Don’t Be Afraid of Change: Designing Coffee Business Success | Panos Konstantinopoulos | Coffee Retail Summit

Panos Konstantinopoulos, Managing Director of Coffee Island, shares how the company grew from an idea to bring specialty takeaway coffee to Greece to a successful business with almost 500 shops in seven countries.

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He will discuss the importance of learning as you go, designing customer experiences, and, of course, not being afraid of change!

About the Presenter

Panos Konstantinopoulos, Managing Director
Coffee Island

Panos (born in Patras, Greece in 1976) studied Engineering (MEng) at the University of Patras and completed two Master Programs in UK and Greece. He started his professional career as a Civil Engineer and worked in the construction sector for more than ten years. His love for coffee took over when he designed a coffee shop for Coffee Island back in 2010. 

Today, after joining Coffee Island in 2012, he holds the title of Managing Director. He is the head of the R&D and the Network Operation Departments, leading a team of 52 coffee professionals. His responsibilities include the training and operation of the 470 coffee shops of the Coffee Island network, as well as the selection of all the specialty coffees that Coffee Island roasts (≈1800 tons in 2019). He is an active AST and has trained more than 2500 coffee professionals. He is a Q-Grader and a leading member of Coffee Island’s cupping panel. 

Panos is an active member of SCA, a member of the SCA Education Advisory Board, a member of the CSP Creators Group, an active member of the Barista Guild of Europe and a National WCE Judge.


Find all of the presentations from this event in the freely available Coffee Retail Summit Resource Library or learn more about our upcoming Coffee Retail Summits at retail.sca.coffee.