Have you ever asked yourself why the price of coffee from one origin, for example, Colombia, is different among roasters in Bulgaria or another country? In the last years, the third wave of specialty coffee market has developed fast, creating many options for the consumers, and therefore with this comes a different type of price.

 

 

We will be discussing why the same coffee in the same industry has different prices? What are the factors that affect it? And what makes each coffee different among the coffee roasters, apart from the roasting style?

 

1. Date of roasting:

Every coffee roaster around the world has its style and plans when it comes to the roasting schedule. Some prefer to roast and immediately pack it, keeping a stock of packaged coffee ready to be dispatched. In that way, roasting and production costs are reduced and optimized, besides it compromises the coffee freshness.

On the other hand, there exists another way of managing the roasting. We at "Martines Caffe" as coffee roasters believing that people deserve to enjoy freshly roasted coffee work differently. We prefer to keep green coffee beans in our store and roast them, especially for our clients, based on their requirements when we confirm the purchase. After this pack it and dispatch it in that way, we maximize the freshness of the coffee.

Martines Caffe freshness method might make roasted coffee a little bit more expensive than the first method, but it is worth it, as the enjoyment of the coffee will be higher as it is freshly roasted.

 

2. Region

Every producing country has specific regions for coffee production. In this case, coffee prices will be determined by the accessibility to the producing area, distance to the exporting port, infrastructure to process the coffee, and many other factors.

 

3. Process and fermentation

How coffee has been processed and/or fermented is another factor, which directly influences the price. Coffee that is a natural process, sun-dried in countries where the space of processing is limited and with high altitudes, tends to be more expensive in comparison with washed, such as Colombia, Peru, or Kenya.

In addition, when coffee passes through fermentation, it tends to be more expensive, depending on the method. If it is applied anaerobic process (no presence of air), the required time is longer, and the quality of the beans is at risk. Due to no air conditions, the fermentation process is more unstable. And the quantities processed are lower in comparison with a normal washed or natural process.

 

4. Coffee Availability:

Commercial coffees are available in higher quantities as the focus is the price but not the quality. However, when we talk about specialty coffees, availability could be limited, depending on if the coffee comes from a micro lot, nano lot, a cup of excellence, or experimental lot. All of them are limited quantities of bags, sometimes only 8, 10, 20 kg for example. That influences the prices because of the limited offer but the high level of demand.

 

5. Quality:

Quality is another factor that influences the price. Coffees with higher SCA points, for example, 89, 90, 91, or 92, tend to be more expensive. For those, the taste and aromas perceived are unusual, as well as most of the time, there is limited availability.

Based on that, next time when we see the same coffees, but at different prices, we could ask the coffee shop or roaster about the specifications mentioned above and conclude if it is worth paying the difference or not.