Remembering Mike Cochrane

For the first 10 years of my career in the North American coffee machine segment, competitors didn’t like one another.? It was taboo for the sales reps from one brand to be friendly with a counterpart from another.? It made for a lot of awkward moments at trade shows. It was ridiculous.

Early in the coffee machine chapter of my career, I worked for WMF, at the time a very proud German brand and the global leader in superautomatics.? For the first time, I experienced European trade shows where the competitors would visit each other’s exhibits and - God forbid - even hang out together.? It was so cool.? They realized that though they were fighting in the streets for the same business, they were, more importantly, building a category, part of the same bigger picture. The "rising tide" concept in action.??

I’d return to North America, where we all acted like we despised each other.? It didn't sit well with me and I wanted to change it.? I just needed a cohort.?

In 2016 I met MIKE COCHRANE .? Mike was the VP of Sales for Cafection and I was developing national accounts for de Jong Duke.? We were fierce competitors.? I knew who he was, and apparently, he knew of me.? Cafection was, by far, the leader in the OCS bean-to-cup category.? They had what I wanted. I was on a quest to grow market share for my company. The bylaws of our industry would dictate that Mike and I hate each other.? But we didn’t.??

The first time I had a meaningful conversation with Mike was at a Canteen Coffee College in Minneapolis in January of 2017.? I was in the conference room, putting some finishing touches on my presentation.? The door opens, I look up from my work, and in walks Mike Cochrane, my bitter rival, flashing his disarming smile.??

“Hey brah, mind if I share the room with you?”

Charming, handsome, lit up, easy.? He looked like a cross between Kenny Rogers and Barry Melrose.

"Not at all," I said.? "But you’re not getting into my head," I joked.? We laughed about having to be in Minnesota in January (even though he was from Quebec).? A friendship was born.????

During 2017 and 2018, we crossed paths often.? We were pursuing the same accounts, and attending many of the same events. l loved getting to spend some time with Mike Cochrane.? At trade shows, I’d visit him at the Cafection booth.? He’d come to see me at de Jong’s booth. When he asked “How ya doing, brah?” he truly wanted to know.????

When we first started this practice of visiting each other at NAMA in 2018, our colleagues stared at us uncomfortably. They kept their distance, like we surely would be struck by lightning.? By the second or third day of the show, they were joining our conversation. The ridiculous walls between us began crumbling.??

These days at NAMA or Coffee Tea & Water, you’ll see the Evoca reps chatting with the Bravilor team, the de Jong people mingling with Cimbali folks… unheard of 8 years ago.? Our little part of the world has become richer.???

This we owe to Mike Cochrane.??

Mike left us this week.? He battled cancer for over two years. I saw him last in 2019.? Then COVID.? Then cancer.? We talked on the phone now and then and texted back and forth. He was always positive, looking at the bright side of everything.? He loved our industry and he did so much for us.? As a pioneer, he blazed the trail that all of us bean-to-cuppers now travel.? As a connector, he broke down those silly walls and expanded our worlds, paving the way for friendships where before there were adversaries.

Hey Mike, thanks for your friendship.? Thanks for the legacy of kindness you leave in our hands to carry on.? Thanks for everything, Mike.? I’ll miss you brah.