Joe Marrocco leading a tour at the Cafe Imports warehouse in 2017. Daily Coffee News photo.
Well-known coffee educator Joe Marrocco has joined the small United States wing of the long-running German coffee trading company List + Beisler.
Marrocco, who spent more than six years as a sales associate and education director for the Minneapolis-based coffee importer Cafe Imports after honing his roasting skills at Kaldi’s Coffee, most recently served as the lead educator for the Minneapolis-based roaster brand Mill City Roasters.
Marrocco will be wearing several hats for the company, including executive-level work in sales, marketing and education.
Based in Hamburg with a U.S. office in New York City led by Sam Grigg, List + Beisler has been trading green coffee since 1901. In a statement from Marrocco released by List + Beisler, the longtime coffee professional whose held close ties to the Roasters Guild said he’d not even heard of the company until recently.
“This is a company that sold companies like Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Starbucks their first bags of green coffee,” Marrocco said. “We are so fast to forget our history in our hyper-trend focused specialty coffee world. However, the context that our history can bring us is incredibly valuable. I am looking forward to learning, growing, and continuing to educate the coffee community all the while.”
List + Beisler literally made a splash at this past April’s SCA Expo in Boston with a small water channel course for motorized race boats, with prizes going to show-goers with the fastest times. Naturally, the show presence was part of the company’s goal to build more business in the U.S.
“We want to grow in some new areas and expand our presence in the U.S. markets and beyond,” Marrocco said. “Our coffee offerings will be growing and our involvement in the industry will be progressing. It is such an exciting moment!“
Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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As one of probably thousands whom Joe has instintingly given of what HE has learned, my hat’s off to the man. This new position will be a challenge to him. One thing of which I am glad, though.. it seems he will still be “in the saddle” as far as imparting what he knows to we who wish to learn about it. I’ve been saddened a number of times when someone had been a very effective and dedicated instructor/teacher then took on a new position and was no longer able to do that.
Joe is spot on when he says we need to learn and preserve our history. I came into this game long after many of the early pioneers had come and, sadly, gone on. Yet I am always eager to learn of the amazing paths the world of coffee has taken. I’ve had the priviledge of meeting, spending time with, and learning from a number of the “legends” of more recent times.
Best to you, Joe, as you explore this new path in a different corner of the woods. Thanks for what you’ve given us, but I know there is much more to come.