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GUZO Coffee

GUZO originated from an Ethiopian factory that roasts and packages coffee entirely locally. The brand focuses on fairness, traceability, and four distinct blends.

GUZO Coffee Beans

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More About GUZO Coffee

The Origin and Evolution
The foundation for this venture was laid after a long search for purpose. Founders Gerard and Baukje van der Wal married in 2007. In that same year, Gerard sold his company at the time. Between 2010 and 2011, they worked in Africa and eventually chose Ethiopia as their base. In 2012, this resulted in the founding of Crown Packaging and Plastics. This packaging company grew into an enterprise with over eighty employees and ten shareholders. The factory they built for this purpose later formed the foundation for the GUZO brand.
The coffee company itself launched in 2021. During the build-up phase, Robel joined the team in 2016 and later took over sales responsibilities from Baukje. Mattie joined in 2021 to bring oversight and structure. The first market introduction in the Netherlands took place in 2023 with a special ‘First edition’. In 2024, the primary business focus shifted toward the corporate market under the name GUZO@Work. Team members Cor and Thomas were also introduced for this business branch.
Production Philosophy and Impact
The brand’s core values rest on three pillars: fairness, quality, and the ambition to deliver the most sustainable coffee. The production model is intentionally unconventional. Instead of shipping green, unroasted beans to the West, the entire process takes place in Ethiopia. Both roasting and packaging are done locally. This ensures that the economic added value remains in the country of origin. The message focuses strongly on a ‘fair share’ for everyone and a final product that is entirely made in Ethiopia.
The production facility is located about forty kilometers south of Addis Abeba, near Debre Zeit. Nearly a hundred people work at this location. This means that approximately a hundred families are financially dependent on the factory. The long-term goal remains to maintain and create this local employment by exporting a finished product.
Assortment and flavor profiles
The portfolio consists of four permanent blends. All coffees are processed and roasted one hundred percent in Ethiopia. The flavors are clearly distinguishable from one another:

Happy Desta: Characterized by a mild and rich taste.
Strong Anbessa: A dark roasted variant with clear notes of chocolate, mocha, and nuts.
Exotic Habesha: A fruitier profile with accents of red berries and lemon.
Elegant Mokati: A light to medium roast 100% Arabica blend. This coffee offers notes of hazelnut and chocolate, with an intensity rating of 3.5 out of 5.

Elegant Mokati is available in 500g and 1kg bags, offered as whole beans or a drip filter grind. For new customers, a tasting pack is available containing four 500g bags, which yields approximately fifty cups per bag.
Traceability and Legislation
The company is taking significant strides toward full traceability. The supply chain is being digitized, ensuring every bean can be traced back to the individual farmer. This process also collects essential geodata to comply with the strict European EUDR guidelines. A core principle of fairness is that this geodata is actively shared with the farmers. This ensures producers do not become dependent on the buyer’s own system, but instead retain access to their own data. Simultaneously, production capacity is currently being doubled.
Market Approach and Distribution
Following an early market introduction, the brand now focuses primarily on businesses, supermarkets, and organizations. The underlying story and mission resonate best within this B2B market. Nevertheless, the webshop remains open to private consumers, and various hospitality venues serve the coffee.
The legal and logistical base in the Netherlands is located in Surhuisterveen. The company is registered under KvK number 72776137 at Zoom 36 (postcode 9231 DX). This address also serves as a pickup point, open on Mondays and Thursdays between 9:00 and 13:00. For webshop orders, shipping costs are waived for orders over eight kilos. However, the company recommends ordering in twenty-kilo units to maximize logistical efficiency.
Recent Challenges and Risks’s
Despite scaling up in 2025, the company faced a severe setback in late 2025 and early 2026. A major road construction project in Ethiopia led to the compulsory expropriation of a significant portion of the factory site. This directly endangered the infrastructure and the jobs of approximately one hundred employees. To adapt the factory and safeguard local employment, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched. The minimum funding goal is 300,000 euros, with a higher target of 600,000 euros.

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