Fresh Cup is thrilled to announce Wholesale for Roasters. This hybrid, on-demand, and cohort course is designed to help coffee roasters master the fundamentals of wholesale, from pricing and sales to account management. The course is broken into four modules, which are led by in-house and guest experts, including coffee consultants Luke Waite and Tarra Samuelson.
We designed this course because wholesale roasting is tricky. Learning to roast—and roast at scale—is one thing. Understanding the ins and outs of sales, and what motivates customers to choose your coffee, requires an entirely different skill set.
We identified the need for a course like this from our RoasterLink program, a matchmaking program that connects wholesale roasters with potential clients. RoasterLink is an effective relationship-builder that introduces roasters to wholesale buyers who are actively seeking new partners. We have many case studies of roasters closing new accounts. But we’ve also found that some roasters exploring the program aren’t actually set up to be successful in it.
It’s common for roasters to go from individual craftspeople to business owners. Along the way, few get formal training in how to market a wholesale program, set up a CRM for the wholesale workflow, manage outreach to leads, price wholesale offerings profitably, or retain accounts. Each of these elements is critical to keeping wholesale businesses profitable—but accessible education is still hard to come by.
As competition has grown and buyer preferences have shifted, it can be even harder for wholesalers to get ahead. We hear all the time that roasters try doing cold outreach to acquire new accounts, but burn out from the constant rejection. This sentiment isn’t exclusive to new businesses, either—roasters old, new, big, and small all struggle with the sales process.
Wholesale for Roasters is specifically designed to help roasters lay the foundation, and manage every major aspect of a successful wholesale program. We want to help participants cut out the trial-and-error, and provide proven tactics from experts across the field.
Here are some things you’ll learn during Wholesale for Roasters:
- How to create a sales system and use a customer relationship management platform (so roasters can lead their sales efforts with systematic processes rather than labor-heavy outreach)
- How to set pricing structures (so roasters aren’t living on the margins)
- How to maintain longstanding relationships (so clients stay with you, and provide sustained business for years to come)
Here are some of the folks you’ll hear from:
- Luke Waite, consultant at Pomelo Coffee Consulting, on the wholesale model and pricing wholesale coffee effectively
- Tarra Samuelson, consultant at Curated Coffee Consulting, on setting up a CRM for wholesale and the sales process
- Daniel Ewalt, co-founder at RoasterTools, on best practices for managing accounts and maximizing retention
- Garrett Oden, publisher at Fresh Cup, on marketing and lead generation
- Nick Schmitt, Coffee Ambassador at Roastar, on private and white labeling best practices
You’ll also get access to 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 of the course opens on September 3rd and closes September 17th. Students will be able to engage with course lessons immediately, as well as interact with other students via upcoming office hours and virtual community. Head to the Wholesale for Roasters website to learn more and get on the waitlist now.
