A New Program Aims to Fill the Wholesale Training Gap for Coffee Roasters

A new course focused on the business side of wholesale coffee is now accepting students. The program, called Wholesale for Roasters, combines on-demand lessons with a cohort format and is built to help roasters get a handle on the essentials of wholesale—everything from pricing and sales to managing accounts. Four modules make up the curriculum, taught by a mix of internal staff and guest experts, among them coffee consultants Luke Waite and Tarra Samuelson.

The course grew out of a simple observation: wholesale roasting is hard. Being able to roast well, and to do it at volume, is one skill. Grasping the mechanics of sales—and what actually drives customers to pick your coffee—is something else entirely.

The idea for the course came from RoasterLink, a matchmaking program that pairs wholesale roasters with prospective clients. RoasterLink works as a relationship-builder, putting roasters in touch with wholesale buyers who are actively looking for new partners, and there are many case studies of roasters landing new accounts through it. At the same time, some roasters who explore the program turn out not to be set up in a way that lets them succeed in it.

Roasters often make the jump from individual craftsperson to business owner, and along that path few receive formal training in marketing a wholesale program, building a CRM for the wholesale workflow, managing outreach to leads, pricing wholesale offerings profitably, or holding onto accounts. Every one of those pieces matters for keeping a wholesale business profitable, yet accessible education on them remains hard to find.

With competition intensifying and buyer preferences shifting, getting ahead can be even tougher for wholesalers. Roasters frequently report trying cold outreach to win new accounts, only to burn out from repeated rejection. That experience isn't limited to new businesses—roasters of every age and size wrestle with the sales process.

Wholesale for Roasters is built specifically to help roasters establish a foundation and handle each major part of a successful wholesale program. The aim is to spare participants the trial-and-error and give them tactics that experts across the field have already shown to work.

Among the things participants will learn:

• How to build a sales system and put a customer relationship management platform to use, so sales efforts run on systematic processes rather than labor-intensive outreach
• How to structure pricing, so roasters aren't left living on the margins
• How to sustain long-term relationships, so clients stay and keep providing business over the years

Some of the instructors:

• Luke Waite, consultant at Pomelo Coffee Consulting, on the wholesale model and how to price wholesale coffee effectively
• Tarra Samuelson, consultant at Curated Coffee Consulting, on setting up a CRM for wholesale and on the sales process
• Daniel Ewalt, co-founder at RoasterTools, on best practices for managing accounts and maximizing retention
• Garrett Oden, publisher at our website, on marketing and lead generation
• Nick Schmitt, Coffee Ambassador at Roastar, on private and white labeling best practices

Participants will also hear operator interviews with successful wholesale roasters, including:

• Jonathan Pascual, founder of Opo Coffee
• Sammy Meyer, operations at Friedrichs Coffee Roasters
• Zachary Ray, CEO of Desert Sun Coffee Roasters

The first cohort opens on September 3rd and closes September 17th. Students can start engaging with course lessons right away and connect with fellow students through upcoming office hours and a virtual community. More details and a waitlist are available on the Wholesale for Roasters website.