Coffee Fest Los Angeles 2026 Exhibitor List

<p>Angela Dunne is a Senior Specialty Sales Representative at Balzac Brothers, a green coffee importer based in Charleston, SC. She has been working in coffee for 15 years. Her career span includes baristaing, management, training, menu development, quality control, roasting, and green coffee sales. In addition to sales, she is a roasting lab consultant at the Balzac Brothers lab and teaches barista classes She is an evolved Q Grader and has competed in US Coffee Championship for barista, brewers, and cup tasters.   </p>

<p>Tuan Huynh: Community. Culture. Coffee.</p> <p>Tuan Huynh is a creative entrepreneur and founder of VietFive Coffee, a vertically integrated coffee brand with a purpose-driven business model, while building a movement rooted in community, resilience, and possibility.</p> <p>Born in Vietnam and raised in the Midwest, Tuan transformed his life experience into a celebrated career as an award-winning Creative Director before stepping into entrepreneurship with a deeper mission: to create impact at scale.</p> <p>Through VietFive, he connects his family’s coffee farm in Vietnam to communities in Chicago and beyond—turning every cup into a symbol of heritage, opportunity, and progress.</p> <p>Together with his wife Anna, he leads Grounds to Greatness through BeLikeWater.org, creating pathways to employment, dignity, and upward mobility for justice-impacted individuals and people with disabilities.</p> <p>Tuan’s belief is unwavering: when you invest in people, you unlock potential—and when you build with purpose, you create generational change.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Nethra Rajendran is a culinary strategist, sustainability storyteller, and self-proclaimed climate chef working at the intersection of flavor and systems change. She earned her diploma in Plant-Based Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and currently serves as the Beverage Experience Developer at Oatly. She leads up Taste Strategy for North America and keeps ahead of the trends on beverage concepts and taste-forward experiences.</p> <p>With a background in corporate sustainability and communications, Nethra previously led storytelling and content strategy at GreenBiz and serves as one of the founding members of DC Climate Week, convening thousands of climate leaders through immersive events. She is also the host of the Sustainability Defined podcast, with over half a million download. In her podcast she has explored the supply chains of popular commodities such as matcha, banana and cacao.</p> <p>After years of shaping climate conversations through words and strategy, Nethra deepened her craft in the kitchen. Today, she blends culinary technique, beverage innovation, and systems thinking to explore how what we drink (not just what we eat) can nourish both people and planet.</p>

<p>A less taxing life on this planet can be an easy thing, just start with anything, like a drink made with this Oatly thing. It might inspire you to change another thing and when more people do the same thing, we can change everything.</p>

<p>Gage Johnston is the Marketing Manager for Franke Coffee Systems in North America, specializing in market intelligence, product management, and coffee education. With an extensive background in specialty coffee and business operations, Gage has held pivotal roles at renowned companies such as White Rhino Coffee, Bird Rock Coffee, and Nostalgia Coffee Roasters. His positions have included Director of Coffee, Director of Specialty Beverages, Multi-Unit Shop Manager, Head Roaster, among others. Gage's deep industry knowledge, insightful perspective, and vast experience make him an invaluable resource in the coffee industry. Outside of the industry, Gage enjoys keeping up with his favorite field of philosophy, exploring the plant-based food scene, studying languages, and traveling the world.</p>

Antoine “Twizz” Franklin is from Cleveland OH. His coffee career spans almost 20 years, specializing in developing training programs and assisting teams get their start in coffee as a personal consultant, with a concentration on working with POC small business owners. In 2017 he became Portland Coffee Fest Champion, placing 2nd in Dallas 2016, and most recently landed a permanent seat on the LAWCO judges panel and as a key hands-on instructor for Coffee Fest.