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Kris Carlson launched Coffeekris in 2025 as a green coffee sourcing business representing a network of importers. Carlson says the company’s first-year sales exceeded 10 containers, well above her cautious initial goal of one container. The business charges roasters the importers’ direct prices, with importers paying Coffeekris for referrals.
Kansas City-based Coffeekris founder Kris Carlson says her green coffee sourcing business sold the equivalent of more than 10 containers in its first year, surpassing her initial hope of selling one. In an interview published October 21 by Daily Coffee News, Carlson outlined a model that connects roasters with 11 importing partners while charging clients the same prices they would pay buying directly from those importers.
Carlson describes her role as a “sourcing curator”, rather than a conventional importer. Coffeekris acts as an authorized representative for specialized importing companies, bringing their coffees to roasters through a single point of contact. Carlson said the importers compensate her for making the connection; she said roasters do not pay a higher price through Coffeekris than they would by purchasing from the importers themselves.
The company’s portfolio includes 11 importing partners with coffees from producers around the world. Named partners include Swift Coffee Sourcing, founded by Emily McIntyre; Optimist Coffee Traders, founded by former Mighty Peace Coffee co-founder Jim Ngokwey; and Benchmark Coffee Traders, founded by Vikram Patel. Carlson said she favors businesses led by women and people from historically underrepresented groups, while keeping a range of offerings for roasters with different purchasing needs.
Carlson entered the green coffee trade after working across cafes, roasting and wholesale. She said experience at importers Mighty Peace Coffee, which has since ceased operations, and Anthem Coffee Imports helped her build relationships with producers and exporters and work across origins in Latin America, East Africa and Asia. Her account of Coffeekris’s sales is attributed to Carlson; the interview does not provide audited sales figures or independent confirmation.
A Different Route to Green Coffee
Coffeekris offers roasters a way to access coffees from several specialist importers through one contact, while Carlson says the arrangement leaves the purchase price unchanged for the buyer. That structure may be useful to roasters seeking varied sourcing options without managing each relationship separately. The company’s reported first-year volume also suggests that its intermediary model has found buyers, though the interview does not disclose how many clients made up those sales or how the volume was distributed.
The business also reflects Carlson’s stated effort to center ethical sourcing and representation in the coffee trade. She said she looks for partners led by women and historically underrepresented people and does not set minimum purchasing volumes as a condition for working with a roaster. Those choices describe the company’s approach, but the source does not provide a formal set of standards, an independent assessment of partner practices or data measuring the model’s effects on producers.
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From Cafe Work to Sourcing
Carlson’s career began in cafe work after college, where she studied music and art. She worked at Take Five Coffee + Bar in Overland Park, Kansas, and later joined Revocup Coffee Roasters, a Kansas City-area company founded by Ethiopians. Carlson said learning about coffee’s origins and the people involved in its production led her to focus on the global trading system and questions of equity.
She later moved into cafe management, roasting and wholesale, and took part in industry activities including the Glitter Cat Roaster competition and volunteering as a stage manager for the U.S. Coffee Roasters Championship. A 2022 Diedrich Roasters scholarship through the Coffee Roasters Guild was among the support she received. Her subsequent roles at Mighty Peace Coffee and Anthem Coffee Imports brought her closer to green coffee selection and direct relationships with producers and exporters. Carlson founded Coffeekris in 2025, drawing on those connections.
“Unlike most brokers, I’m transparent. You know exactly who I’m working with, why, and where the coffee is coming from. There’s no gatekeeping knowledge.”
— Kris Carlson, speaking to Daily Coffee News
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Sales Details Still Unreported
The interview does not specify the precise dates covered by the “first year” sales figure, the number of roaster clients, the types of contracts involved or whether the reported container-equivalent volume refers to completed shipments, booked orders or another measure. It also does not provide revenue, margins or a comparison with other sourcing businesses. The more-than-10-container figure is Carlson’s account, not an independently verified result.
Further details about Coffeekris’s partner selection process and how ethical sourcing is assessed are also not stated. Carlson’s interview discusses what she values in partners, but does not identify a shared certification or audit system across the portfolio.
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How Coffeekris Builds Its Network
Carlson did not announce a specific expansion plan, new partner or sales target in the interview. The next indicators of the company’s development will be whether its 11-partner portfolio grows, how many roasters it serves and whether it continues handling orders across a broad range of volumes. The source provides no timeline for those developments.
For now, the reported first-year sales provide an early measure of demand, while the company’s longer-term performance and the practical effects of its sourcing approach remain to be seen. Carlson said she expects to keep learning as she builds the business.
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Key Questions
What is Coffeekris?
Coffeekris is a green coffee sourcing business founded by Kris Carlson in Kansas City in 2025. It represents a network of importing companies and connects their coffees with roasters.
How does Coffeekris make money?
Carlson told Daily Coffee News that importers compensate Coffeekris for referrals. She said roaster clients pay the same prices they would pay when buying directly from those importers.
How many importing partners does Coffeekris have?
The portfolio described in the interview has 11 importing partners. Carlson named Swift Coffee Sourcing, Optimist Coffee Traders and Benchmark Coffee Traders among them.
What sales figure did Carlson report?
Carlson said Coffeekris sold the equivalent of more than 10 containers during its first year, compared with her initial hope of one. The interview does not specify the exact measurement period or independently verify the figure.
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