Celebrated Coffee Pro Erika Vonie Joins Trade as Director of Coffee

Erika Vonie. Photo courtesy of Trade.

Trade, the JAB-backed online coffee marketplace that burst onto the scene this past April, has announced the hire of Erika Vonie as director of coffee.

A celebrated barista, licensed Q Grader, 2017 Coffee Masters NYC champion and a staunch advocate for the rights of women, LGBTQIA and other historically marginalized people on the roasting and retail side of the specialty coffee industry, Vonie will help Trade “build and maintain valuable relationships with the industry’s best roasters, working to identify and speak to emerging trends, while also helping to enhance customer satisfaction across the board,” the company said in an announcement this week.

Trade’s model offers a broad selection of packaged coffees from a veritable who’s who of roasters big and small in the U.S. specialty industry. The platform allows consumers to simply browse coffees or quickly walk through a number of preferences related to brewing method, roast level, flavor and product type, then matches them with a number of coffees. Those coffees are then roasted to order, according to Trade, based on partner roasters’ production schedules published beneath each coffee listing. The company says it plans to soon unveil a subscription service.

“I see Trade providing a solution to a problem that’s plagued roasters for decades, which is how to get their best coffees into the hands of customers who don’t live in their city,” Vonie said in an announcement from Trade. “I am inspired by new challenges and am excited to make an impact in this role.”

[Editor’s note: This article has been updated. A previous version stated that longtime specialty coffee professional Marcus Boni was Trade’s head of coffee. Boni contacted Daily Coffee News to note that he is working with Trade in a senior advisory role.]