Our Ethos
Our Ethos
Ode to Coffee
Half the world has surrendered to you
The other half are either ignorant of your magic
Or have turned ascetic and
Refused to succumb to you
Of all of man’s ingenuity in
Extracting pleasure and nourishment
From the Mother earth’s breast
You stand out to be the one
to inspire a fierce faith
Of unquenchable sort
You have overshadowed the lord of light
As for the faithful Daybreak means you and not the sun
Sadhguru
Ethos is how we express our values through coffee. They define and drive how we connect, create, and collaborate.
Ethos is how we express our values through coffee. They define and drive how we connect, create, and collaborate.
Ethos is how we express our values through coffee. They define and drive how we connect,
create, and collaborate.
Friendship
We are a network of friends united by a shared commitment to harness the spirit of coffee. Friendship reminds us that sustainability is not transactional, but relational.
Reflection
Coffee is an invitation to listen more deeply: to ourselves, to others, and to the places we are part of. In that space, reflection becomes a gateway to intentional action.
Hospitality
Coffee has welcomed us into homes, farms, and communities around the world. We carry that spirit forward, approaching coffee as a practice of hospitality rooted in service.
Patience
We choose to move at the pace of trust. We commit to long-term relationships that honor people, communities, and landscapes. True impact grows slowly.
Interdependence
Coffee connects us to the more-than-human world, where plants, soil, water, and biodiversity are part of our shared story. It roots our work in the living systems that sustain and renew life.
Our Team
We are a collective of friends, using coffee as our medium, a way to connect people, places and purpose. Our strength lies in facilitating collaboration and in a shared commitment to protect our planet.
Our Team
We are a collective of friends, using coffee as our medium, a way to connect people, places and purpose. Our strength lies in facilitating collaboration and in a shared commitment to protect our planet.
Overview
We start by understanding your market, audience, and goals. This includes competitor analysis, brand audits, and interviews to get a full picture of where you stand and what needs to change.
Our Team
We are a collective of friends, using coffee as our medium, a way to connect people, places and purpose. Our strength lies in facilitating collaboration and in a shared commitment to protect our planet.
Saurin Nanavati
Saurin Nanavati
Co-Founder
Co-Founder
For more than two decades, Saurin Nanavati has followed coffee around the world. What began as an interest in a crop evolved into an exploration of the intersection between capitalism and consciousness.
Saurin Nanavati is a coffee systems designer who has spent more than two decades collaborating with cooperatives, governments, researchers, NGOs, technology providers, traders and roasters, Through Ethos Agriculture, Saurin explores coffee not as a supply chain, but as a living system - a web of relationships connecting people, plants, places, and purpose. Viewed this way, coffee becomes more than a product; it becomes a practice for understanding what we value and aligning those values with our ideas, skills, relationships, and resources.
As Designer-in-Residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s Transition Design Institute, Saurin extends this exploration into research and education. Saurin positions coffee as a pedagogical medium, serving as both subject and method for understanding system dynamics. Using a simple cup of coffee as an entry point, he engages students in real-world supply chains to surface interdependencies across social, ecological, economic, and personal systems.
TDI Researchers
Stories from the spirit of coffee | TEDxCMU
Linkedin
saurin@ethosagriculture.com
For more than two decades, Saurin Nanavati has followed coffee around the world. What began as an interest in a crop evolved into an exploration of the intersection between capitalism and consciousness.
Saurin Nanavati is a coffee systems designer who has spent more than two decades collaborating with cooperatives, governments, researchers, NGOs, technology providers, traders and roasters, Through Ethos Agriculture, Saurin explores coffee not as a supply chain, but as a living system - a web of relationships connecting people, plants, places, and purpose. Viewed this way, coffee becomes more than a product; it becomes a practice for understanding what we value and aligning those values with our ideas, skills, relationships, and resources.
As Designer-in-Residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s Transition Design Institute, Saurin extends this exploration into research and education. Saurin positions coffee as a pedagogical medium, serving as both subject and method for understanding system dynamics. Using a simple cup of coffee as an entry point, he engages students in real-world supply chains to surface interdependencies across social, ecological, economic, and personal systems.
TDI Researchers
Stories from the spirit of coffee | TEDxCMU
Linkedin
saurin@ethosagriculture.com
Frederik de Vries
Co-Founder
Co-Founder
Over the past decade, Frederik has worked across the global coffee sector, partnering with businesses, nonprofits, funders, and producer organizations to tackle complex challenges. Through this work, he has learned that lasting change rarely comes from technical solutions alone, but requires honest reflection, intentional collaboration, and the courage to rethink business as usual.
At Ethos, he designs and facilitates experiences where diverse actors can reflect, build trust, and navigate complexity together.
Linkedin
frederik@ethosagriculture.com
Sjoerd Panhuysen
Co-Founder
Sjoerd is a researcher at Ethos Agriculture with nearly two decades of experience working on sustainability in the coffee sector. With a background in sociology and development studies,he has worked across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, bridging field-level programme implementation, advocacy initiatives, NGO coalitions, and engagement with the European coffee market. This breadth of experience has given him a nuanced understanding of how global market dynamics and structural inequalities shape the everyday realities of coffee producers.
For Sjoerd, coffee serves as a lens through which to examine broader challenges related to inequality, environmental change, corporate influence, and governance in global trade. He established the Coffee Barometer to promote transparency and foster informed dialogue across the sector. His recent research focuses on the economics of smallholder farming and the ways coffee communities adapt to the growing pressures of climate change.
