For buyers

Green Coffee Supplier

This page is written for a buyer evaluating suppliers rather than lots. It sets out the questions worth asking, and answers them for our own operation.

Last reviewed August 20262 min read

Quick answer

A green coffee supplier should be able to state where a lot came from, how it was prepared, what its physical analysis says, when it will realistically ship, and what happens if it does not conform. A supplier who answers all five in specifics is doing the job; one who answers in adjectives is not.

The questions worth asking any supplier

1Where exactly is this from? Country is not an answer. Region, station, factory or outturn is.
2What is the physical analysis, and by what method? Moisture and water activity readings without stated methods are not comparable with yours.
3What sample am I approving, and will it be retained? An approval with nothing retained is not enforceable.
4When will it realistically ship? Including inland transit, which is the largest variable from landlocked origins.
5What happens if it does not conform? Allowance, rejection or re-determination — decided in the contract.
6What can you not do? A supplier who never says no is not telling you about the constraints.

How our supply is structured

Origins: Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi
Species: Arabica across all six; Robusta from Uganda and Tanzanian Kagera
Processes: Fully washed, washed with soak, natural; honey in limited lots
Segments: Specialty separations through to commercial volume grades
Traceability: Station or factory level as standard; tighter separations on request
QC: Physical analysis and cup evaluation on every lot before shipment
Terms: FOB, CFR, CIF from Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Djibouti and Tanga
Packaging: 60 kg jute, hermetic liners, 30 kg presentations, bulk liners

What we publish and what we do not

This site carries a substantial technical reference section because the same questions come up on every enquiry. What it deliberately does not carry is unsupported claims.

No certification marks are displayed, because displaying a scheme’s mark requires a licence from that scheme.
No cupping score is published for a lot that has not been cupped.
Availability moves with the harvest, so any figure is confirmed on enquiry rather than treated as standing stock.
No claim is made that any lot is "EUDR compliant", because compliance is a property of an operator’s due diligence, not of a lot.
No superlatives about being the largest, the best or the only. Those are not verifiable and they are not useful to you.

Start with a specification

Send us what you need. We will tell you what each origin realistically supports for the current crop — including where it does not.

Request Current Crop Offer

Frequently asked questions

What should I ask a green coffee supplier before contracting?

Where exactly the coffee is from, the physical analysis and the methods behind it, what sample you are approving and whether it will be retained, a realistic shipment window including inland transit, and what happens if the coffee does not conform. Then ask what they cannot do.

Do you sell roasted coffee?

No. We supply green coffee at origin. Roasting is our customers’ business, and the physical data we provide is intended to support it.

Which origins do you cover?

Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi — Arabica from all six, Robusta from Uganda and the Kagera region of Tanzania.

Can you supply outside East Africa?

No. The value of an origin supplier is depth in the origins they actually work in. Six is what we cover properly.

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.