Erna Knutsen, longtime coffee trader, dies at 97

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Erna Knutsen

Erna Knutsen with husband John Rapinchuk in an undated photo.

Erna Knutsen, a longtime leader in coffee trading and the person credited with coining the term “specialty coffee,” passed away June 16, 2018. She was 97.

Erna emigrated as a child with her family from Norway to New York.  She was proud of her first job as a secretary for a Wall Street firm, one of the few office positions open to women at that time.  After being told she would never make it as a trader in the coffee world, Erna proved naysayers wrong. In the late 1970s, she began her career as the only woman green coffee broker in the United States and founded Knutsen Coffees, Ltd.

Through hard work and relentless dedication to quality, she became a worldwide name in the business, winning many awards and being recognized as creating the term “specialty coffees.”  One of her most valued honors was the Golden Coffee Bean awarded her by Norway when she was in her ‘80s. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award given to her in 1991 by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and in 2014 was honored at SCAA opening ceremonies.

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Erna Knutsen

Erna Knutsen

Erna’s humor, intelligence and love of the finer things in life matched perfectly with John Rapinchuk, whom she met through the coffee business in the 1980s and later became her husband. Erna and John spent the next 30 years discovering new restaurants, traveling the world and ultimately working together at Knutsen Coffees. John passed away in 2016.

She passed away just short of age 97 on June 16, 2018, wearing her favorite shade of red lipstick and a snappy outfit.

Erna will remain an inspiration to many of us. If you would like to donate in Erna’s name, please contact Café Femenino at www.cafefemenino.com.