Exporting coffee: what a buyer's agent checks.
A note for Ethiopian exporters and suppliers who want to understand what international buyers ask for. Kaffa Bridge is the buyer's sourcing agent. We are not an exporter, we do not own farms or washing stations, and we present lots to buyers only after we have checked the exporter and the record.
What a buyer expects to see.
Buyers decide faster when the record is complete. This is the set we ask for before a lot goes on a shortlist.
- Where it came from
- Station name, zone and woreda, and the harvest window.
- How it was made
- Process, variety, altitude and screen distribution.
- How it reads
- Moisture, water activity, and the Q score with its scoresheet.
- What travels with it
- Phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, ECX grade certificate and bill of lading.
What we check about the exporter.
- A licence to export, and a certified lab and certified taster behind the lot.
- A record that matches the sample: the lot we cup is the lot that ships.
- A sample drawn from the actual lot, with a second portion held against the shipment.
- Documents ready in the right order for FOB Djibouti or CFR delivery.
We have not verified Ethiopian export regulation from a primary source in this round of research, so we do not summarise it here. Check current requirements with the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
The buyer's terms.
How buyers see the route is on the importing guide. The eight stages of a lot are on the coffee journey.
Introduce a lot or an exporter.
Tell us the zone, process, volume and what is on the record. We read it, and if it fits a buyer's brief we say so. We do not promise a placement.
Send your brief
Tell us the shape of it and we reply with something specific. No commitment.
Received.
We reply from coffee@kaffabridge.co.uk, in your timezone.
We could not send this just now. Send it by email instead.