BU BÖLÜM HAKKINDA
Andrew and Tibor caught up with the super-impressive Mihai Panfil, founder of Origo Coffee — one of Romania's most influential specialty coffee businesses, spanning two cafes, a roastery, and the experimental coffee brand - BrewZeus .
He's also the driving force behind the Coffee East Coffee Festival, which brings together over 60 roasters and 30,000 visitors each year in Bucharest. Few people have a better view of where Romanian coffee has been, and where it's going.
Some highlights -
From 0 to over 400 specialty cafes in 12 years
Cultivating a specialty industry
Backtracking from automation in favour of the customer experience.
There are lessons here for a global audience:
1. leadership and vision are needed for developing the industry
2. Continuous evolution and experimentation are requisites as the market and different forces shift
takeaways
- Mihai Panfil founded Origo Coffee Roasters, a leading specialty coffee business in Romania.
- The Romanian coffee market was initially dominated by Italian-style cafes with limited options for specialty coffee.
- Mihai's experience at the World Barista Championship inspired him to create a unique coffee experience in Romania.
- The first Origo cafe focused on customer interaction and education about specialty coffee.
- COVID-19 shifted consumer behavior towards home coffee consumption and increased demand for quality coffee.
- The Coffee East Festival was created to celebrate and connect the coffee community in Romania and Eastern Europe.
- Mihai emphasizes the importance of collaboration and competition in developing the specialty coffee market.
- The coffee industry in Romania has seen significant growth, with over 400 coffee shops in Bucharest alone.
- Mihai believes that the future of coffee consumption may lean more towards home brewing.
- The success of coffee shops now relies heavily on unique concepts and customer experience.
keywords: Mihai Panfil, Origo Coffee Roasters, Romanian coffee culture, specialty coffee, Coffee East Festival, coffee industry challenges, COVID-19 impact, coffee roasting, coffee sourcing, coffee community
