How to sell coffee wholesale: terms, pricing, cuppings and pitching

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

To sell coffee wholesale, choose who you will supply (cafés, delis, offices or restaurants), write down your wholesale terms and a price list, and let buyers taste the coffee at a cupping or with samples before they commit. Expect them to ask about roast dates, grind options, consistency and training, and have the answers in writing. This guide covers how to sell coffee wholesale step by step, with a worked price example, a terms checklist and an example pitch email.

1. Who buys wholesale coffee?

Roasters selling wholesale typically supply four kinds of business. Each buys differently, so decide which you're set up to serve before you pitch.

Supplying coffee to cafés

A café serves your coffee to its own customers every day, under its own name. It will want to taste your coffee on its own machine, and it will judge you on every bag. Start with one or two cafés you can visit often, so you can see how your coffee is served and fix problems early. Our guide on how to sell to cafés covers how cafés buy and how to time your visits.

Delis, farm shops and offices

Delis and farm shops buy retail bags the same way they buy any other product: trade price, RRP, case size and shelf life. Offices care more about delivery and invoicing than about tasting notes. Both can be easier first accounts than a café if you don't yet offer training.

2. What buyers ask a wholesale coffee supplier

Answer these four on your price list or trade sheet, so the buyer doesn't have to ask.

Roast dates

Buyers want to know when the coffee was roasted. Print the roast date on every bag, say how soon after roasting you deliver, and tell them how long you'd recommend using it within. Say which days you roast, so they can plan orders around it.

Grind options

Cafés with their own grinders buy whole bean. Offices and some delis want ground coffee. List what you offer: whole bean, and ground for espresso, filter or cafetière. If you grind to order, say how much notice you need.

Consistency

A café's regulars notice when the coffee changes. Tell buyers how you keep each roast the same from batch to batch, and what happens when a coffee in your blend changes with the season. Give notice before a blend changes, and offer a sample of the new version first.

Training

Cafés will ask whether you train their staff. Decide what you offer before you're asked: a session at set-up, visits to dial in the grinder, refresher training for new staff. Put it in writing, say what's included in the price and what's charged separately.

Other questions to have answers for

• Bag sizes, and whether you take empty bags back
• Delivery days, minimum order and cut-off for changes
• Whether you supply or service equipment, and on what terms
• Whether you offer an own-label or house blend

3. How to sell coffee beans wholesale: terms and price list

Write your wholesale terms on one page before your first pitch. Every buyer gets the same terms, and you don't have to make them up on the spot.

Wholesale terms checklist

• Prices per kilo for each coffee, and per bag for retail bags with the RRP
• Bag sizes for wholesale and retail
• Minimum order per delivery
• Delivery days, areas you deliver to yourself, courier charges outside them
• Roast schedule and the order cut-off for each roast day
• Payment terms, for example 30 days from invoice, in writing
• Training and equipment: what's included and what's extra
• Price changes: how much notice you give when green coffee costs change

Agree payment terms in writing. If no payment date is agreed, statutory interest on a late invoice can run from 30 days after the later of the coffee or the invoice arriving.

A worked price example

Our guide on how to price a food product explains each cost line and how to set a floor price. For the layout of the price list itself, see our guide to building a wholesale price list and trade sheet.

4. Samples, cuppings and the first order

Samples

Send a sample bag of the coffee you think suits the buyer, with the roast date, brewing suggestions and your price list. For a café, offer to come in and dial it in on their grinder and machine, because your coffee can taste different on their kit than on yours.

Cuppings

A cupping lets the buyer taste several coffees side by side. Invite the café owner and head barista to your roastery, or offer to bring a cupping to them at a quiet time. Bring two or three coffees: the one you'd recommend, and one or two alternatives at different prices. Ask what they like about each and what their customers order most.

The first order

• Agree a trial period, for example four weeks, with a check-in at the end.
• Visit during the first week to check the grind and the shots, and train any staff who missed the first session.
• Set up a standing order once the trial ends, so they don't run out between orders.
• Ask what customers say, and what's selling if they take retail bags.

5. How to sell coffee wholesale: an example pitch email

Write to the owner by name, mention something specific about their business, and offer a cupping or a visit. A small café or deli may be a sole trader, and sole traders need to have consented before you send marketing email, so check the business type first or call in. Our guide to writing pitch emails to buyers has more examples and follow-up timings.

If there's no reply, follow up once about a week later. For a café or deli on your delivery route, consider calling in with a sample bag at a quiet time instead of sending a second email.

Questions about selling coffee wholesale

← All DELLI Growth guides