While this article is targeted towards retailers searching for wholesale coffee suppliers, many of the suggestions here are also applicable to people contemplating roasting their own coffee.

Becoming an Educated Buyer

What sort of business do you want to be in? Espresso-based milk drinks are all the rage these days, but without a background in whole-bean coffee and brewing basics, it's easy for a specialty coffee retail store-which should represent the pinnacle of coffee brewing- to turn into just another fast food business. For most people I know, the key to staying inspired by the coffee business is to combine the appreciation of the people and lands that grow coffee with a connection to coffee flavors via such classic brewing methods as the French press and vacuum pot. Beyond divine inspiration, it's virtually impossible to make intelligent choices in coffee or equipment without first grounding in coffee origins and a program of regular formal coffee tastings. If you're a newcomer to the business, the first steps I would recommend are to join the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and to attend its annual conference, then register for every seminar you can find. Second, I'd avail myself of several of the classic introductory texts, such as Kenneth Davids' two classics - Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing & Enjoying and Espresso: Ultimate Coffee. These experiences will help enable you to make the evaluations outlined below.

Experience, Expertise and Passion

When evaluating suppliers, the first thing to look for is knowledge and experience conjoined with a genuine passion for the product. The people who actually buy and roast-notice I did not say "sell and market" -must treat quality coffee with reverence. Newer entrants to the world of coffee roasting usually have little or no background in evaluating the quality of the green coffees they buy, and often depend un their suppliers for quality control. This is the equivalent of letting wolves guard your sheep. Process control during roasting and packaging at such microroasters is also often seat-of-the-pants, leading to highly variable quality and freshness.

At the other end of the spectrum, coffee buyers for huge corporations that have every process control and buying tool imaginable at their disposal typically suffer from "?quality paranoia." They typically make price the first and last consideration in sourcing, which precludes them from them from buying really great coffees.

Avoiding these extremes, I suggest looking for companies that employ buyers who have at least five years hands-on tasting and roasting experience, an obvious passion for quality, and a commitment to consistently improving their products and processes. Pay attention to what you prospective suppliers say. If they talk about a product rather that price, proximity or marketing "support," take that as a very good sign. If they take more pride in their training (of both their own employees and customers) than their brochures, you're probably in the right place.

Once you've honed your list of potential suppliers to a workable handful, you should arrange a personal visit-if at all possible-including a formal tasting (called "cupping") with the coffee buyer or master roaster. Look for roasting logs in the roasting room, consistent use of an Argon roast color analyzer, and above all roasters who taste the coffees they're roasting and are eager to explain why a particular bean is roasted a specific way.

Take a look at the total menu of coffee offerings from various roasters as well, for it reveals a great deal about their goals and competencies. Is there variety in roast color and blends, or a monotone "one roast fits all" approach? How much emphasis is there on farm-designated coffee or "estate" coffees versus proprietary blends (the latter being, of course, available only from the roaster)? Does the company claim to roast a custom blend for each and every customer? Because there are relatively few great coffee blends possible, this would mean the company is will to sacrifice product quality in the pursuit of a naive notion of good customer service.

Another telling test is the emphasis the company puts on the "unholy trinity" of Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain and flavored coffees-the three products that sell in inverse proportion to the sophistication level of the consumer. A catalog that contains half flavored coffees, for example, is a sign that a roaster is pandering to a market rather than educating it.

How much emphasis does the company place on espresso blends, and are such blends formulated and tested by individuals with a real knowledge of and passion for the special requirements of this demanding brewing method? The proof is in the cup here, so make sure to do separate tastings of espresso and espresso-based beverages. Ideally, both the roastmaster and the sales and machinery personnel will exhibit not only a love for coffee but a keen knowledge of the variables-from bean to roast to machine and training techniques-that are required to yield consistent excellence in the real world of retail. Flawlessly maintained machinery and well-trained baristas account for most of the quality of the finished cup, so make sure your supplier's capabilities go well beyond supplying fresh-roasted beans.

Partnership

Many times partnership in business is thought of as a form of back-scratching, where one's loyalty and volume is rewarded with special pricing, help with advertising, and so on. In specialty coffee, a genuine partnership between supplier and retailer is instead dependent on the ability of the roaster to help the retailer deliver the consistent excellence-cup by cup and pound by pound-that will keep the customer coming back for more.

