Our People
We’re a dedicated team who have had the privilege of turning
our love of specialty coffee into our careers.
Experienced coffee professionals
Business results focused
Warm, relational, accountable
Rocky Veneziano
Co-FounderRocky remembers making his first espresso at age six while standing on a milk crate in order to reach the machine. With an uncanny ability to identify business opportunities, co-founder Rocky was instrumental in establishing Veneziano Coffee Roasters.
Craig Dickson
Managing DirectorManaging Director, and company pioneer, Craig, has more than 25 years industry experience. As former AASCA President, Craig initiated the annual MICE event and brought the first WBC to Australia. He is arguably Australia’s barista ‘Super Coach’, mentoring numerous champions and industry luminaries.
Ben Romeril
General ManagerBen brings over 15 years’ experience managing national brands and sales in the hospitality and coffee space. He leads the sales & marketing crew. Ben starred as the lead talent in a national Vodafone commercial shot in our Melbourne roastery!
Jack Allisey
Green Coffee BuyerJack evaluates our green coffee supply, manages the complete production schedule and develops relationships with our direct trade farms. Oh and he’s pretty handy on a roaster!
Jade Jennings
Training & DevelopmentJade is an experienced industry professional having mastered both specialty and franchise training and operations. She’s always challenging our trainers for a better result. And her track record speaks for herself...
Pete Licata
R & D ConsultantPete has 17 years of experience in the Specialty Coffee industry, with in depth time spent between cafes, roasting, and coffee farms. He has consulted with companies globally, and enjoys mentoring up and coming coffee professionals. As a World Barista Champion and published author, Pete is well versed in public speaking as well as world class coffee preparation
Jamie Thomson
State Sales Manager - VictoriaJamie brings over 12 years of specialty coffee experience, working with iconic roasters such as Five Senses, St Ali, Maker, Proud Mary before joining the team. He enjoys automation, and finding the next best product that can make coffee more efficiently and consistent!
Michaela Gerard
State Sales Manager - QueenslandWith over 20 years in the hospitality industry running cafes and training baristas Michaela heads up our team in QLD.
She also recently become part of the ASCA board, representing the barista guild and also the ASCA competitions committee.
Sam Sgambellone
State Sales Manager - New South WalesSam brings more than 13 years of specialty coffee experience to his role as Veneziano’s NSW State Manager. In that time he has had diverse experience in all aspects of coffee production but his main love is setting up and running successful coffee shops, delivering world class training and serving the specialty coffee community.
Michael Flinn
State Sales Manager - Australian Capital TerritoryA proud Canberra local, Michael has strong experience building business relationships within the hospitality industry. Michael loves spending time engaging with others and encourages high level customer interaction, always looking to improve the experience from both sides of the coffee machine.
‘The effect we have on others is the most valuable currency there is’
Join our team
From time to time, we seek coffee specialists to join our team. If you’re looking to further your career in coffee, we'd love to hear from you.
View opportunitiesFind us
Wherever you are, our team and partners are never too far away.