5THWAVE Podcast - Forward-thinking series examining the business of progressive coffee culture

5 November 2021 | 30 mins

Episode 27: Spotlight on Paris’ burgeoning specialty coffee scene

Fresh from Le Paris Café Festival last week, today we’re putting the spotlight on the French capital and diving into the past, present and future of the rapidly changing specialty coffee scene across France.

In conversations with influential coffee operators, major roasters and suppliers, we explore the shift in consumer demand for high-quality coffee and the impact Covid-19 has had on French drinking habits and Parisian coffee culture.

Michael McCauley, Coffee Quality & Training Director, Cafés Richard, gives us a perspective on how the French coffee scene has evolved in the last 30 years.

Tom Clark, Co-founder & CEO, Coutume shares the impact of Covid-19 on the Parisian coffee shop market and the challenges operators are facing today.

Sandra Bouckenooghe, ambassador for La Marzocco France, discusses the new generation of specialty coffee professionals and what’s next for the French coffee scene.

Credits music: "Paris" by Bandits on the Run, winners of the Coffee Music Project 2017.

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Guests

Tom Clark

Co-founder & CEO, Coutume

Tom Clark is co-founder and CEO of Coutume, a pioneering specialty coffee company based in Paris France. Having helped develop the specialty coffee culture in France, Coutume counts 12 cafés across high street and corporate spaces with international locations reopening in Geneva and a new location opening in Doha.

Michael McCauley

Coffee Quality & Training Director, Cafés Richard

Michael McCauley has worked in the coffee industry since the mid-80s, initially with Starbucks at its first store in Chicago. In the 90s McCauley moved to France to co-found Columbus Café and help bring the Starbucks-style coffee culture to France and later joined Cafes Richard in 1997. McCauley is a founding member of the SCA France.

Sandra Bouckenooghe

Ambassador for La Marzocco France

Sandra Bouckenooghe has been part of Paris’ specialty coffee scene from the early days and was originally inspired by the specialty coffee scene while living in New Zealand. Bouckenooghe has been a professional barista since 2011, has a degree in communication and today is an ambassador for La Marzocco in France.