Five Elephant Coffee Roasters
Sources: Five Elephant Coffee Roasters (website)
Five Elephant is a Berlin-based specialty roaster founded in December 2010 in Kreuzberg — one of the pioneers of Berlin’s specialty coffee scene. The brand’s tagline is “Celebrating Coffee’s Transformative Power Through Exceptional Quality.” The company operates two Berlin cafés and ships roasted coffee across Europe via DTC and a wholesale programme.
Scale and operations
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 2010, Kreuzberg, Berlin |
| Founders | Kris Schackman (sourcing, Co-CEO) and Sophie Schackman (cafe/bakery, Co-CEO) |
| Locations | 2 cafés: Kreuzberg (original, recently reopened) and Mitte |
| Roastery | Berlin (roasts Monday and Thursday; dispatches next day) |
| E-commerce | Shopify DTC, EUR-denominated, ships across EU (DHL/FedEx); free shipping from €39 |
| Wholesale | Reserve Partners Program; contact: wholesale@fiveelephant.com |
Sourcing philosophy
Five Elephant describes its model as “directly traded” — a transparency-based approach grounded in real producer relationships rather than certification labels. Co-CEO Kris Schackman leads sourcing and strategy with a stated focus on traceability, quality, and long-term partnerships. The company collaborates with producers committed to environmental regeneration and exceptional quality.
Key sourcing principles:
- Long-term producer relationships: multi-season partnerships with named farms (e.g. Finca Majahual, ongoing across at least the 2024–25 harvest)
- Transparency over labels: directly traded, not necessarily certified; focus is on being able to explain the full chain from farm to cup
- Seasonal and curated: small rotating roster of ~6–8 single-origin coffees at any given time
- Precision processing projects: sourcing experiments with multiple processes from the same pick (see El Salvador section below)
No ACE membership or Cup of Excellence participation was detected on the site. No EU organic (BIO) certification requirement.
El Salvador programme
Five Elephant has an active El Salvador programme. Their current product is the Finca Majahual Three Process Tasting Set, described as the product of a “long partnership with Patrick Murray at Finca Majahual.”
Finca El Majahual
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Farm | Finca El Majahual |
| Producer | Murray Meza Family (Patrick Murray) |
| Region | Los Naranjos Valley, El Salvador |
| Altitude | 1,500–1,800 masl |
| Variety | Orange Bourbon |
| Processing | Wet milled at Sicafe (while Majahual builds its own wet mill) |
The 2024–25 Orange Bourbon Processing Project
Five Elephant and Patrick Murray ran a controlled processing experiment on a single Orange Bourbon lot, picked on the same day from the same section of the farm. Three preparations:
| Process | Tasting notes |
|---|---|
| Washed | Earl Grey, red apple, blood orange |
| Natural | White grape, blueberry compote, hazelnut |
| 48h Anaerobic | Red grape, dates, tangerine |
The set is sold as three 100g bags (300g total) at €31.78 ≈ €106/kg. One review as of May 2026 (5/5 stars).
The product copy notes that the “climatic collision of cool Pacific air meeting inland heat from the Coatepeque basin” creates the mist and slow maturation that defines Majahual’s cup structure — language rooted in terroir and microclimate, consistent with how Kaiserblick communicates its own Apaneca-Ilamatepec farms.
Current coffee range (as of May 2026)
| Product | Origin | Process | Retail (250g / kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finca Majahual Three Process Set | El Salvador, Los Naranjos Valley | Washed / Natural / 48h Anaerobic | €31.78 / ≈€106 |
| Burundi Gakenke Kayanza | Burundi | — | €17.29 / ~€69 |
| Ethiopia Queen of Sheba | Ethiopia, Sidama Bensa | — | €17.29 / ~€69 |
| Brazil Sítio Sassafras | Brazil | — | €16.36 / ~€65 |
| Colombia Santa Fe | Colombia | — | €17.29 / ~€69 |
| Rwanda Rugori | Rwanda | — | €17.29 / ~€69 |
| Brazil Serra dos Ciganos | Brazil | — | ~€65 |
| Colombia Decaf | Colombia | — | €15.82 / ~€63 |
| House Filter | Blend | — | €11.68 |
| House Espresso | Blend | — | €11.68 |
Price tiers
| Tier | Range | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Blend / entry | ~€47–55/kg | House Filter, House Espresso |
| Standard single-origin | ~€63–69/kg | Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Colombia |
| Premium / experimental | ~€99–113/kg | El Salvador tasting set |
El Salvador sits firmly in the premium-experimental tier — consistent with how other Berlin roasters price Salvadoran micro-lots (see 19grams Coffee Roasters at €80/kg for Los Tres Potros).
