Colombia - Alberio Lugo

Onno van Zanten, who had been active in the Dutch specialty coffee scene since 2008 and had opened a pop up space before committing to roasting, co founded Stooker Specialty Coffee in Amsterdam in 2014 with Florian Hessel, who joined after experiencing his first Onno brew and deciding the two of them should create something bigger together. The roastery initially operated from a former 1970s alcohol distillery building in Rotterdam, a setting the founders saw as fitting given the parallels between spirit distillation and coffee roasting as rediscovered art forms, before relocating roasting operations to Amsterdam where Stooker is now a certified B Corporation. All coffees are roasted to order for maximum freshness using custom roasting profiles developed in house, with a light to medium approach designed to optimally preserve the natural flavor characteristics of beans sourced at fair prices directly from farmers without middlemen. Stooker also operates the Stooker Barista Academy, one of the leading specialty coffee academies in Europe, offering a full range of SCA certified training from home barista level through to professional courses, and distributes to bars, hotels, and restaurants worldwide. The operation has grown from its distillery origins into one of Amsterdam's most complete specialty brands, combining ethical sourcing, a certified commitment to social and environmental standards, and an education program that trains the next generation of professionals alongside a subscription service and decaf options that reflect the founders' belief that specialty coffee should be the norm rather than the exception.