Mostra Coffee
An opera singer, a TV personality, a Michelin-trained chef, and a decorated Army veteran walked into a coffee company and built one of America’s most decorated specialty roasters on a conviction that fair wages for Filipino farmers change more lives than charity ever could.
Shop Mostra CoffeeMostra Coffee is what happens when four people with nothing obvious in common — an opera singer, a TV personality, a Michelin-trained chef, an Army veteran — organize themselves around a single moral clarity: that fair wages for Philippine farmers are the product, and the coffee is what funds them. They didn’t start a coffee company because they loved coffee. They started it because they understood what labor is worth. “Roaster of the Year” is a fine accolade. The farmer supply chain is the real achievement.
The Founders
Beverly Magtanong
Co-Founder
Jelynn Malone
Co-Founder
Mike Arquines
Co-Founder & Head of Culinary
Sam
Co-Founder
Fast Facts
They Went to the Philippines to Build Homes. They Came Back to Build a Coffee Company.
In 2009, Beverly Magtanong and Jelynn Malone traveled to the Philippines to volunteer — building homes for families living in poverty. It was the kind of work that changes a person. But what changed them most wasn’t the construction. It was the realization, made slowly over time, that fair wages create more lasting change than charity alone. You don’t rebuild a life by handing someone a house. You rebuild it by paying them what their labor is worth.
The two women — Beverly from opera, Jelynn from television and performing arts — turned that conviction into a company. They were joined by Chef Mike Arquines, who had honed his craft inside Michelin-starred kitchens, and Sam, a decorated Army veteran whose business discipline helped shape the operation. Together, they launched Mostra Coffee in San Diego. The name comes from the Italian for “show” or “exhibition” — a nod to the founders’ performance backgrounds, and to the idea that coffee, made with genuine care, is its own kind of performance.
“Be the reason people see the goodness in humanity.”
The company’s farmer partnerships — including direct relationships with Philippine coffee growers — are not a marketing layer. They are the origin of the entire enterprise. Mostra sources single-origin and specialty-grade coffees, roasts them fresh in San Diego, and ships to customers across the United States. Chef Mike’s culinary training shapes the flavor development; the result is a cup calibrated with the same rigour applied to a tasting menu.
The recognition has followed the work. Mostra was named Roaster of the Year — one of the most coveted honors in specialty coffee, awarded to only a handful of roasters globally. The brand was also named one of America’s Top 100 Small Businesses. San Diego claimed them first. The rest of the country followed.
Why We Featured Them
What Makes Mostra Coffee Different
01
The Mission Came Before the Menu
Beverly and Jelynn didn’t start in coffee — they started in the Philippines, building homes and learning that fair wages create more lasting change than charity. Mostra Coffee was built to put that lesson into practice, one bag at a time.
02
Roaster of the Year
Mostra earned one of the specialty coffee industry’s most prestigious honors, placing them among the top roasters in the world. Chef Mike Arquines’ Michelin-star background shapes the flavor development. The coffee is not incidental to the mission — it has to be extraordinary to sustain it.
03
An Unlikely Founding Team That Works
Opera. Television. Michelin kitchens. Military service. On paper, the founders of Mostra Coffee have no business being in the same company. In practice, each one brought exactly what the others couldn’t. The result is a brand disciplined enough to earn national recognition and principled enough to have started in the Philippines.
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