Buying Green Coffee + Marketplace FAQs
Table of Contents
Overview
How to Order Through the Marketplace
How to Order for Canadian Customers
Marketplace FAQs
Shipping Information
Marketplace Overview
You have a vision for your coffee menu—we’re here to help you bring it to life. We make it easy to identify the coffees that’ll serve your business needs and delight your customers.
Every Marketplace coffee is rich with background information, including:
– Full traceability to the producer
– Tasting notes and coffee plant variety
– Farm awards and certifications
– Marketing support, including farm stories and images
– No-nonsense, competitive pricing
Search through our curated green coffee menu using a variety of filters. When you find a winner, simply order and we’ll ship the beans directly to you in easy-to-store, easy-to-carry boxes. If you’re roasting at larger volumes, we offer the option to purchase green coffee by the bag as well.
How to Order Through The Bellwether Marketplace
To order 24lb boxes or 132-154lb bags of coffee through the Marketplace, please follow these steps:
1. Visit store.bellwethercoffee.com on any device.
2. Log in using your Bellwether Admin credentials.
3. Select the coffee you would like to purchase and Add to Cart.
4. Tap on the shopping cart icon in the top right corner of your screen and tap Checkout.
5. Select any shipping or delivery specifications at checkout. For more information see Shipping & Checkout FAQs.
6. Place your order!
After placing your order, you’ll receive an order confirmation email and shipping details.
Canadian Customers: How to Order Coffee
Canadian customers can view up to date inventory and pricing for green coffee here.
Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager and they will guide you through the ordering process.
We are working to launch the Bellwether Marketplace in Canada. Updates to come!
Marketplace FAQs
What’s the address of the store?
https://store.bellwethercoffee.com/
What can I do in the Marketplace?
In the new Marketplace you can:
Buy coffee from any device – Our new Marketplace will be hosted online instead of in the App so you can access the store anytime from any device.
Buy boxes and bags in one place – Bellwether just became the first green coffee supplier in the industry to create automated freight shipping for whole bags of coffee. Finally, you can buy and ship whole bags and pallets of coffee to your door with the same click-and-ship convenience of boxes. Track your orders right away in the app and see live freight quotes for your region before you order.
Enjoy flexible payment options – We’ve added flexible payment options so you can now buy coffee using credit, debit, or ACH. Save multiple payment methods to your account for convenience at checkout. Please note we are instituting a new $500 minimum for invoice orders.
Search better, faster – Easily see the whole menu at once, navigate coffees by region or flavor profile, and then further sort by farm name, recently added, bestsellers, low stock, or previously purchased.
See alerts to help you stay ahead – Easily see alerts for coffees that are low stock or new to the marketplace so you can plan your inventory on the fly. We’ll also show you coffees you’ve previously purchased so you can skip the search and restock with a click.
How do I access the store on multiple devices?
Customers can access the store in one of two ways. With both methods, customers must log in to their account using their username and password to add items to their cart.
Bellwether iPad App: customers can click on the Marketplace button within the iOS app which will open a browser outside of the app with the Marketplace.
Internet Browser: customers can visit store.bellwethercoffee.com on any device.
What changes will I see in the app itself?
For existing Bellwether customers
Your Bellwether App will prompt you to update with the new launch. Once the update is complete, you’ll see a link to the new Marketplace where the old one once lived. This is your portal to the new web-based store which you’ll use moving forward.
For new Bellwether customers
Your app will contain a link to the new Marketplace from day one.
For customers in the onboarding process
You will access the Marketplace from any web browser and follow the prompts to create a new account. From here, you can browse the store and purchase coffee any time.
Logging in
For existing Bellwether customers with a roaster
Your old Bellwether Admin credentials will be ported to the new store and should work seamlessly right away.
If you’ve forgotten which email address you use to log in, please send us an email at support@bellwethercoffee.com and we’ll provide you with that information.
If you’ve previously logged into the marketplace and cannot recall your password, you can reset your password at store.bellwethercoffee.com.
If you have never logged into the marketplace and cannot recall your password, please reset your password using the admin site at https://admin.bellwethercoffee.com/.
If you are still struggling to log in, please send an email to support@bellwethercoffee.com.
Adding a new user to your store account
If you would like to add a new user to your account to do things like purchase coffee through the store, account admins can add new users to their accounts at https://admin.bellwethercoffee.com/.
Will I still have to email orders@ or my CSM for buying bags and pallets?
Nope! You’ll be able to purchase and ship whole bags and pallets right from the store. There are some exceptions to this, please see the bullet below on special cases.
Where do I find the coffee menu?
The traditional coffee menu format has been converted to a page in the online store where you’ll browse available coffees as though you were shopping online.
For interested parties who are not yet Bellwether Customers, an updated version of the current coffee menu will be located on our website. https://www.bellwethercoffee.com/green-coffee-marketplace/
Special cases for store exemptions
The following use cases cannot be handled through the store at this time but they will be included in future updates. For these cases, customers will still need to order manually by emailing orders@bellwethercoffee.com.
