Andrew grew up in coffee growing countries including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Burundi.

Andrew is an engineer and industrial designer and developed the concept for IKAWA while studying Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He’s dedicated years of toil to making IKAWA a reality.

As the team has grown, his “Kaizen” approach to design and manufacturing has helped not only to build hundreds of coffee roasters, but to harness, build and refine the skills of the workshop team.

Ben joined as Managing Director in 2015 and has overseen a period of strong growth since then, seeing IKAWA move to our current workshop, and the team growing from 4.

In return, IKAWA has helped Ben to become more cultured in coffee and he now possesses a decent grinder, espresso machine and aeropress. And a Home Coffee Roaster.

He has previously worked in senior management in the travel industry and founded start-ups in architecture, sports travel and tech, and has a fantastic ability to get excited about the big picture and managing the delivery.

Alex joined IKAWA to manage a short project – IKAWA’s Kickstarter Campaign for the IKAWA At Home system – but quickly realised the project really starts when the campaign finishes. He has enjoyed the ride of delivering our Home Coffee Roaster, as well as marketing the Sample Roaster and drinking some fantastic coffees along the way.

Before joining IKAWA, Alex worked for UK coffee brand Cafédirect and founded Espresso Mushroom Company, which he runs in his ‘spare time’. He was a finalist for IGD Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2014.

Bradley joined IKAWA in 2015 to head up our Sales and Business Development team and has the perfect niche combining his love of coffee with application of start-up business theory, particularly anything Seth Godin.

He is a qualified UKBC judge and in charge of keeping the team in good coffee. His choice of brewing equipment in the office reflects the growth we’ve achieved – moving from a 3-cup to 6-cup Chemex, through a Technovorm Moccamaster, and we now have two Wilfa Svart a Linea Mini and selection of V60 and Kalita filters. He’s doing a good job!

Daniel joins IKAWA with an impressive background in Operations, including time in senior management with McLaren Racing as well as Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains.

After growing up in Hamburg, he relocated to London in 1994 where he studied at Brunel University, and continues to live with his young family.

You might find him outside IKAWA on his cruiser board commuting to work or discovering the city’s pinball halls on the weekend!

Helen is a guiding force on the IKAWA team, and also has one of the most interesting backgrounds. Her Law experience is comprehensive in Switzerland, where she lived for 12 years, spent a month in Jersey and finally ended up in Liverpool where she is based today. Her experience has helped steer IKAWA throughout the past few years, and she still finds time to play tennis, football, run, govern the local secondary school, and raise 4 children. You can ask her about doing loops in small airplanes or meeting Robbie Williams!

Maria brings years of experience working as an Accountant for companies in the private, public, and NGO sector. She was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to London in 2015. Maria loves traveling but loves coffee even more.

The love for coffee started from a young age with Maria as she was drinking coffee from 2 and a half years old because she didn’t like milk!

Olly has spent most of his career in the hospitality industry, working for an infamous Portugese-African Chicken specialist managing international role-outs and spending time in the development labs! All with a focus on great customer experiences, Olly is the perfect addition to the team. Having grown up in Aberdeen, Olly moved to London 3 years ago enjoying the city life. Olly loves to cycle and recently ventured from John O’Groats to Land End. During Lockdown, he’s been doing a 20km lap of London each morning before work.

Complex, with notes of umami and a zippy acidity; Miles joined IKAWA to open our US office in Los Angeles, and help the business create a foothold across the pond.

She brings a wealth of speciality coffee knowledge (note how we’re maintaining the second i in speciality), most recently working as Director of Education at Royal Coffee New York, and previously Production and Roasting Manager at Allegro, and Roaster at Blue Bottle.

We’re delighted she’s part of the team, and it’s a pure bonus that we’ll have to spend time in LA – we’ll also be making the most of sharing roast profiles and doing calibrated cross-Atlantic cuppings!

Ansel has experience working in kitchens, high fashion, and highly collectible coffees. He joins IKAWA as a former customer - he was using the IKAWA Sample Roaster everyday as a coffee trader in London.

Before his career in coffee, Ansel studied Fine Arts and Architecture in Italy, cooked in an Italian restaurant, sold high-end fashion and art, and finally trading the higher priced coffees at a coffee importer in London.

In his time outside work he’s still cooking, exploring Dalston, and exploring natural wines.

Veronika joins IKAWA after 4 years of working at Workshop Coffee, an early IKAWA customer and local roaster to us. Her experience there began as a barista, and when she finished she was head of the Wholesale Team. She’s a self-proclaimed coffee geek who loves filter coffee, natural wines (Alsatian Riesling, Grüner Veltliner or Georgian Orange are her top choices), and Scandinavian and Dutch interior design. Veronika was born in the small town of Chomutov in Czechia, grew up in Prague, and moved to London 6 years ago. Ask her about her studies into a genetic link to forming culture, art and tribes!

Brad is always first on the pourover station in the morning at IKAWA, and will generously encourage you to try whatever brew he's exploring that day.

You might see Brad around London on his skateboard, trying not to spill his coffee, or you may have seen him managing the coffee program at Bonds in Hackney, a coffee/concept store that's taking off.

All in all, Brad has a passion for food and drink (flavours!) which started when he would make trips into London from his hometown just outside Cambridge. He's never too far from his family dog, unless he's off exploring - he is, like a lot of our team, an avid and active traveler!

