# how much is 70 kilos of reasonably good grean beans likely to cost me from a broker??



## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

how much is 70 kilos of reasonably good grean beans likely to cost me from a broker??


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Were two threads necessary?

Aren't you a "green bean buyer"?

Michael

Fun in a Cup Coffee Training


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Minimum order from brokers tends to be more than 70kg, I believe, but price for decent coffee seems to be about £3 per kg upwards.


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## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

I'm hoping to buy Green beans soon. I sent 2 posts because I wasn't sure which bit of the forum to use. Do roasters form coops to buy in bulk from brokers??


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Duplicate thread removed.

Some roasters form coops to buy direct from farmers, not usually from UK based brokers or importers.

However, some roasters are willing to split purchases from UK based brokers and importers as they might not want an entire lot or might not be able to afford the minimum order.

I assume you already have a roaster?


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## gman147 (Jul 7, 2012)

Grean??????


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## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

yes green and no I dont have a toaster. Complete beginner.


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## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

Will be visiting some farms in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia soon. Do you think they can advise on how to get their beans in the UK?


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

What are you hoping to do with these greens? If you give us some background info about yourself and what you are doing etc, hopefully we will be able to offer you some help.


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## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

I plan to roast them and sell them.

To start I would give out free samples and hopefully then get orders for more. It would be a very small business.

My ideal business would involve buying beans direct from a coop of small farmers in South America. Sadly, due to red tape and the need to ship in bulk, this is not completely possible.

A compromise would be to visit the farms and then buy from a broker. What is important is to be selling coffee that is bought as directly as possible from the growers and grown on small farms that the owners work on, not from a big exploitative plantation. I will visit some of the farms in the next few weeks.

Are there any questions youd like me to ask coffee farmers here?


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

If you are starting from scratch and haven't even got a roaster yet - don't you think buying 70kg+ of green beans is a little ambitious to start with? I roast and sell coffee as a small business and generally buy in 15 - 20kg of green beans at a time and use a 1kg batch roaster. You could start with one of these, or a 3 or 5 kg roaster to get you going? I can get you in touch with my supplier of green beans and can also recommend Toper roasters if you are interested? PM me if I can be of any help!

Andy


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

Do you have any experience in roasting, cupping, business etc? Of course how you start off is up to you and everyone has to start somewhere but I would really be looking to invest all my time, money and energy into learning the craft rather than trying to hook up direct-trade deals at this stage, if you know where to look there are some fantastic buyers/importers/brokers out there who will be able to offer you what you need, remember aswell that for you to hook up direct trade deals with top quality growers(Just becuase it came from a small farm out the back end of nowhere, run by a man and his wife, doesn't necessarilly mean it's going to be a good coffee, separating the wheat from the chaff is a task that will involve spending alot of time and money visiting hundreds of farms and whatnot) will be a very difficult task and somebody like Mercanta for instance, that is all they do, sourcing top quality coffees, they have far better means than you do and roasting their coffees will probably get you alot further than going it alone, once you have the experience, skills and knowledge gathered over a few years, then go and seek out the direct trade if you still want to.

Spend this time you have now Studying Studying and Studying some more, speak to people in the industry and try and get some hands on experience where you can.

Of course this is only my opinion and you must follow your own dreams.


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## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

Will be starting from scratch when back in the UK. While I'm in South America I might as well learn what I can here. Not setting up direct trade at this stage. Just getting an idea of this end of the industry. I should clarify that I would be selling bags of roasted coffee, not in cups. And not necessarily gourmet coffee, just better than what most people drink but at the same price.


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

Wow, well yeah if you are in South America right now, what a fantastic learning opportunity! I'm jealous!

Keep your options open and learn your industry and where it is going and where you are going before you make your mind up about your business model, it's much easier to make a first impression than it is to change your model later on, so make sure you are clear on what you want to achieve before you start, obviously I am biased as are most of us here on the forum but I can see you doing what virtually all of us here did which was to be introduced to some form of commodity coffee and then before you know it you are on Coffee Forums at 3am discussing the finer points of the Q-grade Wote Yirgacheffe that you have spent the last week with your Chemex trying to tease out that subtle hint of jasmine! The world of coffee is like the rabbit hole in Alice In Wonderland, just make sure you have met the Mad Hatter before you start making scones for the next tea party.

Where abouts do you live out of interest?


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## Greenbeanbuyer (Oct 15, 2012)

Thanx for all the info. Will write more when less busy. Just bought my first beans in Ecuador. Crossing the border to Peru today to buy some more. Then Colombia.


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