FAQs

Where can I learn more about coffee, roasting, starting a cafe, etc?

We highly recommend the training and education provided by our sister company www.londonschoolofcoffee.com.

The London School of Coffee offers a wide range of courses including cupping, roasting, blending & brewing, and barista skills. The three day ‘How to start a Roastery’ and ‘How to Start a Coffee Shop’ courses have specifically been designed to build core skills for new businesses. The school also offers on-site training and consultancy services to both start up and established businesses.

If you are unable to come to London to attend our courses, please contact us for recommendations regarding other courses.

Can I order from any of your warehouses regardless of my location?

In theory, yes, though there are sometimes restrictions that make this impossible.  For example, we regret that, due to customs regulations, we are unable to offer deliveries out of the UK for customers in the USA.

For details about logistics between your roastery and the warehouse from which you want to order, please contact us. 

Who are your typical clients?

We provide high quality green coffee to a wide variety of roasters and businesses of different sizes around the world. Our clients typically range from 10,000 kilos per year to 250,000 kilos per year. Most roast on 5-60kg batch roasters made by Probat, Loring, Diedrich, Toper and many other roasting machine manufacturers.

How can I request a price list?

Please contact the warehouse from which you are interested in ordering. 

Please note that in all cases, we manage our inventory very carefully, and our coffees turn over very quickly. This means our specialty coffee catalogues are constantly updating. Just as our selection of available coffees is updated on a regular basis, prices can also change depending on time of year, availability, etc.  Essentially, it’s important to keep in mind that prices and availability are subject to change.

How do I become a customer/make my first order?

Please take the time to fill out our New Customer Registration Form and an account manager will get in touch shortly. 

How do I create an account on your website?

We will approve your web account after you have made at least one order with us. Usually we will do this automatically after the completion of your second order. If you have not heard from us regarding your username and password at that time, please do give us a nudge.

When we create your login for the website, we also assign you with an account manager (usually based on location and availability).  We always welcome feedback, and once you are logged in, you can provide confidential feedback to a regional manager from your ‘my account/contact’ page.

After I create a web account with you, what price will I see?

The price you see depends both on the warehouse from which you are mostly likely to order and on your location. If we’ve gotten that wrong, many apologies: please contact us, and we will change your default warehouse setting.

Please note: At this time, due to a variety of factors, prices are not available for North American customers and may not display if you are looking at stock from warehouses other than your default warehouse. If your account is managed by our North American office or if you have these issues, your price column will read ‘contact us’.  Please contact us directly for a price list. 

Where do you deliver?

From our 4 warehouses in the UK, North America, Singapore and Hamburg, we deliver worldwide to specialty coffee roasters from over 40 countries across 6 continents. We are happy to consider new routes and markets wherever feasible.

For specific information on shipping specialty coffee to your country, please contact the office from which you will be ordering coffee. 

What is your minimum order?

Our minimum order depends on the warehouse/office location. Please see specific warehouse details.

From none of our warehouses do we sell sub-bag, kilo-sized lots. If you’d prefer to start buying small sub-bag lots of specialty beans, please get in touch, and we’ll try and recommend suppliers.

How much will your minimum order cost?

Please see specific warehouse details.

When I buy coffee from you, do I have to take it all at once?

We offer financing and storage service for pre-determined amounts of time. Contact your account manager for details.

What are your payment terms?

We require payments in advance until we get to know you. After our relationship has advanced (usually a couple of orders in), we can start to discuss credit terms.

How long will it take?

Delivery terms vary from warehouse to warehouse and depend upon the country to which you are delivering. Please see specific warehouse details.

Is my coffee guaranteed?

In a word: Yes. We guarantee the quality of our coffee 100%.

If Mercanta delivers your coffee, we use specified carriers to insure the goods to your door. You can also use your own carrier. If you use your own carrier, the delivery risk is yours entirely.

Can you send me some samples?

Yes and no! We are able to supply selected samples, although we limit the number of samples per customer due to costs and coffee availability. We would advise you to talk through the coffees you are interested in with one of our account managers, and then you can request samples of anything you’re not sure about.

Can you provide samples of roasted coffee?

We roast between 10 and 20 coffee samples daily for us to assess in our laboratory. This is one of the ways we find the high quality coffees that we are then able to offer to you. Due to the time and energy required, we are unable to also provide customers with samples of roasted coffee, though your account manager will be able to help you with samples of green coffee that you can roast to your preferred profile and sample in your own lab.

How about some help with marketing and cupping notes?

We are delighted to provide you with supporting information and photos for the coffees you buy, which you are, of course, free to use on your website and other marketing materials. We can also help with cupping notes from our experienced and expert team of cuppers to help guide you in purchasing.

Once you are logged in as a customer, keep an eye out for dropbox links throughout the site. Clicking on those links will take you to a folder where you can find in-depth information and photos for each of our coffees.

Can you: help me to roast my coffee/send me roasting profiles/work out the selling price of the coffee you sold me/help me select coffees for a succulent blend?

Our account managers/cuppers/coffeehunters are very experienced in all aspects of coffee and are always ready and willing to help with advice or resources.  Please do get in touch! 

Is it possible to actually talk to someone?

Of course! If you have already read these FAQs and our FAQs for start-ups and still have questions, feel free to give us a ring at one of our six offices! 

From whom do you purchase coffee?

We work with a wide range of partners at origin, including coffee farmer groups, associations, cooperatives, estates, washing stations, dry mills, and exporters. The most important criteria for choosing our coffee is quality in the cup, but we also highly prioritise long-term relationships and sustainability.

Where can I send my samples?

We are sorry, but at this time we usually do not accept unsolicited samples.