Today, we're exploring an extraordinary coffee journey that spans two continents and bridges farm to cup in the most direct way possible.
Our guests are the sister duo behind a unique family venture: Veruschka and Cliff, founders of Elevate Coffee in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and Vanessa and Yann, who run Muyu Coffee here in Ticino, Switzerland. Together, they've built something rare in the coffee world—a fully integrated supply chain driven by values, not just profit.
Bolivia produces less than 0.5% of the world's coffee. It's landlocked, mountainous, and faces high production costs that make competing on price nearly impossible. But what Bolivian coffee lacks in volume, it makes up for in quality. Elevate works directly with these producers. They are buying coffee and exporting it to their sister company, as well as roasting and serving it in their hometown of Cochabamba.
It's a model built on passion, family, and a commitment to elevating—pun intended—the voices and work of Bolivian coffee farmers, leveraging direct and close relationships at every link in the value chain.
This is a unique business model, but there are universal messages for others interested in starting coffee businesses.
Fundamentally clarity, vision and values that are authentic to you, are most important in starting and running your own business. Write your own story, don't copy the story of others.
This is our first podcast where we are interviewing 3 people and across 2 continents. But it is also the first business I am aware of that has this specific model of ownership and structure. So, we are going to learn more about the business, how and why it was founded, what are the pros and cons of working directly with producers and selling their coffee across 2 distinct markets, how do you promote the value of the coffee in these different markets and what are the opportunities for the future.
