Wholesale coffee, Boston

Why buy from an importer rather than a local roaster?

Because the coffee in your hopper has usually passed through an importer, a dealer and a roaster before it reaches you, and each one prices it. We import our own coffee from one cooperative and roast it at origin, so a Boston café is buying two links down the chain instead of five.

That matters more for a café than it looks. The two things a small operator cannot normally get are a supplier who can tell them exactly where the coffee came from, and a supplier whose price is not layered with three intermediate margins. An importer selling direct can do both.

It also means the origin story on your counter is one you can substantiate. When a customer asks where the coffee is from, "Brazil" is an answer everybody gives; naming the cooperative, the municipality and the state is one almost nobody can.

Is Robusta right for a Boston espresso programme?

As a blend component, usually yes; served alone, it depends on your customers. Boston is a heavy milk-drink market, and Robusta holds body through milk better than Arabica does while adding crema and roughly double the caffeine. Order samples and pull shots before deciding.

The honest counterpoint is that a bar whose reputation rests on single-origin filter coffee is not our account, and we would rather say so than sell you something that undercuts what you are known for. Our blend-ratio guidance is in the espresso article, and it starts at ten percent for a reason.

What should a café ask any wholesale supplier?

Where the green came from and whether they can name it, what the roast date policy is, what the minimum and delivery cadence are, and whether the price is a landed price or a broker markup on someone else’s coffee. The answers separate suppliers quickly.