Your coffee is the one thing on the menu many customers buy every visit. So when you choose a wholesale coffee supplier, you're choosing what your customers taste each time they come in.
Changing supplier later costs you time, retraining and a few unhappy regulars. These 10 questions help you get it right first time, and they work for any supplier you're comparing, including us.
Before you start: know what you need
Write down three things before you compare any supplier. First, the drinks you sell most, such as espresso, flat whites or filter. Second, roughly how many cups you make in a week.
Third, the kit you run: a grinder, a filter brewer or a pod machine. With those to hand, every answer below is easy to judge, and you can compare suppliers on the same terms.
1. Where does the coffee come from, and what grade is it?
Check the farms or origins, and the grade. Any supplier should be able to show you where each blend is grown and how it's picked.
Our beans come from the top 5% of coffee farms, grown at high altitude and picked and sorted by hand. Stability Blend, our bestseller, is Brazil, Uganda and Mexico, and every blend lists its origins on the product page.
2. Is it 100% Arabica?
Robusta has 83% more caffeine than Arabica, and a blend doesn't always tell you which bean is inside.
Too much caffeine can leave a customer jittery, and that's the last thing you want them to remember about your café.
Check the product page for the bean. Every Balance coffee is 100% Arabica, which gives your customers a calm energy boost with no jitters or crashes.
3. Can the supplier show you what's in it?
UK law caps the main mould toxin in roasted coffee, yet nobody has to test for it before the coffee is sold. Coffee is also a sprayed crop, so check for pesticides too.
Then check what you can show your own customers. A result you can link from your menu or website answers the question before a customer has to ask it.
4. How fresh will it be when it arrives?
Fresh coffee tastes better in the cup, so check where the coffee is roasted and how long an order takes to reach you.
All Balance coffee is freshly roasted in London, so each bag reaches your counter ready to serve. Allow 5 working days from order to delivery, so you can plan each reorder before you run low.
5. Does it come in the format your kit needs?
A busy espresso bar with its own grinder needs whole beans. A filter brewer or cafetière needs ground coffee, and a hotel room may need pods.
Every Balance blend comes as whole bean, ground for filter or ground for espresso, in 1kg or 250g bags. Our Clean Coffee Pods fit Nespresso Original machines, and our Lion's Mane mushroom coffee is ground for cafetière and pour-over.
6. Is there a minimum order?
A high minimum can tie up cash and shelf space, and it makes trying a new blend a risk. Check what you must buy each time, and whether that changes as you grow.
We have no minimum order. You can order a single 1kg bag of our wholesale coffee beans, or stock up in bulk when it suits you.
7. What does delivery cost?
Delivery costs add up on small orders, so check the rates before you compare prices, and whether a weight or spend makes it free.
UK delivery on a Balance trade order is £9.99 under 30kg, and free on orders of 30kg or more.
The exact cost shows at checkout before you pay.
8. How does trade pricing work?
Check how the trade price is set, whether it's the same for every product, and what earns a better rate. A clear system is easier to budget for than a price that changes with every quote.
Our trade prices start at 30% off retail on every product, and can rise to 45% off as your volume grows.
Our guide to wholesale coffee prices shows the cost per kg and per cup for each blend.
9. Will it taste right on your machine?
The same coffee can taste different on every machine, so taste it where you'll serve it. Find out which blend suits your drinks, and try it in your milk drinks as well as an espresso.
Stability Blend brings notes of milk chocolate, hazelnut and fig to an espresso or a flat white. When you apply for a trade account, you can ask us for a sample, so your team tastes it before it goes on the menu.
10. Can one supplier cover your whole menu?
Every extra supplier means another account, another invoice and another delivery to chase. Check what else the supplier sells that you'd otherwise buy elsewhere.
One Balance trade account covers our beans, Clean Coffee Pods, Lion's Mane mushroom coffee and four mushroom elixirs. A hotel can stock pods in its rooms and beans at the bar, all on the same order.
What to do with the answers
Put each supplier's answers side by side, and look at what the coffee does for your customers as well as what it costs you. A supplier who can show you what's in the bag gives your team something to say when a customer asks.
That's why venues like KARVE Club, a reformer Pilates studio in London, stock Balance. As its founder Yulia puts it: "We chose Balance for their science backed healthy coffee."
Running a coffee shop? See how we work as a coffee supplier for cafés, or see why venues choose us among wholesale coffee suppliers in the UK. When you're ready, apply for a trade account and you'll see your price on every bag once you're approved.
James Bellis
Founder, Balance Coffee
James has worked at the heart of speciality coffee for over 15 years, from the machines behind the bar to the beans in the cup. He started Balance Coffee and writes these guides to help venues earn more from every drink.