CREATING REMARKABLE ETHIOPIAN & El SALVADORAN
TASTE PROFILES
Unravel Merchants is a specialty green coffee company co-producing remarkable Ethiopian lots. Leveraging the combined production and processing experience of Steve Holt and Ashenafi Argaw, it offers direct access to the farm level and cater profiles to fit green buyer’s and roaster’s preferences. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Unravel Merchants is the second joint coffee venture of Steve Holt and Jim Deters through Deter’s parent company Gravity Haus. For more information follow us on Instagram @unravelmerchants.
As the inaugural associate and current shareholder of Ninety Plus Coffee, a distinguished producer of single origin, single-variety specialty coffee in Panama and Ethiopia, Steve committed over a decade to shaping its brand. His expertise lied in developing taste profiles through meticulous fermentation formulas and nurturing business ties across 40 countries. Having previously served as a shareholder and brand strategist at Novo Coffee Roasters in Denver around 2003, Steve has seamlessly merged his profound understanding of coffee agriculture with market dynamics. In 2019, he embarked on a journey back to his origins, establishing Unravel Coffee, a roaster and retail venture in Denver, CO. Soon after, he forged a robust partnership with Gravity Haus, integrating seven outlets within its pristine hotel locations including Breckenridge, Vail, Aspen, Winter Park, Steamboat, Moab, and Jackson Hole. Strengthening the link with coffee origins, Steve launched Unravel Merchants in 2021, facilitating the co-production and importation of coffee from Ethiopia and El Salvador. This initiative not only caters to Unravel Coffee but also supplies other specialty roasters across North America, Australia, and Asia.
in coffee at the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in 2002 and served in different management capacities with a focus on establishing client relations and export logistics. Moving to North America In 2012 he joined Ninety Plus Coffee and played a key role as Global Sales, Global Logistics, and Operations Director. In 2018, Ashenafi returned to Ethiopia to start Ardent Coffee Export and quickly established key partnerships in coffee growing communities, acquiring farms which include wet/dry mills in Sidama, Yirgacheffe, and Guji. His team consists of several project site directors, mill operators, and thousands of community farmers and workers. His commitment to community, he established the Ardent Children Center to support orphan children in the coffee growing areas of Ethiopia by providing care, support, security, food, education, and leadership skills. Ardent has received numerous awards including one of the top distinguished producers/exports presented by the president of Ethiopia, Mrs. Sahlework Zewde by helping Ethiopia earn 1.4 billion USD in the fiscal year of 2022 post Covid.
An SCA Certified Sustainability Professional who leverages her global business development and communications expertise to expand markets for green coffee from Ethiopia and El Salvador. Diefenbach has worked with people at all stages of the value-chain, consulting for producers, exporter/importers, government coffee boards, coffee roasters, and tech start-ups. Nicole’s long-time relationship with Carlos Pola in El Salvador enabled Unravel Merchants to secure one container of coffee with successful sales to North American roaster clients with a current expansion into South Korea and Australia.
We started out with a simple goal: to unravel the coffee experience from the seed of a coffee tree all the way to the remnant in your cup. Building on our experience co-producing and importing coffee straight from Ethiopia, we have explored the world seeking out roaster partners in our journey to not only provide the most exciting raw flavor potential, but to use coffee as a force for good. That means bringing people and communities together, sharing stories about our farm families and experiences, collaborating with our project leaders on processing innovation, and reinvesting annually back into the farm. If this all sounds good to you, we would love to engage in a conversation. Please send us your name, email and a short message.