Coffee sourcing
Every coffee starts with the people who grow it. Here’s how coffee travels from farm to our roastery in Glenrothes.
From producer to roastery
Sourcing speciality coffee is a chain of decisions and relationships. This is how it usually works.
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Producers
Coffee is grown by farmers, estates, co-operatives and communities, often on small plots. Many take their cherries to a local mill; others process on the farm.
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Selection
Buyers taste samples, usually by cupping, to choose coffees for quality and flavour and to check each lot tastes as it should.
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Agreement and shipping
Price, volume and timing are agreed, directly with producers or through importers and exporters. The green coffee is then shipped, usually by sea.
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Roasting
The green coffee arrives at our roastery in Glenrothes, Fife, where it’s roasted and packed for you.
Different ways to buy coffee
Some roasters buy directly from a farm. Many work with specialist importers, who handle quality checks, finance, shipping and paperwork, and often have long relationships with producers. Co-operatives let smaller farms pool their coffee and share processing, marketing and export.
No single route guarantees a fair price or great coffee on its own. What matters is quality, openness about where coffee comes from, and relationships that last beyond one harvest.
Some of the people behind our coffee
Each of our coffees has a story. Here are a few of them. For more, see our coffee origin guides.
What we look for
We look for coffees that taste great and suit the way people brew at home, and for producers and partners we can keep buying from. Wherever we can, we tell you who grew your coffee and where.
