For buyers

Bulk and Wholesale Green Coffee

For buyers whose unit of purchase is the container or a season-long programme — soluble manufacturers, large blenders, traders, wholesalers and distributors. The specification discipline is different, and so is the logistics conversation.

Updated September 20263 min read

Quick answer

Bulk supply means single-grade volume shipped in bagged or bulk-lined containers, contracted on specification rather than lot identity. Wholesale supply adds range and continuity: several grades on programme contracts, each shipment verified against a governing sample. Ugandan Robusta and Tanzanian and Ethiopian commercial Arabica are the main bulk categories from this region.

What is available in bulk

Bulk categories
Category	Origin	Typical presentation
Robusta screen 15	Uganda	60 kg jute or bulk liner
Robusta screen 18	Uganda	60 kg jute
Robusta FAQ	Uganda	Bulk liner or jute
Robusta screen 15+	Tanzania (Kagera)	60 kg jute
Arabica AB / C	Tanzania, Kenya	60 kg jute
Arabica Grade 4/5 natural	Ethiopia	60 kg jute

Range for wholesale and distribution

A distributor’s offer list has to serve several kinds of customer at once, and its reputation rests on not surprising them. Across the six origins the range covers most of what a mixed customer base asks for.

Coverage across the range
Segment	Typical supply
Traceable specialty	Station and factory lots from all six origins
Mid-tier single origin	Regional grade lots — Kenyan AB, Tanzanian AA/AB, Ethiopian Grade 2
Blend components	Tanzanian AB, Ethiopian Grade 4, Bugisu Arabica
Robusta	Ugandan screen 12–18 and FAQ; Tanzanian Kagera
Certified	Organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and 4C, subject to origin, crop and current certification status
Small-lot presentations	30 kg bags for customers who cannot handle 60 kg

Consistency across a programme

1Governing sample agreed at the start of the programme and retained by both parties.
2Per-shipment verification against it — physical analysis and cup screening.
3Crop-year transition planned explicitly, with re-approval at the changeover.
4Substitution protocol agreed in advance for when a specification cannot be filled.
5Shipment pattern fixed, or on call-off with a stated notice period.

Bagged or bulk-lined

Presentation trade-off
	60 kg jute	Bulk container liner
Coffee per container	Slightly less — bag tare	Slightly more
Lot separation	Full — bags remain identifiable	None within the container
Discharge at destination	Manual or mechanical, slower	Tipping or vacuum discharge
Equipment required	Standard	Tipping chassis or vacuum system
Packaging cost	Higher	Lower
Suits	Anything needing lot identity	Single-grade volume with bulk handling at destination

The decisive question is usually what discharge equipment the destination has. Bulk is cheaper per kilo and useless without the equipment to unload it.

The specification does more work in bulk

With no lot identity to fall back on, the contract terms are the entire quality control. See container loading for the loading side.

Screen: Retention screen plus permitted percentage passing
Defects: Maximum total, with black and broken capped separately
Moisture: Ceiling plus method and instrument
Foreign matter: Maximum, with stones counted separately
Crop year and cycle: Explicit — main crop or fly crop
Sampling: How the pre-shipment sample is drawn from a bulk parcel
Weight terms: Shipped or landed weight — decides who carries transit loss
Point of determination: Where quality and weight are finally determined

Sampling a bulk container

A bulk-lined container cannot be probe-sampled bag by bag. The sampling method has to be agreed for the presentation being used — typically at the filling stage, from a defined proportion of the flow. Agree it before contracting, not at loading.

Practical points for distributors

Bag format. 30 kg presentations cost more per kilo and are far easier for small-roaster customers to handle. Worth carrying both.
Packaging. Hermetic liners on anything you expect to hold; see green coffee storage.
Stock rotation. Track by arrival date and re-cup on a schedule rather than assuming a fixed shelf life.
Lot identity. Carry it through your own system — a customer asking which station their coffee came from needs an answer.

Bulk and programme enquiries

Tell us the specification or range, annual volume, shipment pattern, presentation and destination discharge capability.

Request Current Crop Offer

Frequently asked questions

How much coffee is in a bulk container?

It depends on the binding weight limit — the lowest of the container’s payload plate, the shipping line’s maximum and the road weight limits on the origin and destination legs. Use the container loading calculator with your own figures.

Is bulk cheaper than bagged?

Per kilo, usually yes — lower packaging cost and slightly more coffee per container. It is only cheaper in practice if the destination has the equipment to discharge it, and it removes lot separation entirely.

Can bulk shipments be certified?

Yes, subject to the scheme’s chain-of-custody rules. Mass balance models are common at bulk scale; segregated flows are possible where the supply chain supports them. State which model applies in the contract. For coffee placed on the EU market, note that the EU Deforestation Regulation does not accept mass balance: the geolocation of every plot contributing to the consignment is required.

Can you supply 30 kg bags?

Yes, for small specialty separations. They are much easier for small-roaster customers to handle and carry a higher per-kilo packaging cost than 60 kg jute.

How do you keep a programme consistent across a season?

With a governing sample agreed at the start and retained by both parties, and per-shipment verification against it rather than individual approval of each parcel. The crop-year transition is planned explicitly, with re-approval at the changeover.

What happens if a specification cannot be filled?

Whatever the contract says — which is why the substitution protocol should be agreed at the outset. The options are substitution against agreed parameters, deferral to a later shipment, or release from that shipment.

How is a bulk container sampled?

Not bag by bag — typically at the filling stage, from a defined proportion of the flow, to a method agreed in advance. This needs to be settled before contracting rather than improvised at loading.

Tell us the coffee you need

Lots can be specified by origin, region, process, grade, screen, moisture, defect tolerance, crop year and packaging. Send what you know and we will confirm what each origin realistically supports.