Former Coca-Cola and Mondelez executive Steve Bean is seeking to grow the Melbourne-based coffee roaster’s market share in Australia by honing its focus on customer service
Steve Bean, General Manager at Grinders Coffee | Photo credit: Grinders Coffee
Melbourne-based coffee roaster Grinders Coffee has appointed former Coca-Cola and Mondelez executive Steve Bean as its new General Manager.
Grinders Coffee said Bean brings over two decades of transferable expertise from the beverage and chocolate industries to the leadership position. He has over 10 years’ experience working for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, most recently as General Manager for Retail Operations, as well as senior leadership experience from Mondelēz International, where he served as Director of Revenue Growth Management for Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
In a Q&A published on the Grinders Coffee website, Bean said the coffee roaster was a brand ‘built on passion, authenticity, and craftsmanship’ and that he will amplify its strong position in the Australian coffee industry and hone the company’s focus on customer service.
Bean has also set a goal for Grinders Coffee to become the ‘#2’ coffee roaster in Australia within the next 10 years and said it can be achieved ‘if we continue to innovate, maintain the highest standards of quality, and stay genuinely interested to the needs of both our customers and consumers’.
“I’m thrilled to have taken on this exciting role at Grinders Coffee. The team at Grinders is so passionate about the coffee industry, and their enthusiasm is contagious. I’ve spent years working in categories that are pivotal to retailer success and highly connected to consumer emotion and pleasure. The coffee industry feels like it has those same elements, if not more so, which is exciting for me,” he said.
Founded in 1962, Grinders Coffee operates a roastery and training academy in Melbourne, where it operates 120kg and 300kg Brambati roasters.