Kross Coffee Roasters

Kross Coffee Roasters operates out of Chania, on the island of Crete, where it has built one of Greece's most internationally recognized specialty coffee programs. Founding details are not publicly documented, but the roastery has grown into a multi-location operation with a reputation that extends well beyond the island — ranking 15th on The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list. Its small-lot, seasonally rotating green-coffee program is the throughline that defines the brand.

From its base in Chania, Kross expanded to three city locations before reaching wholesale customers on the Greek mainland — Athens, Thessaloniki, and Heraklion — and eventually co-founding Kollaborative Coffee Roasters in Nicosia, Cyprus, alongside local partners. The operation employs around 20 people during peak season and processes approximately 10 tons of coffee per year across its retail and wholesale accounts.

Sourcing spans virtually all major coffee-producing countries, with green lots selected on a seasonal basis to maintain variety. Recent offerings have included a washed Tarrazú from Costa Rica producer Luis Carlos Picado Montero — described by the roastery with notes of golden raisin, star anise, and tangerine — alongside a supercritical CO2-processed Colombian decaf. As Kross put it to Sprudge: 'We feature small lots of coffee from all around the world and have an array of them based on seasonality.' The retail catalog also includes capsule-format blends and collaborations with Cretan ceramicists and food producers.