Economical green bean distributors in Europe

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Economical green bean distributors in Europe

Postby Gislipals » Thu May 01, 2008 8:56 pm

Heya,

As a recent convert to home roasting I'm still quite green when it comes to the supply-side of the process. My local options (in Iceland) are quite limited and expensive, so I've been using Sweetmarias.com with flat-rate boxes which amount to 40ish USD per 12 pounds.

I only recently discovered the US-based Green Bean Co-operative which I promptly joined, but by the looks of it, the system is not meant for non-NA users.

Hasbean.co.uk appears to be more expensive than Sweetmarias when shipping is factored in, although I'll have to compare the prices a bit better.

Is there any scheme similar to greencoffee.coop for Europe? A quick google scan proved fruitless -.-
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RE: Economical green bean distributors in Europe

Postby Bertie_Doe » Thu May 01, 2008 9:22 pm

Hi Gislipals and welcome to the forum. Yep the cost of shipping is a nightmare, with fuel costs rocketing every year. It's a pity your local roasters won't supply you with cheap greens. What equipment have you got for roasting, espresso and grinding?

BD
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Postby Gislipals » Thu May 01, 2008 9:39 pm

Hey and thanks for the warm welcome :)

Yeah, the two local roasters only knock about 25-30% off the roasted price which does little else than offset the 15-20% weight reduction of the roasting process..

I'm using:

Machine: Silvia, ordering a GS3 after a couple more paychecks hopefully.

Grinder: Macap M7K stepless

Roaster: iRoast 2, decided upon it as an entry-level roaster and I've no buyer's regret. The Hottop's looking mighty fine though, I'll have to consider it carefully once my I-R2 gives out on me.
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Postby the_dude » Fri May 02, 2008 10:48 am

Hi Gislipals,

I've ordered greens from a german site: http://espressolino.de
They seem to have fair prices even the shipping costs look
ok to me: <=20kg costs 46€
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Postby Sarion » Fri May 02, 2008 1:59 pm

I`m always happy with the Dutch Ongebrand: http://www.ongebrand.nl/index_eng.htm

Don`t know the shipping charge to Iceland, but they charge very fair shipping in the Netherlands, I would expect the same for foreign orders. They also offer a discount if you buy more coffee (-10% for 10 kg, for instance).
tell me I`m mad
you're a fine one to decide

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Postby HughF » Fri May 02, 2008 2:15 pm

I just posted 6lbs of green to a friend inside the UK and it cost the same as his half of the Sweet Marias flat-rate postage for 12 lbs from the USA! My sympathies for your postage costs.

Cheers,

hugh
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Postby Gislipals » Fri May 02, 2008 3:10 pm

Thanks for the replies guys and I'll check those two retailers out when I get home.

Hugh, the 40 bucks for 12lbs is quite fair as you point out, and it would be much worse if Sweetmarias wouldn't offer US Postal Flat Rate boxes.
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Postby motoman » Sun May 04, 2008 9:42 am

I used to get my bulk greens from U-roast-em (USA) but now they will not send by snail mail and the cost of air mail is frightening.

Hasbeans prices reflect the time and care that goes into the product, Steve has an international reputation for his expertise and quality. Buy it, try it, you won't be sorry.

I would love the idea of a European coffee co-op but the startup costs would outweigh the benefits.
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Postby bluevalentine » Tue May 06, 2008 12:36 pm

I'll happily endorse Hasbean quality. Quick attention and delivery too any any queries are promptly answered.
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Postby eivindt » Thu May 08, 2008 11:26 am

The problem with Hasbean is that the bags are 2kg, and that makes the package just over 2kg, which means that you cannot use Royal Mail, but have to use UPS. Unfortunately for people like me and Gislipals (who live in countries outside of the EU), the UPS shipping costs are just insane.

Fortunately, Steve @ Hasbean has been nice enough to me, to let me buy just below 2kg of coffee, so that the package can be shipped using Royal Mail. This makes prices ok in my eyes.

I've also had good experiences with ongebrand.


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Postby Beanie » Thu May 08, 2008 12:56 pm

eivindt wrote:Fortunately, Steve @ Hasbean has been nice enough to me, to let me buy just below 2kg of coffee, so that the package can be shipped using Royal Mail. This makes prices ok in my eyes.

Just another example of why Hasbean has loyal customers who enthusiastically recommend it for quality of goods and superb customer service :D The only two things wrong with Hasbean, in my eyes, are: it stocks too many mouth-watering-gotta-have-wanna-try-NOW beans more often than my rate of consumption can cope with; and it's not in Canada (yet?) :P
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Postby darrensandford » Thu May 08, 2008 2:03 pm

Nothing but praise for Steve of Hasbean. Delivery is always super-fast, and when there was a problem with my order he called me on my mobile to sort it out, and it was dispatched later the same day. Awesome!
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Postby JulieJayne » Thu May 08, 2008 9:28 pm

eivindt wrote:The problem with Hasbean is that the bags are 2kg, and that makes the package just over 2kg, which means that you cannot use Royal Mail, but have to use UPS. Unfortunately for people like me and Gislipals (who live in countries outside of the EU), the UPS shipping costs are just insane.
Eivind


Uk post must be worse than when I lived there. From Netherlands, to you (or other people outside the EU) up to 2kg is under €12. Over 2kg it goes from €20 to €48 for 20kg.

Those prices seem to be reasonably standard now around european postal services, from what I have seen.
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Postby Steve » Fri May 09, 2008 9:28 am

<BLUSH> :)
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Postby Gislipals » Sat May 10, 2008 8:03 pm

eivindt wrote:The problem with Hasbean is that the bags are 2kg, and that makes the package just over 2kg, which means that you cannot use Royal Mail, but have to use UPS. Unfortunately for people like me and Gislipals (who live in countries outside of the EU), the UPS shipping costs are just insane.

Fortunately, Steve @ Hasbean has been nice enough to me, to let me buy just below 2kg of coffee, so that the package can be shipped using Royal Mail. This makes prices ok in my eyes.

I've also had good experiences with ongebrand.


Eivind


that's interesting Eivind. Can you give us an idea just how much of a difference there is between a >2kg package using the two shipment services?
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