Available
Uganda · Masaka & Greater Lake Victoria
- Species
- Robusta
- Process
- Natural
- Grade
- Screen 15
- Screen
- 15+
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- Multi-container programme
Green coffee
Commercial Green Coffee
Commercial buying is a different discipline from specialty buying. The question is not "which lot" but "can this specification be delivered, repeatedly, at this price, on this schedule". This page is written for that question.
- Contracted on
- Grade · screen · defects
- Typical volume
- Container programmes
- Packing
- 60 kg jute · bulk liner
Commercial Coffee from six East African origins
- TanzaniaFully washed · NaturalAA · A · ABJune–October in the south; July–December in the north
- UgandaNatural (Robusta) · Washed Arabica (WUGAR)Screen 18 · Screen 17 · Screen 15Robusta main crop November–February with a fly crop April–July; Elgon Arabica October–February
- KenyaFully washed with soak · Mbuni (natural)E · AA · ABMain crop October–December; early (fly) crop May–July
- EthiopiaFully washed · Natural (sun-dried)Grade 1 · Grade 2 · Grade 3October–January, varying by region and altitude
- RwandaFully washed · Natural (growing)Grade 1 (fully washed) · Grade 2 · Screen 15+March–July, with the peak in April and May
- BurundiFully washed with soak · Natural (limited)Grade A · Grade B · Screen 15+March–July
Quick answer
Commercial supply is contracted on specification and consistency rather than on lot identity: grade, screen with tolerance, defect basis, moisture ceiling, crop year and shipment pattern. It is usually bought as a programme across a season rather than as a single purchase.
The volume grades
| Origin | Grade | Species | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uganda | Screen 15, 14, 12, FAQ | Robusta | Two harvest cycles support near year-round supply |
| Tanzania | AB, C, TT, UG | Arabica | AB is the largest single block in a typical outturn |
| Tanzania | Kagera screen 15+ | Robusta | Dry-processed, contracted on screen and defect terms |
| Kenya | AB, C, TT | Arabica | AB frequently the best value on a cup-per-dollar basis |
| Ethiopia | Grade 4, Grade 5 | Arabica | Djimma naturals are the commercial backbone |
| Rwanda / Burundi | Grade 2 / Grade B | Arabica | Smaller volumes; useful for adding structure |
How a programme is contracted
A programme differs from a spot purchase in three ways, and each needs its own clause.
- 1Volume and cadence. Total volume across the season and the split by shipment — monthly, quarterly, or against call-offs.
- 2Price mechanism. Usually a differential to the futures reference with an agreed fixation window, rather than an outright price for the whole programme.
- 3A type or approved sample governing all shipments, with each shipment verified against it rather than approved individually.
Programme terms
- Specification
- Grade, screen with tolerance, defect basis, moisture ceiling with method, foreign matter limit
- Volume
- Total and per-shipment, with tolerance
- Shipment pattern
- Fixed schedule or call-off with notice period
- Price basis
- Differential, nominated months, fixation window
- Quality governance
- Type or approved sample; pre-shipment verification
- Packaging
- 60 kg jute, or bulk liner for single-grade volume
- Certification
- Where required — 4C is common on commercial volumes
- Incoterm
- FOB, CFR or CIF with named port
What matters most in commercial supply
- Specify tightly and resist the temptation to accept upgrades that break the profile.
- Verify every shipment against the governing sample rather than approving each individually.
- Build the crop-year transition into the programme explicitly — new crop cups differently from the tail of the old one.
- Agree in advance what happens when a specification cannot be filled: substitution, deferral or release.
Programme enquiries
Tell us the annual volume, specification and shipment pattern. We will confirm what the origins support across the season.
Commercial green coffeeLast reviewed 2 min read
Availability
Current Commercial Coffee
Availability moves with the harvest, with milling and with prior commitments. Everything here is confirmed against the current crop on enquiry.
Available
Uganda · Masaka & Greater Lake Victoria
- Species
- Robusta
- Process
- Natural
- Grade
- Screen 18
- Screen
- 18+
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- 3 × 20ft
Upcoming crop
Uganda · West Nile (Okoro)
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Natural (DRUGAR)
- Grade
- DRUGAR screen 15+
- Screen
- 15+
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- 1 × 20ft
Dried fig · Spice · Cocoa
On contract
Ethiopia · Djimma (Jimma)
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Natural
- Grade
- Grade 4
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- 2 × 20ft
Processing
Commercial Coffee by processing method
The largest lever available at origin, and the one a buyer can specify most directly.
Quality
How we evaluate commercial coffee
Every parcel is assessed on the same sequence before it is offered, and again before it is loaded. What is reported for a given lot depends on what the buyer specifies.
- 01Physical gradePreparation class against the origin’s own system
- 02Screen distributionRetention plus the percentage passing
- 03Defect analysisFull defects per 300 g on a stated weighting table
- 04MoistureRange plus the measurement method and instrument
- 05Water activityWhere the buyer specifies it, for storage stability
- 06DensityBulk density in g/L, for roast planning
- 07Sample roastTo a cupping profile, not a commercial roast
- 08CuppingMultiple cups, against the approved sample
- 09Buyer approvalThe retained sample the shipment is measured against
Export
Packaging and export
Packaging is specified at contract stage rather than requested afterwards, because it changes both the price and the container arithmetic. Four of our six origins are landlocked, which makes the inland leg the largest single source of schedule variance — shipment windows are built around port arrival, not mill readiness.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between commercial and specialty green coffee?
Commercial coffee is bought on specification and consistency, usually in volume against a programme. Specialty is bought on separation and lot identity, usually in smaller parcels. They are different disciplines rather than different quality tiers, and the same origin supplies both.
Can I contract a full season of supply?
Yes. Programme contracts covering a season are standard for commercial volumes, typically on a differential basis with an agreed fixation window and a stated shipment pattern.
What happens at the crop-year transition?
New crop cups differently from the tail of the previous one. A well-written programme addresses this explicitly — either by re-approving the governing sample at the transition, or by agreeing a period in which both crops may be shipped against stated terms.
Do commercial lots come with a cupping?
They are cup-screened for faults as part of pre-shipment QC. What they are not is individually scored — commercial supply is governed by a type or approved sample and verified against it, rather than evaluated lot by lot.
Keep reading
Related technical guides
The reference material behind the specification fields on this page.
Request an offer
Tell us the commercial coffee you need
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 for the current crop.