Karl Wienhold

Karl is a specialty coffee trader and consultant based in Colombia.  He actively participates in all aspects of the business.  He is a coffee "cupper" or taster that has participated as a judge in quality events and performs quality control for other buyers.  He regularly advises farmers in technical quality and productivity measures.  Additionally, he oversees international supply chain and financial operations from farms in production countries to end users in consumption countries.  

He is also a consultant in the fields of international trade, business strategy, and rural economic development having worked for public, private, and third-sector clients in South America, Europe, North America, and Asia.  For the last three years he has been focused on Colombia supporting initiatives focusing on export growth and rural economic development in the fresh fruit, agro-industry, and coffee segments with clients such as Oxfam, ProColombia, and the Colombian Ministry of Commerce.

He is the founder and general manager of Direct Origin Trading, a Colombian and US specialty coffee trading company, as well as co-founder, green coffee buyer and product operations manager for Swillings Coffee, a consumer coffee brand in Arizona, USA.
 

Karl earned his MBA, focusing on international trade, from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in the US and COPPEAD, the business school of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

He is a passionate traveler with an unending curiosity about people and places, especially if they grow coffee.  His interests include development economics, entrepreneurship, being outside and enjoying the beautiful landscapes of Colombia, and experiencing the best coffees in the world.