Raivis Vaitekuns
Raivis Vaitekuns is the first and so far the only Barista trainer from Latvia that holds the Speciality Coffee Association trainer certification. Being one of the pioneers for specialty coffee in his country he's also responsible for shaping and developing specialty market there.
With experiences from hospitality to corporate sales, after the economic crisis of 2009, Raivis co-founded the first specialty coffee shop in Latvia - Miit Coffee in 2010.
There he found his passion for coffee and along with that got introduced to the specialty coffee community - an ethical and sustainable movement within one of the worlds largest soft commodity industries.
Later, from 2013 to 2017, Raivis went for even more involvement with quality coffee while working as a trainer & consultant for coffee businesses at Gemoss Coffee Studio.
There he gained a range of experiences from lecturing at seminars & running masterclasses to organizing and participating in coffee competitions so having an overall active voice for specialty coffee in Latvia.
In late 2016 Raivis co-founded Coffee Pixels - the edible coffee company, where as the brand director and communicator he's continuing the explorations of quality coffee this time also with perspective form nutritional sciences.
With the combination of coffee knowledge and speaking skills, Raivis continues to inspire anyone interested in coffee to have a fresh perspective on their everyday coffee rituals.
Coffee Pixels
Coffee Pixels is reinventing the coffee experience by turning specialty coffee into a mobile, ready to eat coffee bar with superfood qualities.
Coffee Pixels uses the entire coffee cherry - the coffee bean and the antioxidant-rich fruit that in combination with cocoa butter results in better antioxidant absorption, as well as slower caffeine release, leading to a more sustainable energy boost.
Since the bar is solid and ready to eat, you can take it with you wherever you go! And with entire coffee cherry being used, Coffee Pixels is the first wasteless coffee product on the market.
With a background based in the specialty coffee industry, Coffee Pixels are in a unique position to create a high-quality coffee product.
The knowledge of producers, raw materials and coffee origins makes them particularly agile and flexible in both production and environmental hurdles.
The team is made up of experienced coffee professionals - who've found the first successful and longest running specialty coffee shop in Latvia called Miit.
Their team was joined by the CEO Jurgis Sedlenieks who has previous experience in aviation and travel industries.
Now Coffee Pixels are produced in Latvia and are sold through all Baltic states to Finland, Germany with multiple European countries to follow.