# What to do with 18 tonnes of green coffee beans



## AssuredPatsy (Jul 5, 2016)

Hello all,

Like everyone else here I really love coffee, so when an opportunity came up to work in the coffee industry I jumped on it without thinking it through properly. I have a friend who's family owns a coffee plantation in India. He tells me it's really high quality arabica beans which they have never exported and he wants to start exporting it to the UK as the price he gets for it in India is too low.

He wants to send a sample amount of 10-16kg and, if that goes well, a shipping container of green beans, which is 18 tonnes. What I want to do is get the sample roasted and get the quality certified, or get it onto a tasting panel. I don't think my palate is refined enough to judge the quality. Could anyone give me some guidance on how best to go about this? I think he'd be happy if he could supply coffee to one company as opposed to packaging and selling to the public.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Why are we allowing this crap on the forum?


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## AssuredPatsy (Jul 5, 2016)

If I did something wrong I'll delete it. I'm sorry.


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## Mad Wally (Feb 24, 2016)

DavecUK said:


> Why are we allowing this crap on the forum?


Whats with the hostility? Please elaborate.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Mad Wally said:


> Whats with the hostility? Please elaborate.


Do I really have to explain it to you...


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## AssuredPatsy (Jul 5, 2016)

I don't want any issues. I'm not a importer or in the coffee business. This is also not a get-rich-quick scheme. I work as a programmer in Shoreditch. I am genuinely just looking for advice. My friend and colleague is from India and his family have a coffee plantation, they have never exported before and I am trying to help them with it. If you don't believe me then message me and I will give you my office address. You are welcome to come over for a chat.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

AssuredPatsy said:


> I don't want an issues. I'm not a importer or in the coffee business. This is also not a get-rich-quick scheme. I work as a programmer in Shoreditch. I am genuinely just looking for advice. My friend and colleague is from India and his family have a coffee plantation, they have never exported before and I am trying to help them with it. If you don't believe me then message me and I will give you my office address. You are welcome to come over for a chat.


Talk to the various coffee importers, mercanta, Interamerican, Wakefield and/or message some of the larger roasters....why would you ask on a forum?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Many people outside the industry would not know about coffee importers / buying organisations.

@AssuredPatsy Please send me a PM with your contact details and I will be in touch with the details of a respected sample roaster for the UK coffee industry.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

whilst this case might be genuine and different to the usual stuff that gets posted. Come on, who in their right mind (with the benefit of a little knowledge) would import 18 tonnes of coffee. The pitfalls are numerous. We do get these sorts of posts quite often which are normally the grower or someone connected looking to push their stuff. there is a reason that there are so few coffee wholesale companies worldwide.....remembering it is a commodity.


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## AssuredPatsy (Jul 5, 2016)

Because I thought it would be a good place to get some impartial advice from varied points of view. Also, I was hoping to find out about potential issues before I faced them. I have already emailed several roasters and they all turned me down because the sample amount was too small. I didn't think there would be anything wrong with asking for advice within the coffee community. I'm not trying to scam or hurt anyone.


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## AssuredPatsy (Jul 5, 2016)

dfk41 said:


> whilst this case might be genuine and different to the usual stuff that gets posted. Come on, who in their right mind (with the benefit of a little knowledge) would import 18 tonnes of coffee. The pitfalls are numerous. We do get these sorts of posts quite often which are normally the grower or someone connected looking to push their stuff. there is a reason that there are so few coffee wholesale companies worldwide.....remembering it is a commodity.


The 18 tonnes is only dependant on if buyers can be found for it. They can sell it in India but they are barely breaking even so they are looking into exporting. Just to be clear, I am not financially invested in this. My friend asked for help so I'm helping.


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## h1udd (Sep 1, 2015)

Hmmm, that would be 72000 roasts in the gene 101 and take 2.7 years of continual back to back roasting hmmmmmmm I am out


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## MrShades (Jul 29, 2009)

There's a great deal more to importing foodstuffs into Europe/UK than just loading a container full of sacks of beans and then unloading them and finding someone to buy them at this end!

Do some Googling and research the subject properly and you might understand why green coffee import is restricted to very few companies who can be bothered with the hassle / have the experience and contacts to do it, and actually make some money themselves.


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## AssuredPatsy (Jul 5, 2016)

MrShades said:


> There's a great deal more to importing foodstuffs into Europe/UK than just loading a container full of sacks of beans and then unloading them and finding someone to buy them at this end!


They are dealing with the import issues. I am just trying to get the samples roasted, and to the right people.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

The OP has been in touch and I will contact to discuss options.


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