- Larger, established producers are often easier for roasters to buy from because the infrastructure, logistics and relationships are already in place.
- Around 12.5 million farms produce coffee globally, the vast majority of them smallholders, while roasters can work directly with only a fraction.
- For many roasters, sourcing comes down to balancing quality, price and accessibility – not simply finding the best coffee available.
The coffee industry prides itself on celebrating diversity at origin. New producers, emerging regions and exceptional coffees are often held up as examples of an industry that rewards quality above all else. Yet when it comes to sourcing decisions, many roasters repeatedly buy from the same established producers.
The reason is rarely that smallholders are incapable of producing exceptional coffee. More often, it comes down to business. Established farms typically have the infrastructure, logistics and export relationships already in place to make their coffees easier to access – qualities that matter alongside quality and price when roasters are making purchasing decisions.
This presents an important challenge for specialty coffee. If buying from larger, more established producers is often simply easier, how can smallholders become equally straightforward for roasters to work with?
Why established producers make business sense
For most coffee roasters, buying coffee is about far more than finding the highest-scoring lot. Every purchasing decision involves balancing quality with price, accessibility, consistency, supply security, communication, logistics and customer expectations.
For most roasters, repeatedly buying from recognised producers is not simply a matter of prestige – it’s good business. Established producers have already demonstrated their ability to deliver exceptional quality, proven processing methods, trusted relationships with exporters and importers, and the infrastructure needed to make sourcing their coffee relatively straightforward.
For buyers working within strict budgets and tight sourcing schedules, these farms can simply be easier to work with than producers whose infrastructure, logistics or market access are less established.
Cerianne Bury is the Global Quality Manager at Trabocca. She believes these commercial realities are often overlooked when discussing sourcing decisions.
“These successful producers have some amazing coffees. However, I do not think it’s simply a matter of quality. Rather, it is marketability and consistency,” she says.
“Buyers know these names, and the coffees are good. It’s also about connection. The coffee industry, especially at the top of specialty, is often still a people industry. People like buying from people they know and like.”
That familiarity has commercial value. Existing relationships reduce the time and cost involved in sourcing coffee, while established infrastructure and supply chains make it easier for buyers to access the quality and volumes they need.
For smallholders, however, the challenge is often making their coffee just as easy for roasters to access. Even when quality is exceptional, a buyer may still choose a more established producer if the coffee is simpler to source, ship and bring to market.
Quality alone is not always enough
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing many smallholders is not producing exceptional coffee, but making that coffee easy enough for buyers to access.
More than 12.5 million coffee farms produce coffee globally, the vast majority of them smallholders. While many may produce outstanding coffee, the sheer scale of global production means roasters can only build direct relationships with a relatively small number of suppliers, so accessibility becomes an important part of the sourcing decision alongside quality and price.
Many smaller farms lack the infrastructure, market access or financial resources available to more established producers. Others produce outstanding coffee, but operate in regions where logistics are difficult or where they have limited connections to international buyers.
The challenges extend beyond resources and logistics. Advanced processing methods, quality laboratories, specialised drying infrastructure and staff training all require significant investment. Producers already receiving premium prices are naturally better positioned to reinvest in these areas, allowing them to continue improving quality and experimenting with new processing techniques.
However, Cerianne cautions against assuming capital alone determines success.
“There are producers with lesser means creating amazing coffees selling at prices above the market. Shining a light on these producers helps them get higher prices and helps them invest in better equipment or training.”
In many cases, the difference is not whether exceptional coffee exists, but how straightforward it is for a roaster to find, buy and move that coffee through the supply chain.
While smallholders may not always have the same level of infrastructure or market access as larger farms, specialty-grade coffee is also much broader than the handful of farms regularly featured in competitions and auctions. Many smaller producers continue building successful businesses by consistently producing excellent coffee and developing long-term relationships with buyers.
“In general, if you look outside of competitions, or special lines of roasters, there are still quite a few less famous, less known producers that are very successful and getting more successful as they show they can consistently deliver good coffees,” Cerianne says.
“Yes, visibility has become quite concentrated around a smaller number of producers, but the specialty coffee industry is much larger than just these producers.”
Creating opportunities without increasing risk
If commercial realities naturally encourage buyers towards established producers, creating opportunities for smallholders requires making their coffees easier for roasters to discover, access and buy.
This is where importers, exporters and green coffee traders play an increasingly important role. Rather than simply moving coffee between origin and destination, they often become the bridge between emerging producers and specialty roasters, investing the time needed to identify promising coffees before introducing them to the market.
By building relationships at origin, managing logistics and putting coffees in front of buyers, these businesses can make it easier for roasters to diversify their sourcing without adding unnecessary complexity to the buying process.
Cerianne believes this responsibility already sits at the heart of many green coffee businesses.
“Specialty coffee traders can play a role here, as we have the opportunity to build relationships with producers at a lower financial risk than many roasters and get their coffees in front of different roasters across the globe,” she says.
“You could always do more. But we already do a lot. We try to diversify what we offer every year, looking for great coffee or great potential with new producers or new regions, and have roasters we work with [to] taste these coffees and introduce the story of the producer to them.”
Ultimately, the challenge is not persuading roasters to stop buying from established producers. Those relationships have often been built over many years and provide genuine commercial value for both sides. Instead, the industry’s next challenge is making it just as straightforward for roasters to discover and buy great coffee from producers they may not already know.
Cerianne says that roasters themselves also have an important role to play.
“Don’t be afraid to try new origins, new regions, new producers that you don’t know. Don’t expect the coffees with the highest price to be the best you can buy,” she says.
“Rather, pay more to the other great coffees you buy, and ask what part of this money is ending up with the producer.”
The coffee sector has become exceptionally good at rewarding producers who consistently deliver outstanding coffee. The next step is ensuring the industry’s commercial systems remain equally effective at making great coffee from less-established producers easier for roasters to discover and access.
The reason many specialty coffee roasters do not buy from smallholders is rarely a lack of quality. More often, it is because established producers are simply easier to buy from, with the infrastructure, logistics and relationships already in place.
If coffee wants to broaden opportunity at origin, it must find ways to make buying exceptional coffee from smallholders just as straightforward as returning to familiar, established suppliers.
