Every coffee page has these information fields:
Origin and producer
Lot
Profile
Sourcing
Importer
Contract date
Importer grade
Country grade
FOB price
Origin and producer
Producer
The name of the person(s) who led the production of this coffee. In the case of cooperatives, when we know it, we state the amount of producers that contributed to the lot with their harvest.
Farm or coop
The name of the farm, estate or cooperative where the lot was produced.
Region
The region or province where the farm/coop is located.
Country
The country where the farm/coop is located. Click on it to see all our coffee offerings (past and present) from the same country.
Lot
Variety
The variety or varieties present in this lot. Click on it to learn more about it and explore our offerings (past and present) featuring this varietal.
Process
The fermentation method with which this lot was produced. Click on it to learn more about it and explore our offerings (past and present) featuring this process.
Harvest date
The date (month and year) this lot was harvested, processed and packed.
Altitude
The average altitude (in metres above the sea level) at which the coffee trees live.
Certifications
Certifications held by the raw green coffee lot. Please note that these refer strictly to the unroasted product; our finished product sometimes can’t claim certain certifications like ‘Organic’ because our company isn’t registered under that scheme.
Profile
Roast style
The roasting style we use to roast this coffee. In our case, it’s one of these two:
- Omni: a single roasting profile for coffee that can be brewed either as espresso or filter
- Espresso: a roasting profile for coffee to be brewed as espresso
Learn more about our roasting philosophy and approach.
Flavours
The flavours that stand out most when we cup this coffee.
Body and acidity
Our ratings on a 1-to-5 scale of the body and acidity of this coffee.
Sourcing
Importer
The company that provided this green coffee lot.
Contract date
The date we signed a forward contract or the green coffee, or when a green coffee lot was invoiced to us.
Importer grade
Some importers use their own grades or categories to classify their green coffees offerings.
Caravela Coffee: ML/X-GRADE, AAA, AA, A, RTB
Country grade
A commonplace classification to benchmark or group green coffee lots of similar characteristics. Each country uses their own classification/grading system and their own defining factors.
As Cafe Imports puts it, “we take grade into consideration when making purchasing decisions, but it’s never the final factor: We recognise that a lot of variables contribute to quality in coffee, and while screen size or elevation or color might be a few predictors, we prefer to use cupping as a means of determining the overall quality.”
Learn more and see the full list of grade classifications per country at Cafe Imports’ blog post.
FOB price
FOB (Free On Board) is the price paid for a green that has been processed, milled, packed in bags and loaded onto the exporting boat at the origin port. This price doesn’t include/reflect the cost of the sea journey or any additional logistics at the country of destination.
C (commodity, market) and Fairtrade prices are FOB prices. These are generally defined in USD/lb (United States dollar per pound).
The C price here refers to the ICO Composite Indicator Price (I-CIP) monthly average corresponding to the month of that green coffee lot contract/invoice date. The International Coffee Organization (ICO) publishes those on icocoffee.org, based on statistics on the prices of real coffee sold.
The Fairtrade price is set, published and updated regularly by Fairtrade International for different categories:
- Arabica or Robusta variety
- Natural or washed process
- Conventional or organic
- Fairtrade minimum or Fairtrade premium
The Fairtrade price here refers to the highest value (Arabica, washed, organic, Fairtrade premium) corresponding to the month of that green coffee lot contract/invoice date.
When we have the approval of the importer, we publish the value of the FOB price. When we don’t, we register it internally but only express it publicly as a graph or as a percentage.