Who We Are

Coffee importing is a business so complex it’s a miracle it happens.

Finance, logistics, geopolitical challenges, tariffs, sourcing issues, navigating complex currents with marketing, and (let’s not forget) dealing only in an agricultural product which is vulnerable to beetles, weather, water, bad handling, and countless other exposures. Add in the global contraction which has resulted in many good businesses failing and the always-present spectre of neo-colonialism, and it’s marvelous coffee even exists.

Swift Coffee Sourcing is an importing company for a modern age: agile, smart, informed.

Our mission is simple: we are here to get you the coffee you want, at a competitive price, with zero hassle.

We are led by dynamic CEO Emily McIntyre, who was a Founder and the CEO of beloved Ethiopian coffee importer Catalyst Trade (2018-2023) and brings a wealth of hard-won knowledge, connections, and wisdom to the table, along with extensive experience using AI-enabled tech to solve business problems with efficiency. She’s brought together a remarkable founding team which includes a rockstar CFO, the best coffee sourcer in the world, and an inspired operations expert.

Why Swift?

Over most coffee farms, circling the blue globe, fly small birds with outsized wings. In their lives these birds will fly millions of miles, staying in the air up to ten months at a time—molting, sleeping, eating, mating on the wing.

The word “Swift” sparks prismatic connotations of speed, adaptability, and resilience. What better concept for the marathon battle toward grace that is the coffee trade?

Our Supply Chain

Peru and Ethiopia are the backbone of Swift’s sourcing strategy, because the founding team (Emily, Michael, Leslie) spent years redefining how specialty coffee could be done in those origins in their past projects. Check our Stories page to learn about specific projects and our sourcing strategies!

Beyond Ethiopia and Peru, Swift is planning to carefully expand into other origins using the same focus, leading with vertical integration and functional relationship development.

Other Interesting Things

Origin Trips with Swift
We current organize an annual buyer's trip to Peru for serious Swift customers. 2025 saw our first, an all-women trip which was strenuous, brilliant, hilarious, and exciting. No luxury trips here: we are focused on building relationships that are real and sustain the challenges of the world we work in. These trips happen in the August/September timeframe each year. If you're interested, let us know!
Learn more
Recent Podcast Appearance
In this insightful interview with our CEO, Emily McIntyre, Luke Waite of Good Folks, Doing Good Work asks some tough questions like:
- How to get ahead in coffee?
- How to build a meaningful career as a woman in green?
- What is the modern importing paradigm?
- Should coffee even exist?
Listen