OUR TEAM | Zest Coffee

ARYAN AQAJANI

HEAD OF COFFEE

With many years of experience as a specialty roaster, sensory judge and coffee professional, Aryan brings great talent to the team in achieving and maintaining wonderful flavour. His passion is still roasting micro-lot coffees in small batches on his Dietrich.

XINDII HEW

BRAND AMBASSADOR

Xindii is invested in keeping the Zest brand at the cutting edge of specialty coffee. Xindii’s commitment to coffee is unquestionable with her recent appointment to the Australian Specialty Coffee Association Board. A hard worker and friend to many!

DARREN STINSON

ORIGIN PROJECTS MANAGER, NSW & SA STATE MANAGER

Darren heads up Zest’s operations in New South Wales and South Australia (when he’s not travelling to far-flung coffee farms across the globe on coffee research projects). Always willing to go the extra mile Darren brings a high level of service and care to his valued customers. He is a Q grader, Brewer’s Cup competitor, keen videographer and the list goes on…

leo corser

HEAD ROASTER

With more than 28 years of experience in coffee, Leo brings a high level of skill and knowledge that underpins the exceptional flavour and consistency of Zest coffees. Batch after batch, day after day, week after week – we are grateful to have someone with such patient attention to detail behind our roasters. Sensory judge, technical barista judge, competitor – Leo lives and breathes coffee! Leo has a special care for people, the environment and for taking extra steps to help others.

SIMON GAUTHERIN

COFFEE EXCELLENCE MANAGER

Internationally Simon is respected as a trusted voice in the coffee industry. His key role with Zest is to provide the training, mentoring and consulting that enables cafes to get the very best out of our coffee. Simon is a Q Grader, international competitor in Brewer’s Cup, Sensory judge, Australia Aeropress Champion 2022 (and much more). Based in Sydney but supporting the national effort to help our cafe partners succeed.

ROY GREENFIELD

DIRECTOR OF COFFEE

A family member and part owner of Zest, Roy is a hands-on player in the team. as an 18 year old Roy cut his teeth roasting on a 15kg Toper when Zest first started roasting in 2012 and he’s never looked back in his commitment to making Zest the roaster of choice for our valued cafe customers. Roy is directly interested in your success and the success of your relationship with Zest.

DAMON SCHMETZER

SENSORY STUDIO VENUE MANAGER & TRAINING

When you have the opportunity to attend our Zest Sensory Studio in Richmond, you will meet Damon. Renowned for his excellent hospitality and coffee knowledge, he is bound to delight your taste buds with some exotic coffee offerings. Damon is a qualified Cert IV trainer and has experience in running his own cafes and training academy. Now having travelled to origin and done his own hands-on coffee processing and experimentation, Damon is super passionate about sharing his knowledge and stories with coffee lovers at the studio and with our customers.

SYWOO KIM

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

SyWoo, with his infectious exuberance for all things specialty coffee, is a hard-working member of the Sydney team who will providing a hard-to-beat level of support for our cafe partners. The heart and soul of our cuppings, events and trainings SyWoo is a people-pleaser that lives and breathes Zest’s values.

TATIANA GREENFIELD

CUSTOMER SERVICE LEAD

Meet Tash. A well known and helpful voice on the phone to all our clients. Tash is a key cog in the Zest machine ensuring customers get frictionless supply each and every week. Getting your order right every time and ensuring your complete satisfaction is her single-eyed goal.

MANNY ABELA

CLIENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGER

Manny. There’s only one Manny. With a long background in hospitality including owning a successful specialty cafe for ten years, Manny applies a down to earth entrepreneur’s brain combined with in-depth coffee knowledge to helping his cafe customers succeed. A friend to everyone, Manny is always looking to help, support and please. Like the chocolate cakes on Monday morning tea!

SHANNON McEWEN

CUSTOMER ONBOARDING & SERVICE MANAGER

Only some people can handle even the toughest emergencies with cool, calm friendly efficiency. Which make Shannon the ideal person coordinating our technical back-up support and making it her personal responsibility to ensure that cafes minimise down time and lost revenue through machine breakdowns. Part of our core customer service team Shannon works hard to make your experience with Zest a great one.

ASHLEIGH PETERS

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE & CUSTOMER SERVICE

Ashleigh has a tough task. She needs to collect the money in manner that is just as good for our customers as it is for us. Sometimes it means explaining that we are good at coffee but not at granting interest-free finance. Thankfully her smile (which can be heard through the phone) coupled with her efficient persistence makes it as painless as possible for our valued clients. It’s all part of making your experience with Zest sustainable and pleasurable.