Team
| Name | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Kris Schackman | Co-Founder & Co-CEO | Leads sourcing; film/advertising background |
| Sophie Schackman | Co-Founder & Co-CEO | Café, bakery, HR; originally from Vienna |
| Ilias Vougioukas | Head Roaster | — |
| Guy Giraud | Roastery Assistant (Mitte) | Go-to origins: El Salvador and Kenya — internal El Salvador champion |
| Wayne Harvey | Sales & Account Lead | Primary wholesale contact |
| Ilonka Nik | Sales Assistant | Visits wholesale partners |
Guy Giraud’s stated affinity for El Salvador is notable — a potential internal advocate for expanding Kaiserblick into the range.
Wholesale programme
The Reserve Partners Program is structured around low minimums, fast delivery, and comprehensive support:
- Coffee: direct-sourced single-origins, same product range as retail
- Equipment: La Marzocco machines at “Germany’s best pricing”; grinders and brewers
- Training: on-site barista training, recipe development, workflow guidance, calibration
- Support: menu planning, staff onboarding, brand assets, community events
Contact: wholesale@fiveelephant.com — responds within 1–2 business days.
Fit for Kaiserblick
HIGH-MEDIUM fit. Key factors:
- Active El Salvador programme — not a clean slate: Unlike Bonanza Coffee Roasters, Five Elephant already sources from El Salvador (Finca Majahual, Orange Bourbon). A new Kaiserblick relationship would complement rather than introduce El Salvador. The opportunity is to offer different farms, regions, and varieties alongside or as future alternatives to the Majahual programme — not to replicate it.
- Long-partnership model: Five Elephant favours multi-season, named-producer relationships. Kaiserblick’s positioned as a full-value-chain producer (farm, processing, export) — the kind of story Five Elephant wants.
- Internal El Salvador enthusiasm: Guy Giraud (Mitte, roastery) lists El Salvador as a go-to origin. An internal champion can move a sourcing conversation forward.
- Terroir storytelling alignment: Five Elephant’s Majahual product copy emphasises microclimate, altitude, and “clarity of structure” — the same registers Kaiserblick uses for Apaneca-Ilamatepec. The vocabulary is compatible.
- No organic cert requirement: no BIO barrier (contrast: Coffee Pirates Vienna).
- No ACE/COE requirement: relationship and quality drive sourcing decisions; competition wins help but are not gating.
- Wholesale infrastructure: Berlin roastery with pan-European DTC and wholesale; serious capacity for B2B green coffee relationships.
- Pioneer credibility: a Five Elephant listing carries weight in the German specialty market.
Differentiation from Majahual: Kaiserblick grows in Apaneca-Ilamatepec (different region from Los Naranjos Valley), with varieties such as Pacamara, Tekisic, San Pacho, and potentially Gesha — none of which overlap with Majahual’s Orange Bourbon. This avoids any appearance of competing with an existing partner.
WoC Brussels 2026 (June 25–27): As a 15-year-old Berlin pioneer with active El Salvador sourcing and known engagement with the specialty trade community, Five Elephant is a strong WoC attendee. Outreach should lead with complementary origins and the processing/traceability angle — not El Salvador as a category pitch, but Kaiserblick’s specific farms and micro-lots.
Contact
- Website: fiveelephant.com
- Wholesale: wholesale@fiveelephant.com
- General enquiries: answers@fiveelephant.com
- Wholesale account lead: Wayne Harvey