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Kris Carlson launched Coffeekris in 2025 as a green coffee sourcing business representing specialized importers to roasters. Carlson told Daily Coffee News that the company sold the equivalent of more than 10 containers in its first year, exceeding her cautious goal of one container. The report describes the business model and Carlson’s focus on transparent sourcing and ethical trade; its sales figures and assessments are Carlson’s account.
Kris Carlson says Coffeekris sold the equivalent of more than 10 containers of green coffee in its first year, surpassing the one-container target she had cautiously set when she launched the Kansas City business in 2025. In an interview with Daily Coffee News, Carlson described a model that connects roasters with a network of specialized importers while keeping the importers and coffee origins visible to buyers.
Coffeekris currently works with 11 importing partners, according to the report, offering coffees from suppliers around the world. Carlson acts as an authorized representative for those companies rather than operating as a conventional importer. She helps roasters find and buy coffees through a single contact, while the importing partners compensate her for making the connection. Carlson said roaster clients pay the same prices they would if they bought directly from an importer.
The arrangement is intended to make a broad selection easier to navigate without hiding the people and businesses behind it. Carlson told Daily Coffee News that she identifies the partners she works with and explains where coffees come from. Named partners include Swift Coffee Sourcing, Optimist Coffee Traders and Benchmark Coffee Traders. The report says the portfolio is designed to serve buyers ranging from those purchasing a few bags to those seeking commercial volumes.
Carlson brings experience across cafes, roasting, wholesale, green coffee sales and sourcing. Before founding Coffeekris, she worked with Mighty Peace Coffee, which focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo, and later with Anthem Coffee Imports. She said those roles led to work across Latin America, East Africa and Asia, including cupping and selecting lots and building relationships with producers and exporters.
A Different Route to Green Coffee
Coffeekris’s model offers roasters another way to access coffees from multiple importers without relying on a single supplier’s catalog or contacting each company separately. Its stated pricing arrangement also distinguishes the service from one that adds a separate charge to the roaster: the importers pay Carlson for referrals, while she said buyers pay the importers’ direct prices. The report does not independently verify pricing, but the structure is central to how Carlson presents the business.
The business may also matter to smaller roasters that need options across different order sizes. Carlson said she is willing to work with buyers purchasing two bags, pallets, supersacks or containers. That range could make specialist-importer coffees more accessible to companies with different purchasing capacity, though the report does not provide a breakdown of Coffeekris sales by customer size or volume.
Carlson also frames partner selection as part of the company’s purpose. She said she favors importers led by women and people from historically underrepresented groups, while retaining a portfolio broad enough to serve varied roaster needs. Her account links that approach to a wider argument: that equitable business relationships can be commercially durable, not merely a matter of principle.
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From Cafe Work to Sourcing
Carlson’s career began in coffee shops, including Take Five Coffee + Bar in Overland Park, Kansas, and Revocup Coffee Roasters, a Kansas City-area company founded by Ethiopian owners. She told Daily Coffee News that learning who produced coffee and how it moved through trade prompted her interest in the global trading system and its fairness. Her work later expanded into cafe management, roasting and wholesale before she moved into green coffee.
The report also describes the personal importance of Carlson’s time at Revocup. She said its owners, coworkers and community supported her after her mother died by suicide, about six months after she started working there. Carlson said the experience shaped her personally as well as professionally. She later competed as a Glitter Cat Roaster, volunteered as a stage manager for the U.S. Coffee Roasters Championship and received industry scholarships, including a 2022 Diedrich Roasters scholarship through the Coffee Roasters Guild.
Coffeekris’s stated approach builds on that varied career and on relationships Carlson developed with importers, exporters, producers and roasters. The report identifies its launch in 2025 and its current network of 11 importing partners. It does not provide a dated sales ledger or independent financial records; the first-year volume is Carlson’s account in the interview.
“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 Claims and Open Questions
The reported sales total comes from Carlson; the article does not include audited figures, shipment records or a definition of how container equivalents were calculated. It also does not specify the exact period covered by “the first year,” the number of roaster customers, or the share of sales represented by different order sizes.
The interview presents Carlson’s view that the business is transparent and that its pricing matches direct purchases from the importers. The available report does not independently compare transaction prices or detail how referral compensation works for each partner. Nor does it provide a full list of all 11 importers, the volume available from each, or how Coffeekris evaluates ethical sourcing across its network.
The supplied interview text ends partway through Carlson’s answer about what troubles her in coffee, after she begins discussing the treatment of people who report mistreatment. That answer is incomplete in the source material, so its full wording and conclusion are not available here.
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How the Network Develops
The published report does not announce a new product, expansion date or upcoming sales milestone. For now, the next developments to watch are whether Coffeekris adds partners, how its portfolio serves roasters with different buying needs, and whether future reporting provides more detail about sales and sourcing practices.
For roasters considering the service, Carlson’s account suggests asking which importer supplies a given coffee, what information is available about its origin and trade relationships, and how pricing compares with a direct order. The report gives no announced timeline for further company updates, so the business’s next public milestone remains unclear.
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Key Questions
What is Coffeekris?
Coffeekris is a Kansas City-based green coffee sourcing business founded by Kris Carlson in 2025. It represents a network of specialized importers and helps roasters find coffees through a single point of contact.
How does Coffeekris make money?
Carlson told Daily Coffee News that the importers compensate her for connecting them with roasters. She said Coffeekris clients pay the same prices they would when buying directly from those importers.
How much coffee did Coffeekris sell in its first year?
Carlson said the company sold the equivalent of more than 10 containers, compared with her initial hope of selling one. Those figures are Carlson’s account in the interview; the report does not include independent sales documentation.
How many importing partners does Coffeekris have?
The report says Coffeekris’s portfolio includes 11 importing partners. Named examples include Swift Coffee Sourcing, Optimist Coffee Traders and Benchmark Coffee Traders.
What remains unknown about the company’s results?
The report does not provide audited sales, the exact dates covered by the first-year figure, a customer or order-size breakdown, or a complete account of referral fees and pricing comparisons. Those details have not been established in the published material.
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