One of the elements we believe will move our industry in a positive trajectory is the idea of transparency. Below is a brief on how we build our pricing model. Should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask us. We're more than happy to have the conversation.

Below is a list of our offerings and how we'll refer to them, plus the average margin we've set out to have a sustainable business for the long run. These margins are created to cover costs of overhead, labour, logistics, travel and general business-related expenses.

Our input costs for coffee on our Spot menu tend to range from $3.00 - $6.50 USD/lb FOB. Although they often climb above that, with some coffees reaching $100/lb.

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Spot Coffees are coffees that are landed and currently in inventory. They are available for purchase and can be received, generally, within a few days of the order - client dependent. On these offerings, our average margin is ~30% of FOB. 

Pre-booking can come in two different realms. The first style of pre-booking would come from an offering list directly following an origin trip, selecting lots based on your criteria. We will send pre-shipment samples and you can cup and confirm which lots best suit your business. You would receive first priority on coffees shipping out. With these offerings, our average margin would be ~20%.

The second style of pre-booking, which we honestly prefer, is the idea of you accompanying us on an origin trip. This would give you and your business the opportunity to make your own selections and build a direct relationship with producers. It would also give you a chance to tour the operations first hand. In this case, we'd budget a daily rate for accommodation, transport, food and drink - dependent on the country. You would book your flights and make your own selections, while we would accommodate transport and everything else. Our goal here would be to have an average margin of ~10%.  Although this represents our lowest margin, we feel the most drive for people to explore this option. There is so much to learn when at origin and we think you'll come home energized and inspired to grow. Not to mention, the gratification in growing hand in hand with a coffee producer, year after year.

Our final offering is 1kg increments of new-world coffees and/or experimental offerings. For us, this is an area we'd love to see grow and develop in our industry. We're passionate about coffee competition and the drive to create new and unique flavor experiences. We have extensive knowledge and experience in competition and would be more than happy to support and coach you in your journey. On these coffees, we are looking to make a margin between 30% and 50%. With these purchases, we'd also be open to discussing the feasibility of a coaching role for those serious about coffee competition.

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Should you have any questions about our practices and how we've come up with these numbers, please don't hesitate to let us know. As a brief summary, here are the four ways to shop green coffee from Forward Specialty Green Coffee Importers: