STiR tea & coffee industry international 11
NEWS
George Vukasin Passes at 82
West Coast specialty coffee pioneer and Peerless Coffee and
Tea c.e.o. George J. Vukasin, 82, died Feb. 15.
George Vukasin Sr.
Vukasin, who inherited
the company from his father
in 1957, lived to pass it to his
son George Vukasin Jr.
A former president of the
Pacific Coast Coffee Associa-
tion and past president of the
National Coffee Association,
Vukasin helped make craft
roasting popular through the
Specialty Coffee Association
of America.
He was born April 18,
1933, graduated from
Oakland public schools and
attended U.C. Berkeley,
graduating in 1955 in
criminology. He hoped to be
an FBI agent but instead
joined the US Army,
eventually attaining the rank
of major general during a
35-year career in the Army
Reserves.
"He loved coffee and
enjoyed STiR quite a bit!"
writes his son George Jr.
Vukasin is survived by
Sonja Halvorsen, his wife of
50 years; a brother, 2 children,
and 8 grandchildren.
Ibrik Champion: Konstantinos Komninakis
Greek competitor Konstantinos Komninakis is the
World Cezve/Ibrik Champion of 2016. Komninakis was
the national champion in his homeland. This is his first
world competition.
The win "is an amazing feeling. I am honored and
after a lot of hard work, I must thank my team," he said,
naming Stavros Lamprinidis as his inspiration and
thanking farmer Graciano Cruz for the winning coffee.
The 9th World Cezve/Ibrik Championship was held in
Dubai during Gulfood 2016.
Komnainakis was one of 19 competitors who
finished the four-day event. Hazal Atesoglu of Turkey
was awarded second place and Karthikeyan Rajendran of
the United Arab Emirates was third.
See complete results at www.scae.com and photos at
www.gulfood.com
Ibrik champions Hazal Atesoglu, Konstantinos Komninakis
and Karthikeyan Rajendran
