The Original Coffee Educators
For over 30 years, we at Bellissimo Coffee Advisors have made it our mission to help people live out their dreams of opening a coffee business. Through our consulting and workshops, previously the American Barista & Coffee School, we have helped thousands of aspiring coffee shop owners learn the skills they need to survive and thrive in the coffee industry.
Our clients range from founders and representatives of large established corporations, to entrepreneurs seeking insight to open their first coffeehouse. As founders ourselves, we know all the ins and outs of starting and operating a successful coffee business.
Our program was created to help industry professionals by giving them actionable information and the confidence to go into business for themselves. Since their inception, our workshops and services have grown and now include topics on everything a coffee business owner needs to know. The topics we cover are all taught by experts who have ownership mentality and decades of experience.
For some, our workshops and digital resources are just the start of their work with us. We offer continued consultation and services long beyond our workshops. These services are one-on-one personalized advice on anything your business needs directly from our experts.
Our testimonials come from real business owners who have used our online workshops and consulting services to get a head start on their dreams. From local community coffee shops to roll outs of large scale CPG products and everything in between, we work with those who want to succeed in specialty coffee.
Our Team
Matt Milletto
Co-Founder
Matt has worked in specialty coffee steadily for over twenty five years, in management, consulting and ownership of retail and roasting operations. He has helped hundreds of small and large coffee businesses open up and succeed around the world. Working with Bellissimo Coffee Advisors, Matt transformed a legacy training and consulting business into the digital era, developing the industry’s first Digital Coffee Resource and Online Barista Training platform. Matt is Co-Founder also of Water Avenue Coffee, a roastery and retail operations in Portland, OR and helped grow the company to over $4M in annual revenue, and navigating a healthy transition plan and exit. He also founded Barista Exchange in 2006, the industry’s first online focused community and social network, with over 18k members.
Recently Matt has founded Vehicle Mushrooms, a functional coffee and chocolate CPG company born out of the pandemic. Being in the CPG and direct to consumer business in a growing sector of the market allows for Matt to work with clients on a real life level, navigating the ups and downs of the markets!
Matt is a past President of the Oregon Coffee Board, a board member of Dollar For and is on the Headwaters Council of the Freshwater Trust.
Bruce Milletto
Co-Founder
Bruce is recognized by the press and the coffee industry internationally as the voice of the specialty coffee industry. He has been interviewed by, or quoted in: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Newsweek, 60 Minutes, Kiplinger’s, Starbucks Annual Report, Forbes, the Economist, Harvard Management Update, Crain’s Business Review, the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, Business Week and Entrepreneur.
The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) named Bruce Milletto one of its 20 “Coffee Luminaries,” and he appeared in Gourmet Retailer’s 25th anniversary issue on the list of the 25 individuals who helped shape the specialty coffee industry.
Bruce wrote a column for many years for Fresh Cup magazine, the specialty coffee industry’s leading publication. He continues to frequently author articles for the magazine as well as provide articles and interviews for such trade publications as Fancy Food, Gourmet Retailer, Coffee and Beverage Euro Coffee and Coffeenet.