“Logistics with Purpose: Shane Buerster with Z Beans Coffee”

Supply Chain Now Episode 424

This episode of Supply Chain Now is a continuation of our Logistics with Purpose series, sponsored by Vector Global Logistics, and features Shane Buerster. On a Mercer On Mission trip during the summer of 2016, Shane Buerster, a rising junior at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, met Arturo Penarreta Romero, a 65 year old man from Zaruma, Ecuador. Throughout Shane's junior year of college, Arturo and Shane spoke on the phone 3 - 4 times a week, as a way to improve Shane's Spanish. But, the conversations quickly started focusing upon the idea of building a direct trade supply chain that'd enable the import of Ecuadorian coffee from small, micro-lot plantations. A few months later, Arturo sent Shane 65lbs of coffee, which arrived at his parents doorstep in Pooler, Georgia. After roasting the coffee and getting feedback from coffee connoisseurs, Shane decided to dive into the coffee business, birthing Zaruma Beans - or better put, Z Beans. The summer leading into his senior year of college, Shane secured his first small angel investment, enabling him to import 4,000lbs of Ecuadorian coffee. During his senior year, he began selling the coffee and adding key members to the Z Beans team. Upon graduation in the spring of 2018, Shane and his team opened their first coffee shop, while importing 14,000lbs of coffee from Ecuador that summer. Over the past three years, Z Beans has continued to grow. From a 23,000lb import during the summer of 2019, to four coffee shops and a roasting facility, Z Beans has become a staple of the Middle Georgia community. However, as the business grows, one key relationship remains at the forefront - that of Arturo Penarreta Romero and Shane Buerster.

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