Oslo, Norway – August 28, 2019 – Tropiq Ethiopia has appointed Alexander Lenouvel
Hansen as General Manager. He will be responsible for the day-to-day management of
the Tropiq team in Addis Ababa, overseeing quality coffee selection, milling, logistics
and QC services for Tropiq’s international customers.
Lenouvel Hansen has extensive experience in both sourcing and sales, and has been the
East Africa Buyer for Tropiq’s sister company, Nordic Approach, for the last year. He
began his specialty coffee career working for an importer in its lean start-up days, where
his role covered many responsibilities including logistics, lab, sales and buying. To better
understand the origin side of the supply chain, he worked stints in Nicaragua and
Burundi, before joining the Nordic Approach team in 2018 as East Africa Buyer.
For Lenouvel Hansen, a move to origin is the natural next step. “When it comes to
maintaining quality and traceability throughout a coffee’s value chain, there is no
substitute for being on the ground,” he said.
Tropiq began as the sourcing department for Nordic Approach, and was established as a
separate company in 2017. The Tropiq Ethiopia team work on the ground in Addis
Ababa, in partnership with the Tropiq management team based in Oslo, Norway.
“Ethiopia is the cornerstone of our business and one of the most complicated origins for
specialty coffee,” said Morten Wennersgaard, founder of Tropiq and Nordic Approach.
“We’re excited to have Alexander in this leadership role for Tropiq Ethiopia. He excels in
the crucial task of building relationships with coffee professionals at origin, plus he
understands the needs and expectations of specialty roasters.”
Lenouvel Hansen will begin his new role in September in preparation for the 2019/2020
harvest. He takes the reins from Marco Barrera who returns to Tanzania. “We are very
grateful to Marco for his assistance in the last year as we more closely align Tropiq
Ethiopia with the parent company in Oslo,” Wennersgaard said.
About Tropiq
Tropiq is a green coffee sourcing service. We offer our extensive experience in coffee
sourcing and supply chain management to roasters and importers seeking high-quality,
traceable and ethically sourced coffees directly from origin.
For more information contact Suzie Hoban at suzie@tropiq.no.
