Green Coffee Buying

The Foundation of Every Roast

Before a specialty roaster can develop a profile, dial in an espresso, or hand a bag to a customer, they must source green coffee — the raw, unroasted beans that are the starting material for everything that follows. Green buying is part sensory evaluation, part relationship management, and part financial planning. It is one of the most consequential activities a roasting business undertakes.

How Green Coffee Reaches the Roaster

The green coffee supply chain has several key participants:

Producers — Farmers who grow, harvest, and often process coffee cherries into dried parchment or green beans. They may be independent smallholders, cooperative members, or estate owners.

Dry mills / Exporters — Facilities that hull parchment, sort and grade green coffee, and prepare it for export. In some origins, the exporter is a separate entity; in others, cooperatives or estates handle milling and export themselves.

Importers — Companies that purchase green coffee at origin, arrange shipping and customs clearance, and warehouse the coffee in consuming countries. For most specialty roasters, importers are the primary sourcing partners.

Brokers / Traders — Intermediaries who connect buyers and sellers, often handling larger commodity lots but increasingly active in the specialty segment.

The Role of Importers

Specialty importers are far more than logistics companies. The best importers — firms like Royal Coffee, Cafe Imports, Genuine Origin, Olam Specialty, Sucafina Specialty, and InterAmerican Coffee — provide:

• Curated offerings — Pre-evaluated lots with cupping notes, scored and ready for roasters to sample
• Pre-shipment samples — Small quantities sent to roasters before purchase commitment
• Spot inventory — Coffee already warehoused and available for immediate purchase
• Forward contracts — Commitments to buy coffee from a specific origin, farm, or lot in advance of harvest
• Origin trips — Organized visits to producing countries, connecting roasters with farmers
• Education — Market reports, origin profiles, and cupping events

For small-to-medium roasters, importers are indispensable. Most roasters lack the scale, logistics capability, and origin relationships to buy directly from every producer.

Sample Evaluation

The green buying process begins with samples:

1. Offer lists — Importers send curated lists of available coffees with origin, variety, processing, altitude, lot size, and price
2. Sample request — The roaster requests samples of promising coffees (typically 100–300g of green)
3. Sample roasting — The roaster profiles each sample, usually to a light-medium roast that reveals origin character
4. Cupping — The roaster cups each sample using SCA protocol, evaluating all ten attributes
5. Selection — Based on cupping results, the roaster selects which coffees to purchase

This process can involve dozens of samples for a single menu slot.

Spot vs. Forward Contracts

Spot buying means purchasing coffee that is already at a warehouse, available for immediate shipment. This is the simplest transaction: you cup the sample, agree on a price, and the coffee ships.

• Pros: No commitment risk, you taste exactly what you'll receive, quick turnaround
• Cons: Limited selection (only what's in stock), no guarantee of availability, potentially older crop

Forward contracts (also called pre-season contracts) involve committing to buy a specific coffee before it's harvested or shipped. The roaster agrees on a price and volume based on past experience with the producer, pre-shipment samples, or cupping at origin.

• Pros: Access to the best lots before they sell out, builds long-term relationships with producers, price certainty
• Cons: Quality risk (the final cup may differ from the pre-shipment sample), capital tied up in advance, crop failure risk

Most specialty roasters use a blended approach: forward contracts for core offerings from trusted producers, and spot purchases to fill gaps and try new origins.

FOB Pricing and the C-Market

Understanding pricing vocabulary is essential:

C-market (or C-price) — The New York Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) price for commodity Arabica coffee, expressed in US cents per pound. This fluctuates daily based on supply, demand, weather, and speculation. As of recent years, it has ranged from roughly $1.00 to $2.50/lb.

FOB (Free On Board) price — The price paid for green coffee at the port of export in the producing country. This is what the exporter receives and is the standard reference point for specialty pricing. FOB includes the farmer's payment, processing costs, and exporter margin.

Differential — The premium above the C-market that a specific coffee commands. Specialty coffees always trade at a positive differential.

Fixed price — Some specialty lots are sold at a fixed FOB price regardless of C-market movement, common for higher-scoring lots.

Landed cost — FOB + shipping + insurance + customs + warehousing — the roaster's actual cost per pound, typically $1.00–2.00 above FOB.

Building a Sourcing Strategy

A roaster's sourcing strategy reflects their brand identity:

• Seasonal rotation — Change offerings as new harvests arrive (most common in quality-focused roasters)
• Core + seasonal — Maintain 2–3 consistent blends year-round supplemented by rotating single origins
• Origin focus — Specialize deeply in one or two origins (e.g., Ethiopian and Colombian coffees)
• Process focus — Seek coffees processed in specific ways (e.g., all naturals, all experimentals)

The best sourcing strategies balance consistency (customers expect reliable quality) with exploration (new coffees keep the menu exciting and the roaster's palate sharp).

Practical Considerations

Volume planning — Green coffee is perishable. Past-crop beans (more than 12 months from harvest) lose vibrancy. Roasters must estimate consumption accurately to avoid running out or holding stale inventory.

Storage — Green coffee should be stored in a cool, dry, dark environment at stable temperature and humidity. GrainPro or equivalent hermetic bags protect against moisture and pests.

Budget allocation — Green coffee cost should be 25–40% of retail bag price for sustainable margins. A $20 retail bag might contain $5–8 of green coffee.

Green buying is where the roaster's palate, relationships, and business acumen converge. Every great bag of specialty coffee starts with a great green buying decision.