Meet your current Next Gen Council:
Chair
Kyle Bawot
Coffee Trader, ofi (olam food ingredients)
Kyle Bawot is a coffee trader at ofi (olam food ingredients). His journey into the world of coffee began during his time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru, where he was first exposed to coffee production and export. Upon his return to the US, Kyle joined ofi and quickly worked his way into a trading role.
Kyle holds both Q Grader and ICE Exchange Grader licenses. He continually seeks to deepen his understanding of each facet of the industry, with a special focus on the industry’s sustainability challenges.
Kyle attended Skidmore College and Fordham University, from which he earned a BA in Economics and an MA in International Political Economy, respectively.
Vice Chair
Nora Johnson
Commodities Manager, Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA
Nora Johnson is a Commodities Manager with Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA (MZB-USA), one of the largest private label coffee manufacturers and owner of several retail coffee brands including Chock full o’Nuts®, Kauai Coffee®, Hills Bros.®, Hills Bros.® Cappuccino, Segafredo Zanetti®, MJB®, and Chase & Sanborn®. In her role, Nora manages futures and physical positions for several MZB-USA clients and is responsible for trade execution in addition to supporting the company’s responsible sourcing strategy. A Licensed Q Arabica Grader, Nora is part of MZB-USA’s dedicated green coffee cupping team.
Nora began her coffee career in 2016 as a summer intern with the Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA Commodities Department. Upon graduating summa cum laude from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2017 with a B.S. in Finance, Nora proudly joined MZB-USA full-time as an analyst and has since been promoted to Commodities Manager.
Past Chair
Janet Colley Morse
Vice President, The Dupuy Group
Janet Colley Morse represents the 4th generation of The Dupuy Group, which was founded by John Dupuy in 1936. Since the early years as a New Orleans coffee warehouse, Dupuy now serves 3 additional port cities including Houston, TX, Jacksonville, FL, and Charleston, SC. With coffee still serving as the main commodity handled by Dupuy, the company has broadened its scope to include a variety of value added services including cleaning, upgrading, and blending.
Janet serves as Vice President and is one of two remaining family members, the other of which being her father, Allan Colley, who serves as President of the organization. She also serves as Chairperson of the Logistics Committee of the Green Coffee Association, the Board of Directors of the Green Coffee Association, and the Board of Directors of the National Coffee Association.
Everett Brown
Managing Director, Westfeldt Brothers, Inc.
Everett Brown is currently the Managing Director at Westfeldt Brothers, Inc. based in New Orleans, LA. Everett graduated from Tulane University with a BSM in Finance and remained in New Orleans to pursue a career in coffee. He didn’t even drink coffee until he learned about trading as a potential career opportunity and became a barista at his local coffee shop on Tulane’s campus to learn more. After being a barista he pursued an internship with the Westfeldt family, who quickly taught him the ins and outs of the coffee business. Everett now serves as the President of the Southern Coffee Association in addition to his role on the Next Gen Council. He looks forwarded to growing and absorbing all the information the unique world of coffee has to offer.
Richard Curylo
Vice President of Business Development, RPM Group
Rich started his career in the financial services industry – mainly in Risk Management roles. In June of 2013, after almost 3 years of brokerage and investment banking experience, he landed a job down a new career path – as a green coffee trader for a large multi-national organization. It was in this job that he built a foundation and passion for commodity risk management, supply chain, logistics, quality control, sales….but, on the whole, coffee. After almost 3 years in this new job and career, he was approached with an opportunity to work at RPM…fast forward 7 years and Rich is now approaching his 10th year in the coffee industry…..
After nearly a decade in the coffee industry, Rich Curylo is now the Vice President of Business Development for RPM Group – a 40+ year old domestic supply chain logistics company. As of 2020, RPM became an employee owned (ESOP) company. RPM Group owns and operates warehousing and transportation businesses, primarily on the east coast of the United States. RPM’s core business is coffee; with more than 80% of company-wide warehousing space occupied by green coffee beans. As Vice President of Business Development, Rich is responsible for setting the tone for sales, strategy, marketing, and growth. Rich also oversees Compliance and Regulatory on behalf of the RPM Group.
Bent Dietrich Jr.
Green Coffee Trader, American Coffee Corp./Hamburg Coffee Company
Having grown up around the family business of coffee trading, Bent now spends his days connecting coffee roasters with coffee growers across the world.
Born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, Bent moved to the United States in 2013 to attend Northeastern University in Boston. After testing the waters of the banking world, a few months of working in the Hamburg offices of Hamburg Coffee Company, and some coffee-centric travels through Central America, Bent joined American Coffee’s trading desk in 2019.
A certified Q Grader, Bent is excited to carry forward the Hamburg Coffee legacy of independent coffee trading, leveraging local relationships and knowledge to provide roasters throughout the globe with the world’s best beverage.
Melanie Labib
Senior Manager, Positions and R&D, Eight O'Clock Coffee, Division of Tata Consumer Products
Melanie has worked on both the specialty and commercial sides of coffee. While a Q grader since 2018, she has over 10 years of experience in sensory science, ranging from coffee to chocolate to liquor. In addition to her titled role, Melanie manages the coffee sustainability program at Eight O'Clock Coffee and is passionate about ensuring a future for the industry.
She holds a degree in Food Science from University of Maryland and a Masters in Business Administration from Georgetown University.
Jasmine Murphy
Assistant Manager, Green Coffee Trading, The J.M. Smucker Co.
Jasmine Murphy is a coffee buyer and the coffee sustainability lead at The JM Smucker Company. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, The JM Smucker Co is the largest U.S. at-home coffee company and owner of iconic brands such as Bustelo and Folgers.
Jasmine is a licensed Arabica Q grader with nearly 10 years in the coffee industry. She started in coffee in 2013 in research and development and has worked on panel training, coffee buying, logistics, and product development in liquid and soluble coffee. Within her current role at JMS, she developed a deep knowledge of sustainability and is passionate about addressing the variety of issues the coffee industry faces. She attended The Ohio State University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology.