Tana Toraja: Notes from Sulawesi, Indonesia
I recently returned from a trip to Sulawesi with the Consulate General of Indonesia, where we visited coffee production areas and gained further understanding of the supply chain and current issues facing coffee producers. Read on to learn more about this unique...
Producer Interview: Irham Yunus, owner of Jagong Mill in Sumatra, Indonesia
Irham Yunus, along with his family, owns several farms in the Takengon and Atu regions and runs the Jagong mill on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Irham and his wife have four children: two daughters are doctors and their son is a general contractor. Their other...
2023 Freight Outlook
Royal Coffee’s Inbound Traffic Specialist, Jodi Louws, shares her thoughts on market forces that will affect shipping costs in 2023. TLDR; Shipping costs are not back to pre-pandemic lows, and we do not expect them to be. Freight rates are improving, but not...
2021 Green Coffee Staff Picks for Fall & Winter
Editor’s note: A version of this article first ran on the blog in December of 2018. This year, our Sales Associate, Spencer Ford, updated the list and will be updating it throughout the season. Even in the strangest of years in recent memory, there’s at least a...
The C Market and Our Prices
About a month ago, I discussed some factors that led to the C market’s rise. Now that the C market has gone above the highs of the drought-driven market of 2014-15, I want to address our pricing specifically. While prices have increased due to freight and higher...
The Roaster’s Practical Guide to Coffee Blending
Coffee blending is time-honored pairing of sensory arts and pragmatic concerns, and for many coffee drinkers remains one of the most recognizable ways to distinguish a coffee. This article will introduce roasters to basic blending concepts and attempt to answer some...
Trade Secrets: What’s Behind the Coffee Supply Chain Disruption
After the unprecedented challenges of 2020, the specialty coffee world faces an entirely new, though not unrelated, set of logistical hurdles in 2021. Our Director of Education, Chris Kornman, sat down with the Director of Inbound Traffic, Jodi Louws, to discuss... What Coffee Roasters Should Know: Massive Hikes for Ocean Contract Costs Ahead
By Jodi Louws with Charlie Habegger and Bob Fulmer Global shipping delays and costs are still rising. Since October, we’ve seen consumer spending propel Chinese exports to epic highs. The TransPacific trade has been a vacuum drawing on the global supply of containers...
Royal Coffee’s Green Coffee Menu: Best Sellers and Common Coffee Types
Green coffee sales are the core of Royal Coffee’s business. Green coffee ships in various packaging types, many different processing methods, and from a wide variety of different origins. Let’s take a quick overview of the different types of green coffee Royal... What Roasters Should Know about Ongoing COVID Freight Impacts, Costs, and Congestion
What Roasters Should Know about Ongoing COVID Freight Impacts, Costs, and Congestion By Jodi Louws COVID freight impacts continue, and even seem more severe at this time than they did in early 2020. We’re seeing export delays, longer shipment times and...