PROFILE
The online platform connecting producers and roasters Paving the way for 100% direct trade for green coffee distribution, Typica is an online platform connecting producers and roasters, and available to businesses in the UK as of this month. COFFEE COMMUNITY A global venture, Typica was founded by Ayane Yamada and Masashi Goto, and strives for transparency in the distribution of green coffees, their online platform now enabling coffee producers and coffee roasters in the UK to be able directly trade coffee from a single jute bag (60kg). Within a year of its launch, Typica soon grew to a network of more than 2,000 producers and roasters from 12 countries. In Japan in particular, after its launch there in April 2021, it now has more than 800 roasters who are registered and using the platform. Previously, green coffee trading was only typically possible from a container shipment (18t), whereas Typica makes direct trading of green coffee possible from a single jute bag (60kg). By adding an option to trade in smaller quantities, they have been able to create a community of producers and roasters and it is through this community that they say they are now seeking to transform the coffee industry into an industry where “100% direct trade” is possible for anyone. Through Typica, in season coffee is now being delivered directly from producers to roasters across the world. Their goal by 2025 is to have grown their coffee community to more than 5,000 producers across 70 countries worldwide (by the end of their first year, they plan to exceed 3,000 producers and roasters in 59 countries). This month will have seen the global expansion of their distribution to 38 countries in total, including the Netherlands, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, South Korea and Taiwan. 30 CAFÉ LIFE | OCTOBER 2021
Their objective is to empower individuals in the coffee industry, to increase the sustainability of high-quality coffee production and to drastically improve the experience of coffee lovers by rejuvenating the worldwide coffee community of producers and roasters. For producers, they have created a system where small-scale coffee producers - especially family-run businesses - are able to participate in direct trade. As a result, these producers can set their own prices without being affected by the volatile fluctuations of the international market. On the topic of the significant rise in coffee prices, Typica’s founders say that they are constantly interviewing many producers to understand their needs. In the short term, there will be no significant impact, they feel. This is because last year, the price of coffee traded at Typica was in any case three to 30 times higher than the international market price due to its niche, speciality nature. Therefore, it is advantageous for smaller producers to sell via Typica because it allows for longterm transactions at higher prices, the company point out. On the other hand, in the medium term, if prices increase further, they expect the number of producers to decrease, so they are considering various plans to build a deeper relationship between producers and roasters. Nonetheless, since they are networking mainly with producers who produce unique micro lots with high added value, they expect the impact will be minimal in the medium term as they are operating in a unique market. For roasters, they aim to provide
“100% direct trade” coffee. Conventional direct trade, which uses 18t as a unit of trading, makes it extremely difficult to trade directly, even for large-scale roasters. For small and medium-sized roasters, direct trading was a challenge too because of trading quantity and high financial costs. In many cases, there were no alternative options, but to depend on trading companies for all aspects of trading - from inventory checks to purchases. Ayane Yamada
TRANSPARENCY In addition to changing the unit of trading from 18t to 60kg, Typica is providing supply chain and price breakdowns for all distributed lots to ensure and emphasise transparency. They also support producers and roasters to create a ‘face to face’ approach and relationship to foster mutual understanding and to improve
