Yellow Rooster

Yellow Rooster Coffee Imports

Founding and Background

Yellow Rooster Coffee Imports was established in July 2019 by a trio of industry professionals with backgrounds spanning the full coffee supply chain—from green buying to roasting, café management, and equipment sales. The founders—Jimmy Avendaño, Stephanie Avendaño, and Joel Eastlick—set out with a unified goal: to foster faithful, dignifying relationships between producers and roasters through transparent and human-centered coffee trade.

The company was named after the rooster—a global symbol for awakening and hope—which they use metaphorically to signal a new day in coffee sourcing: one that is honest, dignified, and built on integrity. Though relatively young, Yellow Rooster quickly developed a reputation for maintaining strong relationships with producers and for importing unique, traceable lots with a strong emphasis on storytelling.

Mission and Impact on the Industry

Yellow Rooster’s mission is not only to supply specialty green coffee but to create a dignified coffee trade rooted in trust, transparency, and consistency. Their work centers on reshaping how coffee importers interact with both producers and roasters by emphasizing relational trade rather than transactional.

Unlike traditional importers that may focus on volumes and price competitiveness alone, Yellow Rooster has carved a niche in direct partnerships with Latin American producers, ensuring long-term sustainability and fair financial returns at origin. Their model includes paying above-market prices, promoting transparency in cost structures, and facilitating access to global markets for small- and medium-sized producers.

This commitment has made them an emerging name among roasters who seek relational traceability and narrative-driven sourcing in their offerings.

Sourcing Practices and Operations

Yellow Rooster sources coffee primarily from Latin America, with a focus on Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, and other regions where they’ve built long-term producer relationships. They offer a wide range of green coffees, from:

Volume-friendly regional/community lots

Micro-lots and nano-lots

Experimental fermentations (anaerobic, carbonic maceration, etc.)

Unique varietals like Pink Bourbon, Gesha, SL-28, Pacamara, etc.

In line with their values, Yellow Rooster invests time and resources into visiting origin, maintaining post-harvest communication with farmers, and ensuring that quality and price transparency are aligned.

Coffees are imported into their Florida-based warehouse, and they also maintain operations in New Zealand, allowing them to service both Northern and Southern Hemisphere markets. They offer flexible logistics, including pallets, half-bags, and smaller LTL shipments, helping accommodate roasters of all sizes.

Community, Transparency, and Market Presence

Yellow Rooster builds community both at origin and with roasting partners. On their website and blog, they highlight producers and share stories that go beyond just cup scores. Their tone is conversational, accessible, and narrative-rich, making them a go-to partner for coffee buyers who value education, traceability, and human connection.

Key community features include:

Origin Profiles that share producer stories and growing conditions

Roaster Spotlights that show how coffees are being used around the world

Educational content on processing, logistics, and sourcing philosophy

Yellow Rooster has gained traction among mission-driven cafes, roasteries with subscription programs, and boutique brands looking for consistent, ethical sourcing. Their brand’s transparency extends to offering details on farmer payments, processing techniques, and harvest timelines, which are increasingly valued in specialty coffee.

Outlook and Future Growth

Yellow Rooster Coffee Imports represents a new generation of importers—lean, agile, and committed to ethical sourcing without losing quality or scalability. Their growth has been steady, particularly among independent roasters in the U.S. and New Zealand, and they’re increasingly recognized as a trustworthy, highly relational green partner.

Their key advantages include:

Direct, ongoing relationships at origin

Agility in serving small-to-mid-size roasters

Flexible ordering and logistics

Curation of both accessible and exceptional coffees

As they continue to scale, their model appears built to withstand volatility in the supply chain by relying on deep relationships, regional diversification, and integrity-focused communication. Their team’s hands-on background in roasting and retail ensures that they’re not only speaking the language of producers—but of roasters, too.