Project Description
France
Marco De Sousa Rosa
MaxiCoffee
Please tell us a little bit about yourself:
I’m head roaster at Cafés Lugat / MaxiCoffee, we are the largest speciality coffee roaster in France by volume and catalogue. A self taught barista and roaster, I started my coffee career as a barman in Paris trying to find out how to make a better cup for my customers. I didn’t think that I’d find such a deep universe hiding in that little bean. Now, as head roaster at Cafés Lugat, I travel to different coffee producing countries to source beans, work on roasting profiles and try out new machines from leading manufacturers. To bring my brick to the industry, I’ve developed a brand of barista accessories, a new fermentation process in partnership with coffee producers as well as creating a new type of pour-over inspired by the work on my signature drink from the French Barista Championship.
What are you excited to do while you are in Seoul?:
Visit local coffeeshops and roasters as well as trying some local foods.
Please list the coffee competitions you have participated in, what year they took place, and your results:
French Barista Championship 2015 – 4th Place, 2016 – 2nd Place, and 2017 – First Place .
Is there anyone you would like to thank or recognize, or who helped you to prepare for the WBC?:
My coach, Lionel Galut.
How do you see the coffee industry changing in the future?:
I’d like to see speciality coffee being more accessible in the hotel and restaurant sector. As well as improvements and accessibility in the bean to cup machine segment to allow more households to move towards using beans and possibly speciality coffee. More affordable speciality coffee to allow domestic speciality coffee more accessible.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?:
Still as head roaster at MaxiCoffee, improving our catalogue of coffees and helping teach new baristas, coffeeshops, restaurants and hotels in France about brewing speciality coffee for their customers.
What are your interests outside of coffee?:
I play in a local American Football team (Mios Peau-Rouges), I also ride sports motorbikes and do full contact fighting (a mix between karaté and boxing).
