Started in 2002 from a small café on Missenden Rd in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, Campos has grown to be one of the most recognised roasters in Australia, sharing their exceptional passion for quality service alongside their top-grade coffees bought directly from origin.
Authentic in their artisan approach to coffee, even at a larger scale, Campos Green Bean Buyer, Lloyd Thom caught up with us to shed light on his important role, Campos’ authentic involvement in the industry and what lies ahead for the brand.
Currently based in Banksmeadow, Sydney, Campos HQ is buzzing with people working, collaborating on their collective passion and enthusiasm for great coffee. Surrounded an equally engaged coffee community with like-minded cafes and bakeries, Lloyd shares that that the beauty of their neighbours serving specialty coffee alongside pies, sausage rolls and meatloaf sandwiches is something truly special.
From exotic varieties to unique microlots, Campos specialise in coffees that showcase its vast potential, while developing close and longstanding relationships with their family of producers.
Passionate about discovering unique coffee varieties, the team at Campos also stand as big advocates for auction programs over the years, namely Cup of Excellence and Best of Panama, two premier specialty coffee competitions that discover amazing coffees and rewards its farmers.
Through Campos’ involvement in these auctions, they have been introduced to some of their most important and longstanding relationships with farmers, developed an appreciation of their beautiful origin countries and helped share some of the world’s best and most exotic coffees with Campos customers around the world.
We’re proud to showcase a range of coffees that exhibit the vast potential of coffee and crystalise our vision of coffee; innovative processes, exotic varieties and special microlots.
Starting his day off with the all-important cupping (an industry method of analysing the coffee quality and roast profiles) alongside the buying and roasting team, Lloyd spends most of his day collaborating, whether it’s with the team at Sydney HQ to prepare what’s coming up in their coffee program or to catch up with producers in countries of origin to discuss points raised in the cupping held earlier that day.
We pay homage to the work that goes into the green beans by investing in the best roasting equipment, maintaining an artisan approach at scale and our most important ritual; cupping every coffee, every day.
From tasting coffee every day, Lloyd points out that he sees many trends come and go in the coffee industry. One trend Lloyd is seeing currently is a lot of focus on processing and fermentation, whether it be through yeast, thermal, freeze or slow-dried processes.
We’re seeing some pretty crazy new flavours and some really exciting steps being made.
When asked about what motivates him and the wider Campos team, Lloyd responded simply that coffee connects, inspires and opens up so many opportunities for people around the world, whether they are working in a local café, roastery or a producer in a completely different country.
I didn’t plan on a career in coffee but I can certainly say it changed the course of my life and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Holding a longstanding relationship with La Marzocco, Lloyd explained that Campos’ deep found appreciation for La Marzocco comes from their equal top end approach to quality and customer service, a value which Campos shares and aligns with greatly.
Accessible for new home users and seasoned baristas, Lloyd continued to explain that the La Marzocco machines durability to handle the most extreme coffee making pressures comes second to none.
We go through some serious lengths to get the green and roasted product just right so won’t muck around on the espresso end with anything except the best.
Having countless achievements under their belt over the last nineteen years, Lloyd explains that there are many more exciting things in the works for Campos. One of which is investing more into their relationships with producing partners in Colombia by conducting a quantitative research project on the impact of their relationship and the prices paid since Campos decided to buy directly 10 years ago.
To learn more about Campos, visit their website or follow them on social media via their handle @camposcoffee.
