SCA Ireland Chapter: Meet the Committee
The SCA Ireland Chapter has elected a new committee!
We are pleased to announce that we have received sufficient nominees to fulfil all open coordinator roles to form the SCA Ireland Chapter Committee for the term of 2022-2024.
While there were many nominations, the number of accepted nominations matched the amounts of open committee positions without contention. As such there is no need to proceed with the usual election process.
The new SCA Ireland Chapter Committee is formed by:
National Coordinator - Lucas Sampaio
Events Coordinator - Dominik Roman
Judges Coordinator - Mariusz Rybak
Community Coordinator - Stephen Houston
Education Coordinator - Sarah J Hannaway
We would like to give the community the chance to provide comments on the new Chapter Committee consisting of the professionals listed above. If you have any concerns, please get in touch with us before April 6 by emailing us at chapters@sca.coffee. As a reminder, you can learn more about the roles and responsibilities of each position on our website.
Thank you for participating in this important process for the SCA Ireland Chapter.
Meet the Committee
Lucas Sampaio
National Coordinator
Lucas Sampaio, founder of Viva Coffee Ltd, hails from a city in Sao Paulo state called Espirito Santo do Pinhal. This is coffee country! This thriving region’s main business is growing, processing and selling coffee worldwide.
Lucas worked in the family coffee business for 10 years before moving to Ireland in 2008.
Lucas identified a gap in the market for Irish Roasters to source premium coffee directly from Brazil and other origins – from farm to cup. Lucas set up Viva Coffee Ltd. in 2019.
With Lucas’s in-depth knowledge of coffee, combined with his extensive network in Brazil and world wide, Viva Coffee Ltd. source and supply premium, ethically sourced, single origin, green coffee beans directly to Irish roasters.
The name “Viva Coffee” is rooted in Lucas’s family’s passion for living every day to the full, and each of those days start off with good coffee. Viva!
Stephen Houston
Community Coordinator
Hello! My name's Stephen Houston, owner and head of coffee of Lucid Coffee Roasters based in Belfast NI. I have been part of the SCA Community for nearly 8 years now, having competed many times in various competitions, attended trade shows and got to know so many great coffee people! I want to invoke positive change to how we run things, how the chapter engages with the wider Irish community, make accessibility, communication and transparency being the pillars of what we do. Looking forward to listening and engaging with the coffee community!
Mariusz Rybak
Judges Coordinator
I'm originally from Poland, moved to Ireland in 2006, My coffee journey started in 2009 when I got a job as a barista. A year later I participated in my first National CiGS competition where I took 2nd place and a very next year 3rd place. I have been working in coffee industry in various roles as quality control, consultant, and trainer. I competed in the National Barista Championships until 2016 and since then I've been judging Latte Art, Barista, and Brewers competitions in Ireland and abroad.
Sarah J Hannaway
Education Coordinator
I have been involved with coffee and coffee education for a long time and I have enjoyed every single second of it. My own passion and story with training has created great experiences and has introduced me to coffee people from all walks of life. We are a wide and wonderful community. Coffee education has always been so important to me, the growth and development of new skill sets are for me considered a journey of challenges and personal understanding. I like to create spaces of comfort, curiosity and discussion around coffee education. This for me is an important balance to maintain when helping others develop new skills and I enjoy every second of it.
Dominik Roman
Events Coordinator
Hello, my name is Dominik. My professional adventure with coffee started in 2005. I have started as a Barista, through Store Manager to currently held position of Regional Manager at Insomnia Coffee Company.
My day job is to support cafes, provide trainings to keep coffee standards of highest level, support Managers, organizing supplies and everything in between to make sure the cafes are fully operational. The nature of my job equipped me with great organization and communication skills, ability to prioritise and patience.
I have joined SCA in 2007/08 (SCAE). Since then, I have been participating in many coffee events. I have been a contestant, supporting staff and a judge at local, National (Ireland) and at World Competitions (Amsterdam 2018, Berlin 2019). I am certified technical judge, sensory and visual judge on Latte Art, Brewers Cup, Barista and Coffee in Good Spirits. I am an AST since 2021.
My favourite part of coffee world is the amazing people you meet on the way.