Trades District success: Sekawan Coffee takes off near the airport

EAST WENATCHEE — When Natalia Kho was invited to speak to the Port of Chelan County this month, she didn’t just talk about coffee.

She talked about starting small, about building something slowly, and about what it means to finally have a home inside the Trades District, the business “incubator” space the port created to give small, locally owned companies a place to take root and grow.

Kho, the owner of Sekawan Coffee, was selected as the port’s featured “tenant spotlight,” a regular agenda item meant to give commissioners a closer look at the businesses operating inside the Trades District. Standing in front of the board, she traced the path that led her there, from door-to-door coffee bean sales in 2022, to home-based tastings, to a farmers market presence in 2023, and finally to a permanent space inside the port’s business hub at the end of 2024.

The name Sekawan comes from Indonesian and means “a group of friends” — a definition Kho seems to treat as mission, not branding.

“More than coffee, we are offering community here,” Kho told commissioners, describing Sekawan as a specialty coffee shop focused on origin, process, and craft rather than flavored syrups and sweetened drinks.

The shop’s philosophy, she explained, is rooted in intention and education. Each morning begins with calibration, adjusting recipes and measurements so that every cup highlights the character of the beans being used. Baristas are trained not just to run machines, she said, but to understand where the coffee comes from, how it was grown and processed, and why it tastes the way it does.

Kho said she wants every cup to “tell a story” about its origin.

That approach, she told the board, has helped Sekawan develop a reputation beyond the valley. She described visiting customers who found the shop through specialty coffee communities elsewhere in the country, arriving in Wenatchee already planning to stop in.

At the same time, Kho said, Sekawan’s refusal to offer flavored syrups has become part of its identity, but also one of its challenges.

Kho estimated that around 2% to 5% of customers react negatively because the shop does not offer syrup flavors. Rather than treating that as a fight, she said, staff try to keep the tone welcoming and use the moment to explain what “specialty coffee” means.

Instead of tasting caramel or strawberry syrup, she told the board, customers can learn to notice how the coffee itself carries tasting notes — a way of talking about flavor that is meant to invite curiosity, not gatekeep it.

The business is still small. Sekawan currently operates with one barista, with plans to bring on an intern and eventually add another staff member once revenue stabilizes. But Kho’s ambitions extend beyond simply running a café.

She told commissioners she hopes to take her baristas to her home country of Indonesia to meet coffee roasters and, eventually, farmers. For now, she works with small roasters she trusts, and said she hopes to expand those sourcing relationships over time. Indonesian coffee, she added, is often overlooked despite being competitive with beans from Africa and South America, and part of Sekawan’s goal is to help tell that story.

Kho also emphasized the Trades District’s role in the shop’s growth. She said many customers discover Sekawan simply by noticing the building and deciding to explore. Once inside, they often ask what the Trades District is and how it came to be, which gives her a chance to explain the port’s role and the idea behind creating a shared space for small businesses.

She described a collaborative culture among tenants, including partnerships with local bakers and potters, and even tenants referring customers to one another.

Looking ahead, Kho said Sekawan plans to host public coffee tastings and workshops, and is exploring collaborations with specialty coffee shops from the west side of the state, including “bar takeovers,” where guest roasters bring in their own coffees and brew alongside the local team.

In closing, Kho thanked the port for the opportunity to be part of the Trades District and encouraged commissioners to keep showing up.

“We would love to see more of your faces,” she said, adding that board members’ visits, and possibly more events hosted at the Trades District, would help more people discover the businesses inside.

Port Commissioner J.C. Baldwin said she had already stopped in. Baldwin shared that she once visited Sekawan while waiting to pick someone up at the airport, describing it as an easy place to spend time and a natural stop to make after an arrival.

For the port, the presentation offered a tangible look at what the Trades District was built to do: take a small, locally rooted idea and give it the space — and time — to become something more.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media