About Dutch Barista
Dutch barista is a Dutch roastery located in the far south of the country in the city of Maastricht on the border with Belgium. The founder, Björn Aarts, is not only the inventor of the SOVDA system, but also the winner of several competitions - in 2014 he became the national winner of the Roaster Championship, in 2018 he placed second at the Dutch Brewers Championship.
Björn's main goal, in addition to brewing the best possible coffee, is sufficient funding for the first coffee line - farmers. A high enough reward for growing coffee will create economic independence as well as room for innovation. If farmers do not have to worry about having food, basic necessities and education for their children, they will have time and a positive mind for new ideas, developing cultivation and farms. As a result, the quality of the beans will increase as a result (and thus the purchase price, thus spinning the wheel of higher income and better coffee). According to Björn, this is the way to be a sustainable producer in the food chain.
Björn started in 2006 as a barista. Since then, he has also moved on to cafe owner and roaster. He makes a living by roasting and has invented a new SOVDA system to make his work easier for himself and for farmers. SOVDA is a device that can automatically sort grains according to their color, according to set parameters. Both farmers and roasters can sort the grains much faster. Sorting is a necessary step after each roasting, because even with very consistent roasting, some grains will simply be roasted more and others less so. With large volumes, manual sorting is time consuming work. SOVDA offers not only speed up the whole sorting process, but also ensure higher quality of roasted beans.