Gabe Dunn

Gabe is our SPOT Sales Manager and has worked with us since 2021. He started working in coffee as a barista in 2006 and has since dabbled in roasting, sensory, customer service, sourcing, and green coffee sales. After more than a decade in European coffee sales and a brief detour outside the industry, he found his way back to coffee with Nordic Approach. As he puts it: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in...”

‍

Role and responsibility

Gabe oversees Nordic Approach’s global SPOT Sales strategy and team, focusing on coffees available from our EU warehouse. His role is all about connecting roasters with seasonal coffees that are ready to buy, helping customers navigate what’s incoming, in-stock, and making sure our approach to spot sales is adapted across different markets.

He combines commercial strategy with plenty of hands-on coffee experience, bringing a broad understanding of what roasters need and how to make the most of the coffees available.

What you see on our offerlist is the result of close collaboration between Gabe and the procurement team. They keep an eye on market demand, shape the right coffee selection, and make sure those coffees reach the right customers. He can usually be found buried in pricing spreadsheets or deep in our ERP system, working his magic.

‍

Approach and ways of working

Buying coffee is about understanding seasonality and not overcomplicating things. “Buy seasonally and don't overestimate how much people actually care.”

His advice to anyone getting too caught up in the details? Touch grass occasionally.

‍

Experience and background

Gabe started working in coffee as a barista in 2006 and has since worked in several roles across the industry, including production roasting, lab and sensory work, customer service, and origin-focused projects. Much of his career has been spent with green coffee importers.

Before joining Nordic Approach, he was Director of European Sales at Cafe Imports and Sales Manager at Primavera Coffee Importers. Earlier in his career, he also worked as a roaster at Vote Coffee.

‍

Industry exposure

Gabe has worked extensively on quality and procurement projects throughout Latin America, with a particular focus on Colombia and Guatemala. Alongside his sales work across Europe over the past 12 years, he has also managed activities in Australia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

‍

Perspective

Something he believes people get wrong about coffee is enjoying it is inextricable from the quality of the environment: "a mid coffee from a nice barista in a comfortable cafe will always trump a perfect extraction in a place that feels like a Mac store".