Quality Assessment Guide To Buy Profitable Bulk Green Coffee Beans

This guide is created to make your bulk green coffee beans buying more profitable by avoiding a series of factors that can reduce both the quality and the quantity of the roasted coffee you produce. Many times roasters looking to buy green coffee beans face challenges for which the solutions aren’t completely on their hands. After reading this guide you’ll be better prepared to get a positive output from this process.

So the answer to where to buy green coffee beans for roasting? It is not only related to the physical place where those beans are available, but it also has a lot to do with the quality of those bulk green beans. You might be an amateur roaster that won’t be impacted in terms of profits if the beans you buy aren’t the best, but if you’re in charge of even a small coffee shop that roasts its coffee beans, this is information that you can’t ignore for the well of your business.

Things To Do At Origin For Green Coffee Beans Quality Assessment

If you consider any of the following recommendations at origin (ideally all of them), you’ll be a step beyond your competitors both in terms of roasted whole bean coffee quality and profitability.

Identify a reliable supplier at the origin

Although there are many coops operating within origin countries, it’s important to identify those that have the capacity to provide high-quality green coffee beans. Keep in mind that coffee quality that producers are capable of achieving from their farms has a direct correlation with the type of management existing in their organizations.

In other words, if the people in charge of managing the coop’s operations don’t have the skills or knowledge to maintain high standards during the whole production process; therefore the final quality of the green coffee beans won’t be as high as the production from a well-managed coop.

That being said, it’s relevant to realize that all coops aren’t created equal, especially in the coffee industry. There are many producing coops at origin countries that operate under the “Coop” tag, but some of them aren’t specialized in coffee. Some provide multi-services supported by local legal regulations that allow them to operate using that business structure to boost the economy, so make sure you’re buying from a reliable one.

Check the country’s technical standards

When you decide where to buy green coffee beans, it’s relevant that you understand the technical standards of the origin country; this is especially applicable if you’re looking for specialty coffee suppliers, which are expected to provide higher quality beans and come at a higher price too.

It’s known among coffee experts that there’s not a universally accepted grading and classification system for green coffee, that’s why we recommend you to do your research before buying bulk green coffee beans. Origin countries have technical standards that you can apply to your buying contract to establish a required quality standard, this is very useful if those standards match the classification system you use in your business, which increases the likelihood of getting the best value for your money.

Keep in mind that in many cases technical standards from origin countries aren’t always mandatory for exporters. This means you can buy green coffee beans without using the methodologies defined by the origin country to ensure the quality of their exported green coffee beans. However, it’s a good practice to put them to work in your favor, in any case, the buyer has the final decision on this.

Check the moisture percentage at the origin

An application of the previous subtitle can take place in the moisture percentage of the green coffee beans you decide to buy. That’s because moisture has a direct correlation with the weight/mass lost that coffee beans suffer after the roasting process. The higher the moisture the more weight lost, and the lower your profits.

So how technical standards take place in the moisture percentage? If you know what standards origin countries apply to moisture control, you can apply those standards to your order and prevent getting high moisture in your green coffee beans.

If your green coffee provider isn’t able to give a specific value for the moisture percentage of the bulk green coffee beans offered, you’re gambling with your profits because you won’t be able to forecast the weight loss after roasting; therefore, you won’t know how many Lbs. of the final product (output) will result and everything that comes after that.

Shipping Method

Coffee is a hygroscopic substance that absorbs humidity from its environment, which can directly affect the quality of your green coffee beans. Given this characteristic, the shipping conditions play a really important role in the roasted coffee beans you’ll offer to the final customers, and this becomes even more important in the case of specialty coffee.

Although many factors can affect green coffee beans quality and stability, the three most important factors when talking about shipping are temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content. That’s why when you sign a contract to buy bulk green coffee beans it’s key that you include a clause detailing how those beans will be shipped to the destination, specifying things like packing, bags, wrappers, etc. In case you leave this aspect undefined, probably the green coffee beans you ordered would have suffered some type of degradation during the transportation, and regardless of how good those beans were at the origin, a mismanaged shipping can hurt their final quality.

To go even further, shipping conditions are so important for specialty coffee transportation that can prevent the possible increase of ochratoxins, which can be harmful to humans if high amounts of this toxin are present in the beans. Another consequence of inadequate shipping is the mold increase, which can affect the roasted coffee’s final flavor, degrading the sensorial perception of the final cup.

