|
Invalsa Coffee® was started in 2004
by the Valverde brothers (Nelson & Jorge) as an organic,
Fair Trade Bolivian coffee online store. We have grown to become a
family owned and managed company with physical presence (offices, warehouses and employees in
Bolivia and the US.) The founders were born and raised in La Paz,
Bolivia, but attended universities in the US (Dartmouth, Columbia,
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)). They started their first
commercial enterprise when they were 16 and 10, a retail aquarium store. Since
then they have worked on Wall Street, State Street and Main Street, for
large, international corporations, as well as businesses that they
started themselves.
 |
Eleni, Jorge & Nelson making home-made pizza in La Paz. Yummy! |
|
 |
Nelson sharing breakfast with a coffee-growing family in
Chijchipani. |
|
 |
Jaime, Bolivian Logistics Manager in tiger shirt and PROAGRO growers
sharing a light moment under the coffee trees. |
|
Jorge, our EVP, manages our
offices in Bolivia and is our Chief green coffee buyer and cupper.
For the past three years he has also been the in-country coordinator for
the Cup of Excellence® (COE) program in Bolivia.
Rounding out or management team in Bolivia, Jaime is our Logistics
Manager, Javier manages Infrastructure and Maria manages our
small coffee shop and roastery. In the US, Joan is our
Customer Service Manager and has been with the Valverde companies since
1997. Robert, who started working with us at 15 as a high school
student, has grown into a full computer wizard, repair specialist,
order fulfillment assistant, and a barista. Eleni (Nelson's wife)
started with marketing, has accompanied Nelson to COE competitions, and
is now the general manager of our first, full fledged coffee house, Cafe
Valverde Coffee Roasters in Salem, Massachusetts.
Tina, Nelson's oldest daughter, an Economics and Agriculture graduate
student at Tufts University, assists with marketing (newsletters, press
releases, Facebook) and under the guidance of Jorge works with green coffee buying
and farm technical assistance and economic development. Susie &
Sara (Nelson's other daughters) and Nick and Diego (Jorge's sons) at
different times help at the office, the coffee shop and order
fulfillment. Nelson, the company president, is also our
Roastmaster
and has been an International judge at COE competitions in Bolivia,
Colombia, Costa Rica & Brazil. We all enjoy our work and are proud of our services. We appreciate the good things in life and
try to take the time to "smell the coffee."
Give us a try. We have over 2,000 satisfied, repeat
customersWe are coffee fanatics. Even though we drank
it since we were young, it was not until early 2004, when we were looking for a business
that would help poor farmers in Bolivia, that we realized that fine coffee is like
fine wine....but so much less expensive! It is indeed one of the few poor-man's affordable
luxuries. We are talking about high-quality, hand selected coffee, not the commercial,
commodity that is sold in most stores.
Our objective is to manage your
green coffee
supply and to implement your coffee supply chain strategy.
We also sell roasted coffee and brewing equipment under our
secure online store, Cafe Valverde.
We are vertically integrated (coffee sourcer, exporter, importer, roaster, online retailer,
and now retail coffee shop operator!) so we don't depend on anyone else for quality control.
Because of our integration no one can beat our prices for comparable-quality and
quantity coffee. Try us and you will be amazed! Our
business is large but very personal; we know our coffee growers kids'
names (they are the best recruiting source for new cuppers) and we know
our customer's tastes and quirks. If for whatever reason, your
experience with us is less than exemplary, please send an email to
president@invalsa.com . You
will receive a personal reply. We currently have
warehouses to store green coffee In Boston (retail & wholesale, New
England, Canada), New Jersey (wholesale, East Coast, Canada), and Washington (wholesale,
West Coast, Canada). From origin, we export coffee worldwide in container (FCL)
quantities. From the US we export to Canada and Europe (mostly
Germany & Scandinavia) and Asia (mostly Korea and Japan) in mixed-lot,
consolidated containers and commercial freight (air and sea)
wrapped pallets. We are customer friendly, effective and cost
-efficient. If you have a different, unique request,
we will be happy to hear about it. And if doable, we will be part of your
successful team. |