Mauricio Escalante
Operations Director

Maurico is passionate about coffee and the science behind it. He started with ECOM in 1997 in his native Costa Rica where he grew up surrounded by coffee plantations and mills. After experiencing the origin side of the supply chain and to complement his training, he joined Atlantic USA New York as a Coffee Merchant in 1999. He returned to Costa Rica to accept the role of Commercial Director at Cafinter and be part of the leadership team. Mauricio joined Atlantic Specialty as the Managing Director in July 2017 and chairs the ECOM Specialty Committee. He is the father of  three lovely boys, and with is wife Victoria they enjoy outdoor activities in Northern California.

Tina Berard
Merchant Trader

Tina’s coffee roots span back to 1981 when she joined Berard Trading, her father’s commercial coffee importing firm learning her craft in all capacities from quality control, logistics, marketing, purchasing, and sales. In 1992 she organized under Berard Corporation as its COO.

Tina Berard has served as vice president of Atlantic Specialty Coffee since its inception in 1996. She assists in the overall management, development, and direct of the company with special emphasis on trading sustainable coffees and the implementation of certification programs within the organization.

In Tina’s 28 years she’s been an active member of the National Coffee Association (NCA), a board member of The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and has served on various SCAA Committees. Tina is currently celebrating her fifth year as a board member of Grounds for Health, a non-profit organization bringing health care to women in coffee growing communities.

Timothy Hill
East Coast Coffee Creative Director

Tim has been in the coffee industry since 2002, starting as a barista and then doing pretty much every job possible on the roasting side of the business. The last decade Tim has been focused on purchasing green coffee and setting up supply chains, particularly in East Africa. Tim Co-authored the book, A Reference Guide to Ethiopian Coffee Varieties, a book that shed great insight on one of the most complex coffee origins in the world. Tim came to Atlantic Specialty Coffee in 2018 and is our first remote employee working on the East Coast. Tim‘s role is part trader, part buyer, and part quality developer- focused on developing our East Coast presence and offerings.

Eton Tsuno
Merchant Trader

Eton has spent more than half his life in the Specialty Coffee industry. Starting as a Barista in high school and working in coffee through his cello performance education, he has always been at the forefront of the industry. After experiencing nearly all roles in the roasted side of the business from competition Barista and educator to roasting, sourcing and Director of Coffee, he decided to further round out his coffee career as many do, by working backwards in the supply chain.

Eton made the jump and joined Atlantic Specialty in April 2018 as our Green Coffee Specialist. Applying his nearly 20 years of experience, Eton spends most of his time in our lab, working closely with our trade team to further develop our coffee quality, consistency, and relationships with origin suppliers and roaster clients alike.

In the rare occasion when Eton isn’t immersed in something coffee centric, look for him in the mountains or meandering through local farmers markets and thinking what’s for dinner.

Ali Johnston
Merchant Trader

Ali has performed many roles in the coffee industry: barista, roaster, quality analyst, and now Coffee Merchant for Atlantic Specialty Coffee on the east coast. She has served on various Cup of Excellence juries, received Q-Arabica and Q-Robusta certification, and facilitated cupping calibrations with supply chain partners in places such as Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, and Sumatra. In addition to connecting roasters with their ideal coffees, Ali is responsible for collaborating with Atlantic Specialty’s exporting and producing partners to document the story of each coffee.

Badi Bradley
Merchant Trader

Badi’s academic background is in Business Administration and International Economic Development.  He first started getting to know specialty coffee when he was in the Peace Corps in Guatemala.  After graduate school, in 2004, he began working in coffee retail in Chapel Hill, NC.  After 5 years, he jumped to green coffee importing, starting the import side of a joint venture with a boutique Latin American green coffee exporting company.  In 2022, he joined ECOM to work with Atlantic Specialty Coffee as a Coffee Merchant on the east coast trade team. In this role, he creates and develops relationships and fulfills customers’ needs by buying and selling green coffee for coffee roasters.