How to Read a Coffee Importer's Price Sheet (the 7 Numbers That Actually Matter When You're Sourcing Green Coffee)
If you've ever looked at a green coffee importer's price sheet and tried to figure out what you're actually paying for, you've probably noticed that the numbers are presented in a format that makes sense to people who work in coffee trade and almost no one else. FOB, EXW, differentials, microlots, contract sizes, prep methods — each line item matters, and each one can change the actual cost of a pound of green coffee by 30 to 100 percent.
This is the inside view of how to read an importer's price sheet, what each number means, how to compare offers between importers, and how to figure out what the green coffee you're buying actually costs once it's roasted and ready to sell.
Why the price sheet looks the way it does
Green coffee is a globally traded commodity, even at the specialty end. The pricing conventions come from the broader commodity trade — coffee futures (the C contract on ICE), origin pricing in producer countries, and freight logistics between origins and consuming countries.
Specialty coffee doesn't trade on commodity exchanges the way commercial coffee does. But the pricing language inherited from that world remains. When you read an importer's price sheet, you're seeing specialty prices expressed in commodity-conventions. The numbers are mostly the same. The meanings have been adapted.
For a small roaster like us, the price sheet is a once-or-twice-a-year negotiation tool. We work with 2 to 3 importers and review their offers when we're building a new lineup. The offers come in standardized formats, and we compare them line by line.
The 7 numbers on a price sheet that matter
1. FOB price (Free On Board).
FOB is the price per pound of green coffee loaded onto a ship at the origin port. It excludes ocean freight, insurance, import duties, and the importer's margin.
If the price sheet says "FOB $4.50/lb," that means the producer sold the green coffee for $4.50/lb loaded onto a vessel at the origin port. Everything else is added on top.
FOB is useful for comparing offers between origins and between producers. It's the price the producer received, which is roughly what the green coffee is worth at source.
2. EXW price (Ex Works).
EXW is the price per pound at the warehouse or dry mill — before the coffee is loaded onto a ship. EXW + inland transport + loading = FOB.
EXW is closer to what the producer actually receives. FOB includes some additional logistics. The difference is usually small (a few cents per pound) but worth knowing.
3. Differential (or "diff").
The differential is the markup (or discount) the producer or exporter charges above or below the C contract — the commodity coffee futures price. The C contract trades around $1.50 to $3.50/lb historically, depending on the year. Specialty coffee prices are quoted as "C + $X.XX/lb" or sometimes as a fixed price (e.g., "$4.50/lb FOB") which already includes the differential.
A typical specialty Arabica differential is $1.00 to $3.00/lb above the C contract. Microlots and competition coffees can be $5 to $20/lb above C. Some origins (Ethiopia, Kenya) have very high differentials because the supply is limited and the cup quality is exceptional.
The differential is a rough proxy for "how much above commodity is this coffee worth in the buyer's eyes." Higher diff = higher cup quality, more limited supply, or both.
4. Contract size.
The minimum quantity you have to buy. A standard contract is usually one full bag (typically 60 to 70 kg or 132 to 154 lb), one pallet (10 to 20 bags), or one full container load (~250 to 320 bags, depending on origin).
For a small roaster like us, we usually buy in 1 to 5 bag lots. Some microlots have minimum 1-bag contracts. Some larger lots require a full pallet. Contract size matters because it affects how flexible you can be in building a lineup.
5. Prep (preparation).
The way the green coffee is prepared before export. Common prep terms include:
- European preparation (EP). Hand-sorted, defect count below a specific threshold (usually 0-5 defects per 300g sample). This is the standard for specialty.
- US preparation. Sorted but with a slightly higher defect tolerance (up to 10 defects per 300g).
- Mechanical preparation. Machine-sorted, less hand-sorting. Lower-cost but more defects.
European prep is the standard for specialty. If the price sheet doesn't specify prep, ask. It affects what you pay and what you get.
6. Bag size.
Standard bag sizes are 60 kg (most origins), 69 kg (Brazil, Ethiopia), or 30 kg (some Central American origins). The bag size affects how much coffee you're buying and how it ships.
For a small roaster, a 60 kg bag is a lot of coffee — about 95 lb of green, which roasts down to about 80 lb of roasted coffee. That's 3 to 4 weeks of inventory for us.
7. Crop year (or "fresh crop").
The year the coffee was harvested. Green coffee is at its best within 6 to 12 months of harvest. Older green coffee has lost some of its aromatic compounds and will roast less predictably.
Always check the crop year on the price sheet. "New crop" or "current crop" coffee is from the most recent harvest. "Past crop" is from the previous year and should be cheaper (because it's older) or passed up entirely.
A worked example
Let's say an importer offers us a Honduran coffee with the following price sheet:
``` COUNTRY: Honduras REGION: Marcala FARM: Finca El Puente PROCESS: Washed VARIETAL: Caturra, Bourbon ALTITUDE: 1,500m CROP: 2026 PREP: European CONTRACT: 1 bag (69 kg) FOB: $4.85/lb DIFF: C + $2.10/lb (when C is $2.20/lb) ```
What does this tell us?
- The producer is selling at $4.85/lb loaded onto a ship at the origin port (Puerto Cortés, Honduras).
- The differential is $2.10/lb above the C contract. That's a high-quality specialty diff.
- The crop is current. The cup should be at peak freshness.
- European prep means hand-sorted, low defects.
- We're committing to 1 bag = 152 lb green = ~125 lb roasted.
The $4.85/lb is the FOB. The actual cost to us will include ocean freight from Honduras to the US West Coast (~$0.30 to $0.50/lb), import duties and customs clearance ($0.05 to $0.15/lb), the importer's margin ($0.20 to $0.50/lb), and any financing costs. The all-in cost might be $5.50 to $6.20/lb landed at our roastery.
