excels in creativity and innovation. Menno was chosen out of a top-3 finalists, by both the jury of experts and by the Amsterdam public. He won the trophy because of the impact he makes with his company in origin and for the city of Amsterdam, with attention to people and environment, his innovative mind and the successes he achieved.
Bean to cup
We are the first speciality coffee roaster in the Netherlands to manage the entire bean-to-cup process: from sourcing to roasting and packaging to serving.
We are proud to have a diverse portfolio of businesses in the Netherlands and beyond: espresso bars, restaurants, hotels and offices. And, of course, a loyal following of individual coffee connoisseurs.
Roasting
Coffee is an art and craft not to be messed around with. Our roasters know exactly how to bring the best out of every bean — that ideal ratio of sweetness to acidity — because he or she has been doing this for years. They roast to bring out the best and full potential of what’s inherent in each particular coffee already. It’s the perfect roast, so our coffees are for espresso and filter. We have our own roastery in Dronten. You are always welcome to visit us but please let us know in advance.
Our principles (besides Quality...)
Transparency
We are inspired to share the journey that coffee takes from the farm to your cup. Through this openness we hope to create honest partnerships, with farmers, producers, importers and you, our client.
Innovation
We love learning and will never cease innovating, sharing our knowledge and enabling personal achievement within our company, the coffee growing community and our customer. We support these lively partnerships.
How do we realize these principles?
We envision a future where our core values will improve the lives of everyone involved in our coffee community. Last year the average price we paid for our coffee was 56% above the Fair-Trade minimum price. This translates to an additional USD 534,000 for our coffee growing community. It’s a direct incentive for the farmers; they see that we actually are willing to pay for quality and for the extra mile we ask for.
Join us and the Bocca coffee community. Let’s make a difference!
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain