Nov 13, 2021
Logistics with Purpose: Shane Buerster with Z Beans Coffee
This episode of Supply Chain Now is a continuation of our Logistics with Purpose series, sponsored by Vector Global Logistics, and features Shane Buerster. On a Mercer On Mission trip during the summer of 2016, Shane Buerster, a rising junior at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, met Arturo Penarreta Romero, a 65 year old man from Zaruma, Ecuador. Throughout Shane's junior year of college, Arturo and Shane spoke on the phone 3 - 4 times a week, as a way to improve Shane's Spanish. But, the conversations quickly started focusing upon the idea of building a direct trade supply chain that'd enable the import of Ecuadorian coffee from small, micro-lot plantations. A few months later, Arturo sent Shane 65lbs of coffee, which arrived at his parents doorstep in Pooler, Georgia. After roasting the coffee and getting feedback from coffee connoisseurs, Shane decided to dive into the coffee business, birthing Zaruma Beans - or better put, Z Beans. The summer leading into his senior year of col…