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1 & 2 October 2020

The role
of coffee merchants

Coffee producing countries usually sell their crops just after harvesting. Coffee traders will buy coffee from producing countries when they are selling, handle it up to consuming countries and delivers it to roasters around the world all year long. We serve as a bridge between our supplier’s needs and our client’s needs.

There are 2 major varieties of coffee that are grown throughout the world today :  Arabica (about 65%) and Robusta (the remaining 35%)

The aromatic coffee bean that we all know and enjoy is in fact, the seed of the coffee tree. It is commonly named green coffee because of its colour.

There are many steps involved from collecting this green seeds up to the final cup of coffee. As coffee merchants we source green coffee beans for the industry and manage the following risks along the supply chain :

Manage the following risks

Market risks: Coffee Futures price fluctuation, Forex, price fixations from supplier’s & clients.

Sourcing risks: impacts of the climate over coffee crops, political & economical crisis or armed conflicts

Counterparty: contractual defaults from supplier or customer, bankrupcy, delays.

Quality: crop issues, quality discrepancy, cupping.

Transport is usually done by 20’ containers. Risks that trader will try to minimize among others are delays, damages, freight fluctuation, strikes.

Financing: treasury, cost of credit, bankrupcy or default, forex.