Founded by New Orleanian Geoffrey Meeker in 2012, French Truck Coffee has become a local coffee success story with now 13 locations across New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Memphis. Last month, Meeker stepped away as CEO, handing the company over to long-time partner Bobby Winston and his brother Sam. Together, the Winstons share their thoughts on how coffee is changing and what they envision for the future of French Truck.
about
Bobby Winston
CEO and Co-Owner Bobby Winston is the driving force behind French Truck Coffee’s exceptional offerings. Relentless in his pursuit of the best beans, he travels regularly to origin, working to cultivate strong relationships with farmers and cooperatives that share French Truck’s values of sustainability, quality and ethical practices. By personally selecting all French Truck’s beans, he ensures that only the highest quality and most unique coffees make their way into the roastery.
A New Orleans native, Winston spent his college years at University of Colorado Boulder, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He stayed in Colorado to start his career in the ski industry with a focus on recycling and composting across the Vail resort. Winston returned to his hometown with plans to go to business school when he began dabbling in coffee — a hobby that became an obsession. That obsession brought him to French Truck in 2013, where he got his start as a production assistant.
Winston’s love for the business grew along with his responsibilities, and he became a partner in 2015. Since then, he has completed Gather Coffee’s sensory analysis training and earned his Boot Coffee certification, arming him with in-depth techniques that he now uses to make the company’s seasonal blends. He continues to hone his skills in roasting and sensory analysis and helps his team do the same by leading weekly coffee tastings (cuppings).
Above all, Winston is proudest of the relationships he has fostered with coffee growers throughout Colombia and Peru, where French Truck’s longstanding partnership has enabled growers to reinvest in their farms.
Winston lives with his wife, Jena, and their two young sons, Leo and Miles, in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood. When he’s not immersed in the world of coffee, he can often be found cycling along the lake or spending quality time with his kids.
Sam Winston
President and Co-Owner Sam Winston is all about French Truck’s company culture. As such, his leadership focuses internally on overseeing employee training and team building, related HR and operations functions, and internal administrative functions of the business, like finance, insurance and legal. His passion and enthusiasm for both the company and all the great people who work at French Truck are the driving force behind his quest to create an unparalleled workplace culture.
Winston comes to French Truck after many years advising the company as an attorney and cheering on his brother, Bobby, during the company’s startup phase. Winston started his legal career at Jones Walker where he advised public companies at home and abroad on business compliance strategies for many years. He later founded his own firm focused on supporting small businesses in New Orleans.
He has also done transformative work freeing innocent people from jail in Louisiana — work that speaks to his integrity and purpose.
Prior to his 15-year legal career, Winston worked in New Orleans restaurants, led a Warner Brothers Records rock band on tour across the country and abroad, and covered New Orleans’ post-Katrina recovery as a freelance journalist.
Winston is an active member of the Jewish community where he is currently on the board of Touro Synagogue and a member of their volunteer choir. He cherishes his time with his two sons and his wife, especially when they travel each summer to his wife’s native Germany or when he can convince them to join him on a morning run.
