Bellwether Coffee has announced the addition of coffee and technology veteran Paul Yee to its team as Chief Financial Officer.
Bellwether Coffee is the maker of a first-of-its-kind zero-emissions commercial coffee roaster and integrated green Coffee Marketplace.
“Paul's successes and experience in helping lead high-growth companies, like Stitch Fix, Method, and Peet's will be invaluable to Bellwether,” says Nathan Gilliland, Chief Executive Officer of Bellwether.
“We're proud of our success over the past quarter in particular, in the face of many unknowns in the market, and look forward to benefiting from Paul's strategic guidance and consumer-centric approach as we continue to scale and grow.”
With more than 20 years of experience helping build top-tier, global brands, Bellwether says Yee excels at working within industry-shaping, growth-driven companies. Most recently, Paul was the CFO at Stitch Fix, where he led the US$137million initial public offering of the technology-powered apparel retailer.
Prior to that, Yee was CFO of Method Products, which was acquired by SC Johnson, and spent more than six years at Peet's Coffee, most recently as the Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Paul helped see Peet's Coffee through an acquisition by a private investment group for US$1 billion in 2012, as well.
Bellwether Coffee has reported its strongest quarter to date in Q2, 2020, with more than 100 per cent growth over the year prior in new roaster installs.
Current customers of Bellwether, like Unravel Coffee in Denver, Colorado, have seen 400 per cent growth in e-commerce bagged coffee sales from mid-March to mid-May.
“I'm inspired by Bellwether's mission to make coffee roasting more accessible and sustainable for the environment and our communities,” Yee says. “I'm excited to be joining the team and driving growth as we continue the company on the trajectory of reaching more customers, from large brands to small neighbourhood coffee shops, giving them ownership of their coffee roasting programs.”
As CFO at Bellwether, Yee will lead all finance functions and specific operational functions. He'll provide coaching and mentoring to relevant team members as Bellwether iterates on its product and identifies new sales channels.
Yee has a Master of Business Administration degree and Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University. He is a certified running coach with Road Runners Club of America and resides with his family in the East Bay.
For more information, visit www.bellwethercoffee.com