ANTON GREENFIELD

DIRECTOR

Back in 2009, Anton founded Zest. The little, boutique roasting company of his dreams. Why Zest? “Zest is the spritzy part of the lemon, energy, flavour, passion, always changing, always innovating, moving with the next thing – that’s the DNA of Zest”. Now, with the business having grown significantly, Anton still breathes the family enthusiasm and charm that marks the brand.

KARL LEE

SENSORY CONSULTANT & TRAINER, QLD MANAGER

Talking coffee passion in Australia, you can’t go past Karl Lee. Based in Brisbane, Karl provides a high level of skill and expertise to the team. Cup Tasters Champion Qld, National Sensory Head Judge, Q Grader, Karl helps keep Zest at the highest levels. Karl takes coffee seriously! His ambition is to take everyone with him on his quest for sensory excellence.

JUNINE KIDD

RETAIL SALES MANAGER

If you’ve received a bag of Zest coffee to enjoy at home, you can be sure Junine has shepherded through our production process with love and care. She’s dedicated to ensuring each bag and each shipment is consistent with the high standards we have set for ourselves here at Zest. Because, good coffee doesn’t just happen.

ROBERT MOFFAT

OPERATIONS & DELIVERY

Robert the rocket! Rob’s been with Zest from day dot! Now known by hundreds of our customers Rob loyally picks, packs and delivers the products and upholds those crucial Zest values of ‘breathing enthusiasm and friendliness’ to all he encounters. And, on the weekend, you’ll still find Rob on the baseball pitch (coffee is his second love). Oh, and did we mention cruise ship holidays?

LAURIE McEWEN

PRODUCTION & LOGISTICS MANAGER

A cafe with no coffee is like a pub with no beer (or worse). Laurie understands this well. Laurie runs Zests logistics like a well oiled machine. And accompanies that with his indelible grin.

SCOTT GREENFIELD

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Scott is overall responsible for production, logistics and customer experience. The buck stops here. Another family member invested in the good of our staff, suppliers and customers. Ensuring that the whole Zest machine works in sync to provide excellent quality and service come rain, hail or snow. And, with enough youthful energy, to heartily pursue the path of continuous improvement.

MATT BEER

TECHNICAL SUPPORT & SERVICE

Matt used to build grandfather clocks. Painstaking attention to detail. And for the past twenty years he has worked with the same special dedication to fixing coffee machines and keeping cafe customers in business.

CHRISTINE LILLEY

OUR BOOKKEEPER

Every business needs one. That person that doesn’t mind paying the bills, doing bank recons and generally making sure all the essential admin stuff gets done. Christine is a loyal slogger who works long and hard and happily to keep all the accounts shipshape. She also carries the title of being our longest serving crew member! – Everyone is nice to Christine especially on Mondays (she pays the wages). Thanks Christine!

ROD GREENFIELD

DIRECTOR

Rod first ventured into business more than 25 years ago and hasn’t slept properly since. But that doesn’t dampen his passion or the values that have underpinned the current business. Family values. Enthusiasm. Continuous learning. Hungry, humble, kind. With three boys now in the business too, we’re in it for the long haul!

AJAY SONANI

Q-Grader – CQ and Roaster

Our exceptionally skilled roaster, Ajay, comes with an impressive array of industry accolades. His vast knowledge and expertise, bolstered by his Q-grader certification and judging experience have rendered Ajay an indispensable asset in the Zest team.

Julijan Markovic

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Julijan boasts a multifaceted background in both the coffee realm and the digital space. Merging his passions for photography and videography with his coffee acumen, Julijan embodies Zest’s values: progressive, innovative, and approachable. He’s deeply driven and has a keen eye for the finer details, ensuring everything he touches turns to gold.

Newsletter

ARYAN AQAJANI

XINDII HEW

DARREN STINSON

leo corser

SIMON GAUTHERIN

ROY GREENFIELD

DAMON SCHMETZER

SYWOO KIM

TATIANA GREENFIELD

MANNY ABELA

SHANNON McEWEN

ASHLEIGH PETERS

ANTON GREENFIELD

KARL LEE

JUNINE KIDD

ROBERT MOFFAT

LAURIE McEWEN

SCOTT GREENFIELD

MATT BEER

CHRISTINE LILLEY

ROD GREENFIELD

AJAY SONANI

Julijan Markovic