Coffee is judged only as a beverage. To put it another way, as a coffee vendor, you're only as good as your last cup. In evaluating suppliers, take a good hard look at how much they know (or care) about water quality and filtration (98 percent of every cup of coffee is water). Do they know the difference between (and own) roller mill grinders for drip coffee and plate of "burr" grinders for espresso? What criteria do they use in selecting the drip brewing and espresso equipment they recommend? Do they view airpots as a "license to stale" or do they instead supply timers for every pot of brewed coffee their customers sell? What kind of training programs do they offer? How much understanding do they have in espresso bar design, menus and margins? Who staffs their service department, and what does the supplier offer in the way of preventative maintenance and emergency service? Most important of all, is their commitment to customer service commensurate with their passion for coffee quality? To find out, ask prospective suppliers for contacts among their current customers, then ask the customers about the level of service they've received.

Freshness

While you nearest local roaster would have you believe freshness is a matter of proximity, it's really dependant on understanding the science involved and adhering strictly to procedures. Once roasted, whole bean coffee exposed to air retains optimum flavor for only about two weeks. "Exposed to air" could mean a wide range: open bins, plastic bags, stand-up pouches, even one-way valve bags that a roaster merely heat sealed without oxygen via vacuum or flushing the inert gas. One-way valve bag technology, rigorously applied, can extend a coffee's roaster-fresh shelf life from two weeks to perhaps three months, but no form of packaging eliminates the responsibility of the roaster (as well as the retailer) to be acutely aware of coffee's perishable nature at every stage.

Visit prospective suppliers, looking at cleanliness, order and quality control procedures. Ask questions! And remember that for great coffee, shelf life and freshness standards are based comparing packaged coffee with beans right out of the roaster. In other words, the standard is excellence, not "consumer acceptance" (what one might be able to et away with). Also take a look at how prospective suppliers handle ground coffee, which without special packaging is stale in a matter of hours. Taste and compare, and pay attention to the quality of coffee you are served.

Price vs. Value

The reality of the pricing structure in the coffee business-as in so many other retail endeavors-is that the last person in the supply chain, in this case the retailer or restaurant owner, has by far the best profit margins of anyone involved in the process. This isn't to say retailers don't need or deserve their margins; with the labor and real estate costs they face, most would argue they need every penny. But with gross profit on whole bean coffee typically running 80 to 100 percent-and several times that for espresso drinks-there is a great deal of elasticity available to the retailer that coffee growers or roasters can only envy.

Green coffee follows the same sorts of rules as grapes for great wine and other similar foodstuffs, which is to say there is not a linear relationship between price and flavor. Some mediocre coffees (such as Kona and Jamaica Blue Mountain) are costly because of rarity and hype; some great coffees (e.g. estate Papua New Guinea or Yemen Mocha) are only moderately expensive because they are known to the trade and not consumers. Finding coffees that deliver maximum pleasure per pound-value-depends on tasting experience backed by a product-driven company culture.

For retailers and restaurants planning on being in coffee for the long term, they need to source not the lowest price but the best possible value from their suppliers. Suppliers must be able to supply the ideal coffee for the intended purpose, and that includes offering the comprehensive educational and marketing tools needed to educate staff and consumers about the special features of a product. On the retail side, this means the operator knows something about the farm on which the beans were grown; on the beverage side, it means the supplier helps ensure that everyone who operates a coffee-making device does so with a thorough understanding of the requirements of brewing a great cup. Ultimately, the supplier who demonstrates a dedication to the process of delivering a great coffee rather than obsessing over the price of a given blend is going to be a far better partner in profitability.

Taking the Business Personally

In my experience, success in coffee depends on combining a personal appreciation of the people who produce and drink it with a loving embrace of all the details it takes to achieve consistently delicious coffee everyday. Coffee is an art form and social stimulant, a sensual pleasure and a means to tour the world vicariously. It's a virtual public utility for those who love it-easy to take for granted yet difficult to appreciate fully.

The model for this approach to coffee-which is so much than business-is the classic Italian espresso bar, which even today is likely staffed mostly by its owners. I mention this example because I think it represents hope to independent entrepreneurs here in North America, who can sometimes feel glum at their prospects due to the pervasive influence of a handful of national corporate coffee chains. Formidable as these large chains are, by their very ubiquitousness and impersonality they create a hunger in the marketplace for the handmade and the personal. And in coffee, as in any other part of the food world, true artistry and excellence are largely the domain of the human-scale, entrepreneurial business person. Great coffee bars and stores reflect the passion and vision of their owners and tend to be successful precisely because they embody value s that go far beyond dollars and cents. Ultimately, the right supplier is the one who can be most helpful in making you unique vision real.