A Sovda Pearl Mini (right) sorter and Sovda Precision Fill (left). All images courtesy of Sovda.
Coffee roasting equipment maker Sovda (styled “SOVDA” by the company) recently appointed Brice Sturmer as CEO.
Sturmer, the founder of Michigan-based specialty coffee company Velodrome Coffee Company, succeeds Chris Romes, who held the position since early 2024. Sturmer joined Sovda — which recently relocated its headquarters from Portland, Oregon, to Bentonville, Arkansas — in February of this year, acting as global head of service.
Brice Sturmer
“I was a Sovda client for several years prior to this opportunity and successfully utilized Sovda equipment to enhance the efficiency and quality of my operations,” Sturmer said in an announcement shared with DCN. “It has been a distinct pleasure to engage with the team and observe their profound dedication to coffee and their commitment to resolving issues in this industry we all love.”
After co-founding Velodrome Coffee Company with a single location in Marquette, Michigan, in 2017, then growing it into four coffee shops and a coffee equipment business, Sturmer sold Velodrome to a local hospitality group called MQT in 2024.
“I did not anticipate discovering another gratifying position within the coffee industry that could rival the experience of establishing my own brand, until I joined Sovda,” Sturmer said. “Throughout my tenure at Velodrome Coffee Company, it became clear to me that there are headwinds facing this industry that are bigger than any individual roaster can face and I saw Sovda’s outsized impact in helping solve those issues.”
A Sovda installation.
Sovda sprang onto the U.S. equipment scene in 2018 with the launch of the Pearl Mini Sorter, a coffee sorting machine for small- or medium-sized roasteries. The company subsequently launched a coffee bagging machine, a blending system and conveyer systems.
The company was previously based in Portland, Oregon, with a showroom inside the former Curate Coffee Collective space before officially relocating its U.S. headquarters to Bentonville.
“We have a couple of team members based in [Northwest Arkansas] and our founder Samuel [Gurel] is based in Bentonville, as well,” Sturmer, told DCN. “One of our deepest partnerships is with Onyx Coffee and our products can be found on display there in Rogers, Arkansas.”
Sturmer told DCN that the company is currently working on numerous “exciting things,” that are currently under wraps.
A Sovda installation.
Said Sturmer, “We are shifting our efforts heavily into the next phase of Sovda, which will be marked by a massively improved machine operator experience, and we will unlock new tools for roasters to monitor the quality of their coffee throughout the entire post-roast process.”
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct an error regarding the tenure of former CEO Chris Romes.]
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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