Customer Success Story: Unique Foods & Finca La Senda

Customer stories

Apr 11

The story of Unique Foods, a coffee importer in Switzerland, starts at the farm Finca La Senda in Acatenango, Guatemala. Maria Eugenia and her husband, Arnoldo Pérez, have grown coffee here for decades. Four years ago, Yancy, their daughter, and Pablo decided to improve the quality of their coffee and started the production of Specialty Coffee. They didn’t stop there. Their biggest challenge was delivering the same quality to the final customer.

Innovation, customer experience, and efficiency in the family business

Entering new markets, they realized they had little control over how the coffee was presented to their customers. After all, coffee roasting is essential when unlocking the flavors in the cup. “What can we do more for our customers?” Yancy wondered. And soon enough, with Pablo, they founded the coffee import company in Zurich, Switzerland - the Unique Foods.

What makes the Finca La Senda and Unique Foods stand out is the passion and dedication of its team to deliver the best cup of coffee to your table. When talking to Yancy, you might daydream about joining their family business.

*The beautiful view from Finca la Senda.*

Why you need a sample roaster

A tailored and consistent roast is crucial both at the farm and in Switzerland.

At the farm, a consistent and coffee-specific roast is vital to compare the quality of every single lot and to understand the impact of changes to the processing protocol on the quality of the coffee. The result of their experiments can be cupped and assessed without the bias of an inconsistent roast. This drives and accelerates innovation at the farm.

At the same time, unlocking the full potential of coffee is vital for Unique Foods, as it helps clients better understand and assess the flavor profiles of different coffee varieties and processing methods. This greatly improves client experience and satisfaction.

*The whole family at their farm Finca La Senda in Guatemala.*

Finally, you have many daily tasks when running a family business with a worldwide reach. Being efficient is crucial. Yancy and Pablo found themselves struggling to achieve that in their lab. Roasting with the old customized roaster required a lot of their time spent during the roasting process. They needed a reliable automated roaster that is easy to use - that's when the ROEST sample roaster came into the picture.

Passion, dedication, and the ROEST Sample Roaster

Yancy and Pablo deeply care for their coffee and customers. They share that passion with the whole team and apply it to all their tasks, sample roasting included. They spend enough time finding the right roasting profile and looking for parameters to improve the cup. Their team makes the maximum effort to follow the quality standards they set for themselves. Yancy describes the ROEST sample roaster as the queen of the team. It’s the most valuable machine they have.

”ROEST does everything practically independently and allows us to do many things in parallel during each roasting session. Before, this was impossible - everything was a sequential process that lasted until late at night, but now with the ROEST, we save a lot of time."

- Yancy Eugenia Perez

*Roasting with a view. Zurich, QC lab at Unique Foods.*

Since they started using ROEST, life in the QC lab has changed radically. The sample roaster runs automatically without much of their time and effort. It allows them to focus on other tasks during each roasting session. They also travel with the sample roaster from Switzerland to Guatemala during the harvest season. In their lab at the farm, they roast up to 60 samples daily.

Basics of coffee roasting

The continuous journey of delivering excellence

Have they succeeded in delivering the best quality of their coffee to the final customer? It’s a journey that has to be maintained daily, not the finish line to cross. With every message of gratitude they receive from customers worldwide, they know it is worth all the effort. Despite the challenges, the praise they receive gives them joy and the energy to keep going.

Yancy and Pablo's story is a testament to the power of passion and dedication. Their story highlights the importance of controlling the process to achieve the highest possible results. The sample roaster helps them achieve this, sample roasting in Switzerland and Guatemala while producing high-quality coffee.