About White label coffee
White label coffee is an Amsterdam-based roastery that has created a fresh and Scandinavian-style space in their neighbourhood, a helping hand to anyone who needs it, on top of a great deal of experience and skill.
The owners' (Francesca Grassotti and Elmer Ommkens) coffee journey began a very long time ago. Francesco originally studied physics in Utrecht, but accepted a part-time job at a local café and was gradually absorbed by the irresistible charms of coffee. Elmer studied forensic psychology and at the end of his studies he even started law, he was already commencing his doctorate, but the idea of spending another four years studying one topic discouraged him. Instead, he decided to take a 360 turn and jump into a completely different environment - as a sales manager, where he met coffee merchants who persuaded him to go into coffee as well. So he went to the Espressofabriek café and roastery and that's where he met Francesco. After a few years they both decided to start their own roastery, and although saying goodbye to Espressofabriek was difficult, they ambitiously embarked on their own.
And that's the story of how White label coffee was created. They are a company mainly focused on the development of their local café culture - without rivalry and based mainly on help, education and mutual support. So many people drink coffee that everyone can find their place to develop. We all want the industry to thrive, so it's more of a common goal than trying to steal customers from the competition. Elmer himself recalls one moment when he was putting together a stand and he was horrified to find that the borrowed device was missing one part. He called a nearby cafe and just said, "Hi, don't you have this extra part?" and he immediately received the answer, "Sure, come get it." And that's how it should be, according to them.
This roastery is also thriving on the competition scene. In March 2015, they won the Dutch Aeropress championship and the 3rd of March, 2019, they won first place in the Roast Masters competition, which took place as a part of the Amsterdam Coffee Festival. In this competition, both roasting and barista skills are tested. The coffee was roasted by Sebas Geistdorfer and Wouter Andeweg, followed by barista Halil Turan, who secured their first place. The boys revealed in an interview that they roasted the coffee for this competition seven times before finding the perfect recipe.
