Where your
money goes.

Farm Gate Price ($/lb)

The price received by the coffee producer — after processing but before any export costs. This is the most important number in any transparency discussion. It represents what the person who grew the coffee actually earned per pound. We never negotiate this number down. When production costs rise — fertiliser, labour, fuel — we work with exporters to find balance rather than asking producers to absorb the increase.

FOB — Free on Board ($/lb)

Free on Board pricing represents the agreed cost of coffee once it has been milled, bagged, ICO-marked, and loaded at the port of origin. It includes: dry milling, export permit, packaging, domestic transport to port, and any origin-country export levies (IHCAFE escrow in Honduras, ICAFE-related costs in Costa Rica). FOB is the price against which we are held accountable. When a roaster sees an FOB price in this report, that is our contractual commitment, payable before the coffee leaves its country of origin.

Ex-Warehouse Price ($/lb)

The fully landed price at which coffee is available to buyers from our nearest warehouse. It includes: FOB price, international ocean freight, marine insurance, destination port handling fees, customs clearance and broker fees, import duties where applicable, drayage to warehouse, and intake into temperature-controlled storage. This is what you pay. The difference between FOB and ex-warehouse is never margin — it is the documented cost of moving coffee safely across an ocean.

Import/Export Cost ($/lb)

The numeric difference between FOB and ex-warehouse, expressed per pound. In this report it ranges from $0.48/lb (Honduras 2025 lots, efficient Pacific container booking) to $2.89/lb (La Torre Gesha, Gothenburg 2025 — small lot, long transoceanic routing, European port fees). This cost is real, variable, and driven primarily by freight rates, lot size, and destination geography.

C-Market (Commodity Market)

The Coffee "C" futures contract traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in New York. Established in 1882 as a mechanism for trading standardised Arabica coffee without reference to quality, origin, or true production cost. We do not use the C-Market as a price benchmark. It is displayed in this report as context only — to illustrate the gap between commodity pricing and what we actually pay. At its 2018 low ($0.98/lb), the C-Market was below the cost of production for specialty coffee.

Forward Contract

An agreement made before harvest — committing the buyer to a specific volume at an agreed price, and committing the producer to deliver that volume to agreed quality specifications. Commitment before harvest. Before certainty. Before convenience. Forward contracting removes producers from short-term market exposure. It enables planning, investment, and the kind of processing experimentation that produces exceptional lots. It is our standard operating model, not an exception.

PSS — Pre-Shipment Sample

A sample drawn from the actual export lot after milling and packing, before the container is sealed. This is the definitive quality control checkpoint. PSS quality should closely predict how the coffee will arrive at destination. We measure moisture content, water activity, and cup profile on every PSS. If a PSS does not meet approval, the lot is not shipped. We recommend SAS Replace terms — ensuring that if a PSS fails, an equivalent replacement is offered.

Water Activity (Aw)

A measure of the free water available in green coffee — the water not bound to cell structure. Expressed as a decimal from 0 to 1. Target range for stable green coffee: Aw 0.55–0.65. Coffee with Aw above 0.65 is at increased risk of mould, flavour degradation, and cup quality loss during extended storage or shipping. Water activity is distinct from moisture content — two coffees at identical moisture levels can have different water activity depending on processing and drying conditions. We measure Aw on every lot at PSS stage and on arrival.

Moisture Content (%)

The percentage of a green coffee bean's total weight that is water. ICO standard for exportable green coffee: 8–12.5%. Most specialty importers target 10–12%. Coffee outside this range is either too dry (brittle, prone to shattering in the roaster) or too wet (unstable, at risk of mould and quality degradation during transit). Moisture content and water activity are related but not identical — both must be measured. We verify both on every lot.

CoE Score

The cupping score assigned using the Specialty Coffee Association protocol — a 100-point scale evaluating fragrance/aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, and overall impression. Specialty grade begins at 80 points. Our portfolio in this report ranges from 85.5 to 89.25 — within the "Excellent" band (85–89.99). We cup every lot a minimum of three times: at origin, at PSS stage, and on arrival.

Carbonic Maceration (CM)

A processing technique adapted from winemaking — whole cherries are fermented in a CO₂-saturated environment before depulping. The anaerobic intracellular fermentation produces distinctive flavour compounds: dark fruit, wine-like complexity, enhanced sweetness. Used at Finca El Árbol (Nicaragua) and La Huerta (Nicaragua) in this report. Requires specific infrastructure and precise protocol. We do not use CM as a marketing term. In this report it identifies a specific fermentation protocol with documented parameters.

Farm Gate Price ($/lb)

Where two prices appear in our offering (Regular Price and Relationship Price), the lower reflects the discount available to roasters who are purchasing on a forward contract basis — committing to a volume before the harvest. This is not a loyalty discount in the commercial sense. It is a structural incentive: when roasters commit early, producers gain the stability to plan, invest, and produce better coffee. The difference is passed on. Everyone benefits.