The rich aroma of freshly roasted coffee fills the air inside Bamboo Coffee Roasters, a cozy cafe located in a quaint stone cabin in Maoli, a village in eastern China. The cafe is owned by Frank Sterzer, a German barista who has found new purpose in this rural area after a successful career in the automobile industry.
After more than 20 years working as an engineer and executive for top car companies in Germany and China, Sterzer turned his lifelong passion for coffee into a thriving business. He moved to Maoli, a village near Ningbo in Zhejiang province, where he fell in love with the local landscape and tranquil lifestyle.
“The countryside in Zhejiang has great infrastructure and stunning views. It’s the perfect place to live,” Sterzer says.
Maoli is just a 30-minute drive from Ningbo, offering the perfect balance of urban convenience and rural calm. For Sterzer, it’s a place where visitors can enjoy a peaceful experience—sipping coffee, eating handmade cake, and gazing out at the countryside.
“Bamboo Coffee Roasters is my way of sharing this beautiful mountain village with others,” he explains.
The cafe is named after the bamboo that grows abundantly in Maoli, and its logo is based on a photo Sterzer took of a nearby bamboo forest. Behind the cafe, Sterzer runs a small coffee factory, where he roasts 10 metric tons of premium beans a year. His roasting process has played a key role in the cafe’s success.
Sterzer first came to China in 2006 to work for BMW in Shenyang. Over the years, he also lived and worked in cities like Chengdu, Shanghai, and Beijing. But during a visit to Maoli in 2021, he was captivated by the village’s charm and decided to open the cafe.
The cafe occupies a building that was once a warehouse. Sterzer spent a year carefully renovating it, preserving its rustic character while adding modern coffee-roasting equipment. He also received support from the village council, which provided reduced rent and improved local infrastructure, including upgrading power lines.
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