The story behind unbound coffee roasters

From Hurdler to Hurdle Master
- a little fairytail

The genes and the little rebel

Florian Mayrhofer or simply Flo – sometimes affectionately or with a sarcastic undertone also called Flootschii, founded unbound coffee roasters in 2017.

But why exactly would you start a coffee roasting company when the coffee market already seems to be a bit overcrowded? We can tell you right from the start: it was definitely not the direct route, but a path over hill and dale and one or two detours - unbound, in other words.

High quality food

High-quality food has always been part of Florian's life, and his dad Günter in particular paid a lot of attention to quality and preparation. Even as a teenager, Flo didn't drink wine from a Tetra Pak on his travels through Austria. Instead, he was already interested in sampling the variety, flavors and aromas of local wines - which may not have prevented a few crashes, but certainly improved the taste. Meanwhile, as sales manager for a large Italian coffee company, his dad Günter was partly responsible for the spread of Italian coffee culture in western Austria. At that time, Flo didn't know much about coffee. However, it bothered him even then that he couldn't find any precise information about the origin and processing on the packaging of his parents' coffee. His interest, however, led him to a pubertal family crisis, because after all, their coffee was "the best coffee there is" - and you don't have to ask for much about that.

Once a (10) fighter – always crazy

Florian's ambition and his willingness to always give 120% are rooted in competitive sport - as a 10-athlete and 400m hurdler, you don't have much choice. During his sporting career, Flo also met his future partner and co-founder Alois. They were not only united by their joy and ambition in and around sport, but also by their desire for independence and the banal idea of ​​making the world a little bit more beautiful and better with their actions - warning: tearjerker alert! Sustainability and raising awareness are not only personally fulfilling for them, but also a goal that they want to convey to as many people as possible within their reach.

Just save the world quickly...

After studying economics, Florian made his long-held dream come true and traveled for several months through South America and then Southeast Asia. During this trip, he repeatedly visited local coffee farms and learned first-hand about the conditions under which they produce their product.

We travelled through Colombia by motorbike. Florian specifically sought out conversations with coffee farmers and was able to taste a wide variety of varieties and experience how cultivation and processing methods affect the taste of coffee. Campfires, the smell of coffee beans freshly roasted over the fire - OK, we'll let you dream for a bit.

In his conversations with the local people, however, he also learned about the dark side of the coffee business, about exploitation, underpayment and difficult infrastructural conditions. With all of this input, he then continued on to Panama.

Daydreaming

Do you get your best ideas in a hammock? Definitely, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here with a cup of the best unbound coffee. On the lonely islands of Guna Yala, Panama, Flo had plenty of time to absorb his impressions of Colombia and think about how he would continue to live his life after the trip. The desire to start his own company, with all the values ​​that are important to him - and that became more and more important during the trip - took concrete shape. "I want to start a coffee roasting company" - this sentence stuck with him so quickly.

Back to the roots - re-entry for advanced learners

From South America back to Austria – let's just say there are easier ways. It took Florian a while to get used to his homeland again. He was particularly struck by how differently values ​​are lived out in different cultures. Consumption and security are high on the list of priorities in our society and this often comes at the expense of the local producers in the respective countries.

Although awareness of regionality is increasing, there is often a lack of understanding of quality and fairness for products that cannot be produced in the country itself.

Flo wants to bring this process closer to his customers, to show them the long journey a coffee bean has to take to end up as a cappuccino on our breakfast table. To this end, he worked intensively on his own understanding and knowledge after his return.https://unbound.cc/pages/bio-zurueckverfolgbar-fairssen around coffee. He completed barista training, attended roasting courses and special trade fairs for third-wave coffee throughout Europe and gradually acquired his knowledge and experience. During his master's degree, he developed the brand unbound coffee roasters as a study project - a brand that has sustainability and transparency as its primary goal. At the time, his small kitchen looked more like a secret meth lab, but it served its purpose.

So Unbound coffee roasters is more or less a kitchen company, not a garage company. And without Flo's sporting career, lugging the 60kg bags up to the third floor would have been a bit more difficult.

Wait, wait... And why unbound?

Sport, nature, adventure, freedom and travel - these are the things in life that all employees at unbound have in common. Unbound - meaning unbound, free - means enjoying coffee wherever you want it, be it on the top of a mountain or in your converted bus while surfing... but also when you're just sitting in the office, sniffing your coffee and dreaming of your next vacation. Freedom with the knowledge that you're supporting sustainable projects and creating fair working conditions for farmers - freedom with values, that's unbound.

That was our little story about the creation of unbound, the not so classic coffee roasting company. We hope you enjoyed it and in this spirit: Once upon a time – and for a long time to come – there was a coffee roasting company called unbound.

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