Once we roast that coffee, we lose about 15 percent by mass (water loss). So $6.00/lb green becomes about $7.05/lb roasted. We then price a 12 oz bag at $19.99 to $24.99, which means we're charging the customer roughly 4x the green coffee cost — a typical markup for a small specialty roaster.
How to compare offers between importers
If two importers offer the same coffee at different prices, look beyond the headline number.
Importer A: "FOB $4.85/lb, MOQ 1 bag, prep EP." Importer B: "EXW $4.50/lb, MOQ 5 bags, prep mechanical."
Importer A is charging $0.35/lb more than B, but they offer single-bag minimums (B requires 5 bags minimum) and European prep (B is mechanical). The additional $0.35/lb buys flexibility and quality.
For a small roaster, that's usually worth it. For a high-volume roaster, the prep and minimum size might matter less.
What about container-load offers
Some importers offer container-load prices for full containers (FCL). A typical 20-foot container holds about 250 to 320 bags of green coffee depending on origin. The container price includes ocean freight, customs, and delivery to the buyer's warehouse.
Container prices are typically $0.50 to $1.50/lb less than per-bag prices, because the importer is moving more volume. For a small roaster, container purchases require either buying with other roasters (an "alliance" or "container sharing" arrangement) or having the warehouse space and capital to receive a full container.
We usually buy 1 to 5 bags at a time. The container option is for larger roasters.
The hidden costs people forget
Beyond the price sheet, there are costs people often forget:
Roasting loss. Green coffee loses about 12 to 20 percent of its mass during roasting (water loss and chaff). A 70 kg bag of green becomes about 56 to 62 kg of roasted coffee.
Packaging. Bags, labels, seals, foil liners for freshness. A typical 12 oz bag costs $0.50 to $1.50 depending on whether it's a simple kraft bag or a fancy printed stand-up pouch.
Shipping to customers. USPS, UPS, or FedEx. $5 to $10 per order typically.
Storage. Green coffee needs cool, dry storage. Roasted coffee needs to be used within 2 to 4 weeks of roast date. Inventory carrying cost is real.
Labor. Time to source, receive, roast, pack, and ship the coffee. Even for a small roaster, this is hundreds of hours per year.
Marketing. The cost of getting the coffee in front of customers. Social, search, content, samples.
The price on the importer's sheet is the starting point. The retail price reflects all of these costs plus a margin.
What "specialty" actually means in the price
A specialty coffee at $5.00/lb FOB is fundamentally different from a commodity coffee at $1.80/lb FOB. The price reflects:
- Higher altitude and better terroir
- More selective harvesting (often only fully ripe cherries)
- More careful processing
- More sorting and quality control
- Smaller lots (microlots vs container-load commodity)
- More direct relationships between buyer and producer
A $5/lb specialty coffee is, in cup terms, very different from a $1.80/lb commercial coffee. The cup is brighter, more complex, more consistent. The producer is paid a livable wage. The supply chain is shorter. The customer pays more.
The higher price isn't a markup for marketing. It reflects a different product.
How often we buy and how we manage inventory
We buy green coffee every 4 to 8 weeks depending on the lot. Each green coffee purchase is typically 1 to 5 bags. We hold 8 to 12 weeks of green coffee inventory at the roastery. Roasted coffee is held for no more than 2 to 4 weeks before being sold or shipped.
The cycle is: receive green → cup and approve → roast to order → roast date on the bag → ship within 1 week of roast.
Inventory management is one of the most overlooked parts of small roaster operations. Buy too much green and you're holding cash in stale coffee. Buy too little and you run out of your best sellers.
What we look for beyond price
Price isn't the only consideration when we're evaluating an offer. We also look at:
- Cup quality. The most important factor. If the cup isn't good, we don't buy at any price.
- Producer relationship. We've been buying from some of our producers for 3+ years. We want to continue those relationships, which sometimes means paying more.
- Logistics. Does the importer ship quickly? Are there customs issues? Is the coffee reliably at our roastery within 30 days of purchase?
- Importer reliability. Does the importer stand behind their quality? Will they cup every offer before sending it? Will they replace bad lots?
- Lot size. Can we move 1 to 5 bags in 4 to 8 weeks? Or is this a 20-bag lot we'll have on inventory for months?
These factors shape which importer we buy from and which lots we choose.
How customers can use this to evaluate a roaster
If you're a customer buying from a small specialty roaster, you can use the price sheet logic to evaluate what you're paying for:
- A 12 oz bag at $19.99 to $24.99 reflects roughly $1.50 to $2.50 of green coffee cost (after roasting loss). The rest is packaging, shipping, labor, marketing, and roaster margin.
- The roaster is buying green coffee at roughly $4.50 to $7.00/lb landed. That's a real cost.
- The 4x markup from green to retail is typical for small specialty roasters. Commercial coffee has lower markups (often 2x to 3x) because they buy cheaper green and have lower labor costs.
- If a roaster is selling 12 oz bags at $12.99, they're either buying very cheap green, accepting thin margins, or cutting costs somewhere (often on labor or packaging).
The price reflects the product. Not every coffee needs to be $24.99. But a $25 specialty coffee is the result of a real supply chain with real costs at each step.
Brew slow. Sip slow. — and the next time you see "specialty coffee" on a bag and wonder what the price reflects, the answer is: a real producer, real lot size, real cup quality, and a supply chain that pays each person along the way. The price on the importer's price sheet is the start of that chain.
P.S. If you want to see how we choose which lots to feature, how we decide which coffees make our lineup walks through the quarterly cupping process. And if you've ever wondered why we offer only 2 to 3 coffees at a time, how we keep our small catalog small explains the curation philosophy.