Buy Direct From Grower

[alanj11]

Who is interested in buying green beans direct from the source? I'm talking about several roasters grouping together to pool resources and buy from the small growers that have great coffee. Any interest?

 

[cloudsipper]

Interested, but pessimistic. I buy wonderful coffee from Jayuya PR from Suzanne: fincadelseto@aol.com Several times have suggested purchasing larger quantities to drop the price, but the reality is if you only produce a few hundred pounds per year, it makes no sense to look for volume buyers. YMMV
Please Keep me in the loop.
I do think there are some coffee buyers who split bags among friends..and depending on the location, that might work.. most coffee comes into NJ, Oakland,CA or Seattle If someone in one of those locations were to spot buy a bag of beans and split it up it might be a good deal. But of course unless the guy who''s buying and splitting has cupped the lot, it could be a real crap-shoot. Sorry for the pessimism, but I suspect we all want COE coffee for
Folger''s wholesale cost.

 

[jlyon10]

buying from farms

I would be interested in this if there were enough others invovled.

 

[cloudsipper]

After our discussions, Alan, specifically, what sources are you suggesting?

 

[JHWada]

Coffee Dealer

Anyone interested in coffee, can find our Dealer in USA, EU or Asia, for small lots.

You can buy directly from is, directly from the growers, and we can delivery by air or sea, no problem.

We use the SCAA cupping protocol, if it helps. Folgers price, only Folgers quality, no miracle for that Quality have cost.

 

[Carmine Domenaco]

Who is interested in buying green beans direct from the source? I'm talking about several roasters grouping together to pool resources and buy from the small growers that have great coffee. Any interest?

Most of the time the people you are currently working with to bring in your coffee are more than happy to make this happen for you. Just getting out to the farms takes planning and contacts. We often set up our clients with our exporters who can take them to the regions and/or specific farms they want to see. The relationship and negotiation between the roaster and the farmer can be left alone by the importer and exporter until the roaster asks us to help get the coffee from the farm to the roastery.

There is quite a bit to the logistics of exporting and importing coffees and with no offense intended, roasters have their hands full with roasting coffee and often have little to no experience with contracts and shipping logistics.

Containers usually have about 37,500 pounds of coffee, and if you fill a container with exceptional coffees it will be a $75K -100K outlay, add to it the exporters fees, ocean freight and shipping insurance and the up front costs begin to mount. If that container is selected for inspection at customs (as is often the case with first-time recipients) there is another $1000 to pay. Landing it at the annex, separating the lots and storing them is another fee.

All in all it is worth paying a few cents to a trusted importer. They'll give you an FOB cost and you'll have net 30 after a release order to pay the bill. A good importer can get you a coffee you want and make sure the relationship can prosper.

Nearly everything that is marketed as "relationship" or "direct trade" has an importer in the mix. Only a few roasters are actually importing their own coffees on a regular basis, most of them are 10 million pounds a year or bigger.