– Canadian customers
– Warehouse pickups
– Custom blends and custom lots
– Samples of roasted coffee
– Customers who would like to book their own freight or choose their freight carrier
How do I order samples?
If you are not yet a Bellwether Customer, you can order samples by emailing your Sales Manager
For existing Bellwether Customers, you can email your request to your Customer Success Manager.
How do I know I’m getting the best shipping rate and carrier on my pallets of coffee? Not every carrier is the same and rates are variable
Our custom shipping tool pulls a dozen or more live freight quotes from carriers based on the criteria you enter. Our software chooses the 3 cheapest quotes and averages them to provide a flat rate to you. Behind the scenes, our team views the 3 carriers that were averaged to produce that rate and chooses the best and most reliable option for your order.
How do I know if I need a liftgate?
If you don’t have a loading dock or a forklift, you need a liftgate.
Liftgates are mechanical elevators on the back of some trucks that allow them to lower pallets to the ground in the event that you don’t have the equipment or a loading dock to receive with.
Liftgates can be extremely expensive which may be jarring to customers who notice their shipping rate changes drastically with a liftgate option selected. Unfortunately, there’s no way around this. If a pallet gets delivered to a location without a dock or a forklift, they won’t deliver your coffee and it will be returned.
How do I use my coffee credits?
Your existing coffee credits will transfer to the new store
You will be given a unique discount code that will be sent to your email address associated with your account.
It’s important not to lose this discount code – retrieval is difficult (but not impossible)
Refunds and returns
Returns and refunds can’t be done through the store and will need to be manually requested and processed by emailing the coffee team – coffee@bellwethercoffee.com
How does invoicing work?
Invoicing is available on orders exceeding $500 for all customers who qualify. You will see this as a payment option at checkout.
Invoices are sent by email once your order is shipped, terms are net-30 days.
You can pay your invoice through the payment link provided in your invoicing email.
For orders exceeding $10,000, we reserve the right to request a deposit. This will appear on the checkout page when invoicing is selected.
If you don’t see invoicing as a payment option at checkout, email support@bellwethercoffee.com to request more information
Does this impact my inventory tool or profiles?
Nope! You’ll still receive your profiles like normal with each coffee purchase, and your inventory won’t be impacted by the migration.
Who do I reach out to for technical support?
Send a note to support@bellwethercoffee.com for any technical issues experienced with the site.
Who do I reach out to for questions or more information about how the launch will affect me?
Your Customer Success Manager can help any time.
Are your Bellwether Marketplace coffees from a single origin? I’m seeing a different variety of names.
There is a distinction between single-origin and single-varietal or single-cultivar.
On coffee farms, multiple varieties or cultivars are often grown together for several reasons. I could be to add diversification, to protect from disease, to experiment, to mitigate risk, or because that’s just what was planted. In saying that, there are coffees that are both single-variety and single-origin. For example, Brazilian coffee is often single-origin and variety.
Another example of single-origin coffees that are often grown with a mix of varieties is coffee from Ethiopia. Ethiopian coffees often list “mixed heirloom landraces” or “Ethiopia Heirloom” as the variety. Ethiopian coffee farms almost always contain a mix of native and endemic varieties
What are tasting notes?
Tasting notes are ones that our team has selected after roasting and cupping the coffee. They point to specific flavor attributes of the coffee and can be influenced by origin, processing, roast, and other elements.
For boxes of coffee, what are the shipping charges generally per lb?
It’s hard to give a general shipping rate for boxes. It’s based on distance because the size of the boxes does not change and the amount of boxes does not matter.
Do the shipping rates vary based on order size?
No. Shipping two boxes is the same as shipping one box at a time.
What is the shipping time frame?
Orders placed through the Marketplace are processed same day if your order is placed by 11 AM Pacific Time. Your coffee may ship from different warehouse locations, so your purchases may ship separately or on different days.
If you’re located in California, it will take approximately two business days for your green coffee order to arrive and up to 5-7 business days if you’re outside of CA. We suggest having a month’s worth of green coffee on-hand and/or being aware of your inventory levels, so you don’t run out.
When ordering bags of green coffee, the estimated delivery time can vary depending on proximity to either the NJ or CA warehouse. In general, most orders will arrive within 7-10 business days, but we highly recommend ordering 2-3 weeks before needing the coffee, as delays can occur with freight shipping.
Are the Bellwether Marketplace coffees stored in GrainPro bags?
Yes! All of the coffee in the Bellwether Marketplace are packaged in GrainPro bags. It is very rare that we will get a coffee in that is not.
Do the Bellwether Marketplace coffees go through an optical sorter at origin?
Yes, the vast majority of Bellwether Marketplace’s coffee offerings go through an optical sorter at the origin. Almost all specialty coffees get sorted via optical sorter these days.
Are the Bellwether Marketplace coffees density sorted?
Yes! All of the Bellwether Marketplace coffees are density sorted.