Climate Change Interviews

Interview with Lisette Gaviña Lopez, Marketing Director at F. Gaviña and Sons

January 18, 2021

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Today I am joined by Lisette Gaviña Lopez who is a 4th generation coffee roaster and a key member of the Gaviña coffee family and the Market Director at F. Gaviña & Sons.

As Executive Marketing Director, Lisette oversees the company’s brands including Don Francisco’s Coffee, Café La Llave Espresso, Gaviña Gourmet Coffee and Jose’s Gourmet Coffee. Her team of brand champions develops and launches new product and commercial innovations, and also develops all branded communication for the company’s brands. Lisette’s recent projects include the launch of Don Francisco’s Coffee Espresso Capsules and the opening of the family’s first ever first brick and mortar coffee shop, Don Francisco’s Coffee Casa Cubana in downtown LA. She is also involved in key government affairs and community outreach initiatives. She currently serves on the Board of the Vernon Chamber of Commerce and as Board member of the California Restaurant Association Los Angeles chapter.

Lisette comes from a long line of coffee growers and roasters. The Gaviña family has been in the coffee business for nearly 150 years starting in Cuba, and today owns F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc., the nation’s largest minority owned family coffee roaster, and a leading producer of high-quality great-tasting coffee for more than four generations. The company recently celebrated 50 years of roasting in Los Angeles. She first joined the company in 2001 as a project manager where she developed employee productivity and professional development initiatives and led the company’s organic coffee certification process. Two years later she joined the marketing team to help launch the company’s flagship Don Francisco’s Coffee ground bags, Café La Llave instant coffee, and various Organic coffees across all house brands. In this capacity she also initiated and managed two adopt-a-school projects in the coffee growing regions of Nicaragua and Mexico.

In 2008, she joined Procter & Gamble as assistant brand manager on the $100 million Clairol Professional brand. There, she led various marketing initiatives most notably the restage of the iconic Miss Clairol brand in North America. After three years at Procter & Gamble, Lisette’s passion for the family business led her back to F. Gaviña & Sons, Inc.

With more than 10 years of coffee industry experience, Lisette actively works to improve the quality of coffee and is a member of several organizations including the National Coffee Association, the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and the Pacific Coast Coffee Association. She is also a Licensed Q grader, in other words, a certified coffee taster.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lisette holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. She is also a graduate of the USC Food Industry Management Executive Program.

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