Things To Do At Destiny For Green Coffee Beans Quality Assessment

As a roaster, there are many variables to keep in mind to achieve a high-quality cup of coffee at the table, but the ones listed below are some that you can implement right away.

Prefer Suppliers Who Offer A Traceability System

Many are the benefits of having an effective coffee traceability system in place, but in order to have a true story to tell from the bulk green coffee beans you’re planning to buy, it is key to have a method to know how and where those green coffee beans were grown, processed and shipped. Otherwise, you can only wish the green coffee beans you get actually come from the origin your supplier tells you.

The market offers varied options for coffee traceability, from RDBMS (Relational Database Management Systems) to in-house traceability apps, funded projects at the origin, and more; however, we recommend you working with an integrated data system that allows you tracking different sources in the supply chain. That way you’ll have a stronger knowledge base to decide from who you buy your green coffee beans. Remember that in the information era, data-driven decisions are the path to success.

Request Samples And Request Consistency

Sending a lot of samples all around the world is a very popular practice for international trade, but in the coffee industry, it has a higher degree of importance. Sending a sample is one thing, and getting the same quality in bulk green coffee beans is another. This means that to have high-quality green coffee beans to roast in your facilities, the sample quality should be kept throughout the supply chain to have a profitable business and a long-term business relationship between suppliers and buyers.

To give you an example, let’s say an exporter sends a sample promising it is Grade 1 Specialty Coffee (no more than 4 defects per 300 grams), you receive it, analyze it, find it fulfill the requirements, and agree to continue with a larger order.

Then when the container reaches the destination, before you’re about to accept the order a new green coffee grading test is executed, and you find the coffee bags have more than 20 defects per 300 grams. You can reject the shipment, but that’s already opportunity and time wasted, especially knowing that coffee is harvested once a year, and instead of being stuck with those defective green coffee beans you’d have been able to make a better choice.

Implement Your Own Green Grading System

We mentioned having a green grading system in place in the previous subtitle, and we are sure you understand the reason why. However, in case you’re still in the process of selecting the system that fits better with your roasting goals, we recommend the SCAA Protocols for Specialty Coffee. There are other methods out there, but for Arabica coffee the aforementioned standard is well-known and accepted in most markets.

If you aren’t a green grading specialist it’s recommended to get in contact with a Q Grader that can analyze the samples you get from the origin. Always that this is a time-consuming and highly detailed process, having experience in this field is required to provide an accurate verdict about the grade that your samples have.

The broker from which you get the sample can manifest it belongs to a higher grade than what you just found after the analysis. In that case, unless you have an effective traceability system in place and established relationships in the origin country we recommend you reject buying from that source and go find another one before it is too late.

Do Your Cupping

Although many people in the coffee industry consider cupping as “the test” for quality assessment of green coffee beans we believe that is a final step of a well-developed sourcing & procurement plan. However, this step is undoubtedly a very important one where you will know for a fact more details about the characteristics of the coffee bean you’re about to purchase.

If you already have an existing clientele and you know their tasting preferences, it will be easier for you to realize if what you’re getting from the sample match your clients’ taste. Hopefully, this element (the taste) has a balanced correlation with the price you’re willing to pay so both your clients’ satisfaction and your profits have a positive rating.

There are cupping specialists already working at origin countries, but different countries indeed have different tastes and preferences, so it will be required that you’re clear about what output you expect from the bulk green coffee you want to buy. Having defined specifications for things like points in a cup, growing altitude, processing methods, and the like can ensure the quality of your shipment.

Final Thoughts

Executing a comprehensive quality assessment of green coffee beans isn’t an easy task, but it worth the time because it will directly impact your profits. As a roaster, you have to make sure that your brand reputation stays tight and the people who buy your blends get the best value for their buck. Having a strong sourcing and procurement strategy will allow you to achieve that, and will have more time to invest in tasks oriented to take your business to the next level.

If you’re wondering where to buy green coffee beans for roasting and you’re interested in Latin American origins we invite you to give us a call or send an email, so we can help you source the best green coffee beans for your roasting business. We offer many options that can integrate you directly in the value chain to develop long-lasting and profitable relationships that will put your business a step beyond your competitors.