Geoff first encountered IKAWA before most of us, meeting Rombout at SCAA about five years ago, and became an IKAWA customer this year in his previous role as Director of Coffee for DETOUR, one of Canada's top speciality roasters. “Coffee is a bit of a rabbit hole” Geoff told us when discussing quality coffee. It’s one he’s dived in deep, which is great because Geoff is in charge of educating our customers on the finer points of coffee.

Beyond coffee, you’ll find Geoff playing squash, exploring his new home city London, searching out the best ramen, and appreciating our relatively milder climate!"

Tony grew up in the highlands and coffee producing region of Panama. Tony has a family background of over 100 years in coffee production–it’s in his DNA.

Growing up in coffee, and working for both roasteries and coffee importers, has meant that sample roasting has been a big part of Tony’s professional career. In-house, he might have the highest roast count on the IKAWA!

Before joining IKAWA Tony completed his Masters from the London School of Economics in Public Policy and International Migration. Tony is an avid traveller, multi-linguist (9 languages!), and despite being from Panama, he says he loves working in London and the weather isn’t as bad as people say!

Rosie joins the IKAWA team from the roastery world, and the third on the “user-to-employee” journey. As an Operations Manager at Suffolk Roastery she was often at a cupping table full of IKAWA roasts. Her experience there, in addition to her natural affinity for marketing and her love of photography make her a welcome addition to the marketing team. Catch her playing high-level sports, chasing light, and demonstrating her mastery of the Aeropress outside the office.

Zadkiel joined the IKAWA team in 2020 to help take on and manage the At Home marketing projects. He studied Aerospace Engineering in Singapore where he grew up and moved to the United Kingdom where he completed a Masters in International Management. He has worked in similar roles at various charitable organisations in the UK before joining IKAWA. Zadkiel also co-founded Beacon & Armour which he also runs in his spare time.

Jess has a Degree in Culinary Arts Management and has worked around the world in Media and Hospitality, including co-founding The Clocktower Café in London before joining IKAWA.

She's progressed from Office Manager to Operations Manager, and now does her best to make things run like clockwork!

After having worked in Costa Rica, Spain, and France, Sarah joined IKAWA in our Customer Service role and then moved into an Operations role.

She was born and raised in Kenya and moved to the UK for school. She’s brings a mean latte to the IKAWA cafe and is always up for sushi!

Ask Sophie about her hot sauce and/or fridge magnet collection, both of which are impressive.

Sophie has a degree in marketing and experience in restaurant management. She’s run the Midnight Sun Marathon in Norway, enjoys making latch hook rugs. To know what's on, what's cool, and where it's worth visit - ask Sophie.

Ornella was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to London in early 2018. She studied and became an Accountant in Argentina and after moving to London, joined our Finance Team alongside Maria.

An avid traveller, Ornella is now soaking in the culture in Camden and slowly but surely coming around to our office coffee. She still favours her Grandmothers, who mixes and grinds two special types together, her secret recipe!

Kieran joins IKAWA as an experienced buyer, with a wealth of knowledge in the electronics manufacturing industry as well as a BSc in Business Studies from Ulster University.  Having moved to London from Ireland just one day before starting with us, Kieran has quickly settled into his new surroundings alongside his trusty AeroPress. Outside the office Kieran loves to travel, gaming and is (by his own admission) a “huge foodie!”

We have welcomed George back into a full time position after his 3 month internship with IKAWA in 2016. While studying engineering, George was part of the team that created the bike that holds the current human powered British land speed record!

When not working with production and R&D at IKAWA, George is a bit of a chef, making fresh and local meals at home. He even takes the time to forage and grow his own food!

Harriet says she’s probably a little too keen on Bill Murray so she obviously fits in well here. Her time in fashion and branding gave her some interesting opportunities but felt drawn to hospitality which eventually led her to coffee.

She's a bit of a green thumb and grows her own veg when she’s not dancing to Talking Heads and sampling London’s best Negroni’s.

Lydia joined IKAWA as a Production Technician, coming from the world of prop production and finance. Lydia enjoys working with her hands and creating. She also loves coffee and so IKAWA has been a natural choice where she is part of the incredible team that builds each roaster in London, UK.

When not working you may find her at a music gig or walking around town taking photographs with a camera in one hand and a coffee in the other.

Born in New York and raised in London, Peter has always had a passion for food and drink. Before joining IKAWA Peter worked with PACT coffee and instantly fell in love with the coffee industry, forming a passion for V60 brewing. His eye for precision and detail serves him well on the line hand assembling roasters each day in his role of production assistant. Outside the workshop, Peter can be found track and road cycling. However since the introduction of Cally (his poodle puppy) Peter spends a lot more time on foot. Cally ought to have a profile of her own, but can regularly be found asleep upside-down in the workshop — or cuddling Ornella in finance!

Timo brings an impressive technical background with him to IKAWA. He studied Mechanical Engineering at London South Bank University and worked as a Production Technician making submarines!

Timo was born and raised in Jinja, Uganda (“the most beautiful part of Africa”) and brought with him a love for sports. Since he moved to the UK, he’s been part of the National Baseball League playing for the London Pirates!