Saurin Nanavati
Co-Founder
For more than two decades, Saurin Nanavati has followed coffee around the world. What began as an interest in a crop evolved into an exploration of the intersection between capitalism and consciousness.
Saurin Nanavati is a coffee systems designer who has spent more than two decades collaborating with cooperatives, governments, researchers, NGOs, technology providers, traders and roasters, Through Ethos Agriculture, Saurin explores coffee not as a supply chain, but as a living system - a web of relationships connecting people, plants, places, and purpose. Viewed this way, coffee becomes more than a product; it becomes a practice for understanding what we value and aligning those values with our ideas, skills, relationships, and resources.
As Designer-in-Residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s Transition Design Institute, Saurin extends this exploration into research and education. Saurin positions coffee as a pedagogical medium, serving as both subject and method for understanding system dynamics. Using a simple cup of coffee as an entry point, he engages students in real-world supply chains to surface interdependencies across social, ecological, economic, and personal systems.
TDI Researchers
Stories from the spirit of coffee | TEDxCMU
Linkedin
saurin@ethosagriculture.com
Sjoerd Panhuysen
Sjoerd is a researcher at Ethos Agriculture with nearly two decades of experience working on sustainability in the coffee sector. With a background in sociology and development studies,he has worked across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, bridging field-level programme implementation, advocacy initiatives, NGO coalitions, and engagement with the European coffee market. This breadth of experience has given him a nuanced understanding of how global market dynamics and structural inequalities shape the everyday realities of coffee producers.
For Sjoerd, coffee serves as a lens through which to examine broader challenges related to inequality, environmental change, corporate influence, and governance in global trade. He established the Coffee Barometer to promote transparency and foster informed dialogue across the sector. His recent research focuses on the economics of smallholder farming and the ways coffee communities adapt to the growing pressures of climate change.
Co-Founder
Eric Rukawaya
Co-Founder
Eric is an elite coffee trainer and trade facilitator whose career has helped shape the Rwandan coffee sector. He works closely with producer organizations to build the next generation of coffee leaders, focusing on strengthening quality, expanding access to international markets, and deepening the capabilities required for long-term success in Specialty Coffee. In a rapidly evolving global coffee market, Eric empowers communities not only to adapt, but also to lead with confidence.
Eric is widely recognized for his ability to translate between local realities and global market expectations. His approach is both technical and relational, grounded in the understanding that lasting transformation for coffee communities requires facilitation. Moving between coffee farms, processing stations, and ports, he connects the full chain of relationships that brings coffee to life. At the heart of his work is a deep commitment to ensure that more value flows back to the small-scale farming families who form the foundation of the coffee industry. Through his leadership, the East Africa Coffee Lab has become more than a training space, it is an ecosystem for collaboration, experimentation, and shared learning.
Eric Rukawaya
Eric is an elite coffee trainer and trade facilitator whose career has helped shape the Rwandan coffee sector. He works closely with producer organizations to build the next generation of coffee leaders, focusing on strengthening quality, expanding access to international markets, and deepening the capabilities required for long-term success in Specialty Coffee. In a rapidly evolving global coffee market, Eric empowers communities not only to adapt, but also to lead with confidence.
Eric is widely recognized for his ability to translate between local realities and global market expectations. His approach is both technical and relational, grounded in the understanding that lasting transformation for coffee communities requires facilitation. Moving between coffee farms, processing stations, and ports, he connects the full chain of relationships that brings coffee to life. At the heart of his work is a deep commitment to ensure that more value flows back to the small-scale farming families who form the foundation of the coffee industry. Through his leadership, the East Africa Coffee Lab has become more than a training space, it is an ecosystem for collaboration, experimentation, and shared learning.
Co-Founder
Sjoerd Panhuysen
Co-Founder
Sjoerd is a researcher at Ethos Agriculture with nearly two decades of experience working on sustainability in the coffee sector. With a background in sociology and development studies,he has worked across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, bridging field-level programme implementation, advocacy initiatives, NGO coalitions, and engagement with the European coffee market. This breadth of experience has given him a nuanced understanding of how global market dynamics and structural inequalities shape the everyday realities of coffee producers. For Sjoerd, coffee serves as a lens through which to examine broader challenges related to inequality, environmental change, corporate influence, and governance in global trade. He established the Coffee Barometer to promote transparency and foster informed dialogue across the sector. His recent research focuses on the economics of smallholder farming and the ways coffee communities adapt to the growing pressures of climate change.
Eric Rukawaya
Co-Founder
Eric is an elite coffee trainer and trade facilitator whose career has helped shape the Rwandan coffee sector. He works closely with producer organizations to build the next generation of coffee leaders, focusing on strengthening quality, expanding access to international markets, and deepening the capabilities required for long-term success in Specialty Coffee. In a rapidly evolving global coffee market, Eric empowers communities not only to adapt, but also to lead with confidence.
Eric is widely recognized for his ability to translate between local realities and global market expectations. His approach is both technical and relational, grounded in the understanding that lasting transformation for coffee communities requires facilitation. Moving between coffee farms, processing stations, and ports, he connects the full chain of relationships that brings coffee to life. At the heart of his work is a deep commitment to ensure that more value flows back to the small-scale farming families who form the foundation of the coffee industry. Through his leadership, the East Africa Coffee Lab has become more than a training space, it is an ecosystem for collaboration, experimentation, and shared learning.