Andrew Hetzel

Andrew Hetzel is a recognized global coffee industry expert with over two decades of experience in more than fifty countries. He works in both the public and private sectors to improve the value of coffee production for the industry’s many stakeholders.

In the public sector, Mr. Hetzel advises governments, development banks, NGOs, and coffee producer cooperatives, working on projects funded by organizations like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), UK Department for International Development (DFID), UN, USAID, and the World Bank Group. He offers guidance to increase coffee value and productivity that improves the livelihoods of coffee farmers and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Global South through market intelligence, good agricultural and post-harvest practices, policymaking, enabling environments, intellectual property, and market access.

In the private sector, Mr. Hetzel provides coffee subject matter expertise, market analysis, strategy, and product development services across all coffee categories (roasted coffee, single serve, hot or cold beverages, and ready-to-drink RTD). His clientele includes consumer coffee brands, grocery retailers, coffee traders, private equity investment firms, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investors worldwide.

Between 2013 and 2020, Mr. Hetzel served as a director of the nonprofit Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the world’s largest coffee trade association, and was a board member of SCA’s World Barista Championship organization from 2008 to 2013. He was also one of the first instructors for the Coffee Quality Institute’s prestigious Q Grader coffee taster certificate program from 2012 to 2016.

Before joining the coffee industry, Mr. Hetzel founded and sold a technology company that was an early pioneer of retail audiovisual advertising in the 1990s. He holds a BS in Agricultural Business from Colorado State University and is pursuing an MS in Global Challenges from the University of Edinburgh.

As a highly visible coffee expert, Mr. Hetzel is quoted by various trade publications and major media outlets including the Associated Press, BBC, CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, Reuters, Time Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. His wide-ranging insights and leadership have made him a sought-after authority on coffee issues across the globe. See a complete article list here.