Marilena Kouidou
Principal of WSPC Coffee School
I am happy because I have the opportunity through the educational programmes of WSPC and BSA to infuse in our students my love and passion for the wonderful and very important coffee, cocoa and tea products, I have been serving for years. My vision is to creatively contribute to the creation of a new generation of tourism professionals in Greece who will worthily represent our country and make us proud!
Marilena Kouidou was born in Thessaloniki in 1974 and graduated from Anatolia American College. She continued her studies in Great Britain graduating from the London School of Economics & Political Science with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Sociology. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Business & Management from the University of Essex of Great Britain. She also studied at the Institute of Leadership & Management, UK, and is certified in Strategic Leadership.
She was trained in the stock market trading of coffee and logistics in Geneva Italy with the company Comtrade SPA (member of the Itochu group). In 2003 she obtained her first certification in espresso tasting from the London School of Coffee. She holds a variety of specialization certifications relating to coffee and tea from international institutions.
Since 1988 she has been working in the coffee and tea industry, specializing in the logistics of green coffee and tea.
Since 2016 she has been working in coffee and tea education. The same year she was certified as an official trainer of the Beverage Standards Association of UK for all their educational programmes.
In 2016 she founded the consulting company for coffee, tea and cocoa, COTECO SA, which represents the educational programmes Beverage Standards Association of UK.
Currently she is studying in the first Post-graduate educational programme for coffee (Coffee Excellence) at the University of Zurich.
She is a member of the corporate social responsibility committee of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce.
Since 2021 she has been collaborating with WSPC as the Principal of WSPC Coffee School.
She lives in Athens and is married with two children.
