Noor Gaith, BS 17 – Bringing Palestinian Roots to Specialty Coffee

This month, OneHaas is honored to welcome Noor Gaith to the podcast. Noor is the co-founder of Jaffa Coffee Roasters, named after the city, and specializes in artisanal coffee experiences.

Noor and his brothers grew up in the Bay Area but come from a big Palestinian family. Raised by immigrant parents from Palestine and Jerusalem, Noor learned the importance of education and following your heart and passions at an early age. By 16, he was already running his own business selling iPhones. 

Noor brought that entrepreneurial spirit to Haas where he honed his talents for marketing and brand positioning. After graduating, he found himself at Square and it was through this job he found a new passion: coffee. 

Host Sean Li chatted with Noor about his journey from iPhones to coffee, how the creation of Jaffa is rooted in his family’s culture, and what sets their coffee apart from all the other artisanal coffees on the market. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his dad’s decision to leave Palestine and head West

“My dad left Palestine in the ‘80s after the Oslo Accords. And, basically not seeing any potential for us to have any opportunity for, you know, like a life of education and career in Palestine. He was the, I wouldn't say odd one out in his family, but he's the only one who didn't see himself staying, because he was the educated one. He was the one who wanted to study engineering and like he made that happen by finally getting a visa and leaving Palestine.”

The early beginnings of his entrepreneurial spirit 

“In high school, I was buying candy bars from Costco and I would sell them, resell them at school. And then I started selling iPhone cases. And people would just buy them from me. They just knew that I was like the jacket guy. I was like, what do you want? And I didn't do it for vanity or like even really for money. I just kind of thought, I'm like, why isn't everyone doing this? Why isn't everyone turning a profit or making arbitrage? And my brain just understood buy low, sell high and provide value. People want candy. People want lemonade.”

The specialness of Jaffa Coffee

“Coffee roasters in San Francisco are the vanguards. They bring some of the best. As you go up North, you'll find that in Oregon and Seattle, they lack color. It's a very white world in coffee roasting. There hasn't been really one like coffee roaster that has been Palestinian in the Ivy League status of like Ritual, Blue Bottle, Stumptown. That doesn't exist. What we're doing is like the Michelin star equivalent of coffee.”

On his passion for coffee

“I would do this as a hobby. It was like my library. I would go and I'd order a latte and I'd order a cortado and I'd sit there and I would just think about coffee because it was fun to me.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Jaffa Coffee Roasters

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