How Small Coffee Shops Source Coffee Beans: Choosing the Right Suppliers and Introduction to Domestic Coffee Procurement Supply Company Channels

Many coffee enthusiasts must be curious about the channels through which coffee shops purchase coffee beans and how they find suitable coffee bean wholesalers. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will reveal the secrets behind coffee shop selections.

Five Channels for Small Coffee Shops to Purchase Coffee Beans

Small coffee shops generally have five ways to purchase coffee beans:

1. Local suppliers - These suppliers mostly provide ingredients for milk tea, ice cream, and other products. The quality of coffee beans is generally not high, but they offer competitive prices. Some coffee shop owners reveal that prices of 20-30 yuan per kilogram are very common.
2. Specialized coffee bean suppliers - Due to trust relationships formed during previous equipment purchases, many coffee shop owners also choose these suppliers, who offer beans at favorable prices.
3. Purchasing from coffee training institutions - Some participants who have received training and then opened their own shops often choose this channel.
4. Online purchasing - This offers a wide selection range. There are many well-known online coffee brands today, such as Uncle Bean Coffee, Mingqian Coffee, M2M, etc.
5. Purchasing green beans and roasting them yourself - FrontStreet Coffee is one of them.

FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that quality is the best business plan. When opening a coffee shop, hundreds of decisions need to be made. The most critical decisions revolve around the core business of the coffee shop: coffee. Whether the coffee tastes good depends on the coffee beans! Finding delicious coffee beans starts with coffee bean suppliers. A suitable supplier will ensure timely delivery of quality bean orders to meet customer needs.

What Makes Quality Commercial Coffee Beans?

So what constitutes quality commercial coffee beans? FrontStreet Coffee believes there are five requirements for quality commercial coffee beans: freshness, stability, cost-effectiveness, variety, and rich crema.

Freshness: Always Buy Fresh Beans for the Best Flavor

Those who have purchased FrontStreet Coffee beans must have noticed that the coffee bean packages on Frontsteet's shelves all come in bags with small round valves. Why use these one-way valve bags? Because fresh coffee beans release carbon dioxide within two weeks after roasting, and these one-way valve bags help excess gas escape. Meanwhile, the degassing valve allows customers to smell the coffee beans' aroma from outside the package before purchasing. FrontStreet Coffee is confident that after smelling our coffee aroma, customers will choose to buy!

Additionally, observant customers will notice that FrontStreet Coffee packaging has a roasting date stamp on the back. Under normal circumstances, Frontsteet's online store ships within five days after roasting, meaning customers receive their beans between days two and eight (except for remote areas). In eighty percent of cases, customers receive their beans three to six days after roasting, which is the optimal state for coffee beans.

Consistent Quality: Crucial for Consistent Coffee Output

The palate remembers familiar tastes. We often hear conversations like, "Has this shop changed chefs? The taste is different." The coffee industry is the same - bean stability can help ensure the stability of your output to some extent. For eight years, FrontStreet Coffee has been perfecting coffee roasting. Each coffee bean variety is professionally cupped to ensure high-quality flavor.

Quality remains consistent, as always. All coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are used in our own operations offline. Our specialty blend formula has been used for 6 years, and our Warm Sun Blend, used for positioning enhancement, has also been used for three years.

Cost-Effectiveness: Reducing Costs

For those just entering the coffee industry, finding the most cost-effective coffee bean supplier is essential. Significant funds have already been invested in coffee shop equipment and online promotion. Selecting bulk, affordable, and cost-effective coffee beans can help reduce material costs and minimize market risks. FrontStreet Coffee's beans offer excellent value and frequently feature discount promotions. 100-gram small packages of daily beans can even be sold for as low as 10 yuan per package during promotions.

Cost-effectiveness is also one of FrontStreet Coffee's biggest advantages currently. Take Frontsteet's own Warm Sun Blend as an example: Sherry single-origin coffee beans cost 80 yuan per half-pound, Red Cherry costs 88 yuan per half-pound, but the commercial Warm Sun Blend (Sherry blended with Red Cherry) costs one yuan less per half-pound than Sherry alone.

More Choices: Variety Never Goes Wrong

People who frequent coffee shops will notice that SOE (Single Origin Espresso) coffee is becoming increasingly popular, especially in creative coffee drinks that highlight flavors. Single-origin offerings often give customers more choices, and coffee shops naturally earn more as a result. However, not many shops sell single-origin coffee beans now, and their selections are often limited to twenty or thirty varieties. In comparison, Frontsteet's menu is overly rich. Fifty-plus choices can often overwhelm customers.

Rich Crema: The Most Important Factor for Commercial Coffee Beans

Perhaps the most important aspect of commercial coffee beans is "crema." Espresso is often considered best when it yields golden crema. How is this formed? What factors are related to it?

FrontStreet Coffee believes this is closely related to the coffee bean's roast level and freshness. Espresso crema mainly consists of carbon dioxide and insoluble oils from the coffee grounds. As we all know, coffee beans contain gases like carbon dioxide after roasting. When modern semi-automatic espresso machines extract coffee, they generate 9 bars of pressure to "squeeze" the coffee puck. Due to the high pressure, water becomes supersaturated with carbon dioxide, so the carbon dioxide cannot escape and directly dissolves into the coffee liquid. During this process, fats in the coffee are emulsified, and these fats encapsulate the carbon dioxide. Being lighter than water, they gradually separate, forming the beautiful golden crema that floats on the surface.

Finding the Right Coffee Supplier

Finding a suitable coffee supplier is crucial for a coffee shop's growing coffee business. So how do you find the right coffee bean wholesaler? FrontStreet Coffee believes you should consider the five factors mentioned above and continuously try to establish trustworthy business partnerships.

For coffee roasting and making coffee, each has its own specialized theories. Every profession has its expertise, and professional tasks require professional people. For coffee bean roasting, you need not only stable green bean sources but also cupping abilities, roasting space, experienced roasters and cuppers, etc. These are things that a specialty coffee shop and small roastery cannot achieve.

In the past, there was a saying in China's coffee industry: "Many people who don't understand coffee open coffee shops." Today, with consumption upgrading, expansion of the middle class, and the rise of the new generation, consumers are gradually growing and maturing. This situation will become less and less common.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow: FrontStreet Coffee

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473