Tchibo is one of the world's largest coffee roasters with a big product range. They roast for capsules, fully automated coffee machines, manual coffee makers, specialty coffees, and limited editions.
Having a vast offer list involves juggling suppliers from many coffee origins. The roastery also needs products that stand out, helping consumers choose. This is why traceability and storytelling are central to Tchibo’s roasted coffee portfolio.
The roastery's sourcing team has been sourcing green coffee on Algrano since 2019. For them, the platform has great offers for the limited edition coffees, called the “Raritäten” product line (Rarity Coffees).
For Lea Essing, Sourcing & Origin Manager at Tchibo, Algrano helps them go beyond quality. By talking to producers, she can assess their professionalism and expertise.
Lea explains that a great cup of coffee is just the beginning. Tchibo looks for well-processed beans and producers who can support its marketing efforts. They even bring farmers to co-create the final product by choosing photos and flavour notes.
“Algrano gives us the opportunity to be as close to the producer as possible whilst managing risk factors. The transparency on the platform really helps us plan the portfolio and see what the options are.”
Lea Essing | Tchibo’s Sourcing and Origin Manager
Direct trade and sustainable coffee
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Many factors influence Lea’s decision-making process. Price is one, of course, but this is only part of the story…
“With Algrano, we know that our coffee is sustainable. And we can check the information. If we know the producer well, we have more certainty that the coffee is sourced sustainably and that the supply chain is fair.”
Tchibo relies on certifications to provide more traceability on commercial beans. But, with specialty coffees, certifications are not always an option.
“When you can’t trace the coffee down to the producer, you need external validation [on the coffee’s supply chain],” Lea says. In specialty, the direct relationship between the roaster and the producer makes it easier to guarantee traceability. “I wish this concept could become scalable one day to commercial volumes.”
Four steps to source limited edition lots
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Tchibo launched Raritäten to present "a different taste profile and origin to consumers.” So Lea needs something different from standard portfolio coffees. “We want something exclusive, innovative, and high quality.”
Every time she buys a limited edition coffee from a new supplier, she follows these four steps:
Eight months before the launch
Search countries that can deliver by the time of launch. This involves knowing when the harvest happens in many origins, getting shipping timelines and type samples.
Seven months before the launch
Taste samples and collect information about producers. It doesn't have to be exhaustive at this point. Yet, Lea wants to know about processing, volumes, how the supply chain is organised, and the general profile of each producer on the table.
Six months before the launch
Sign the contract. Send the checklist to suppliers, schedule calls, and inquire about marketing material.
Five months before the launch
Talk to the producer every three to four weeks until she launches the coffee. Prepare packaging and campaign information to share.
“We learn the hard facts about processing before buying the coffee. Then we ask about the general history, challenges, plans, what they want from roasters like us, and their motivation. Many say that they want consumers to value the coffee more, pay more, and know how much work there is behind the cup," Lea says.
El Tempixque Raritäten
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To illustrate this process, we spoke to Lea about one of Tchibo's Raritäten coffees: El Tempixque, from Guatemala. The roastery launched El Tempixque Rarity in August 2022. The coffee was named after San Miguel Coffees’ family farm in Antigua.
El Tempixque is a blend of Bourbon, Catuaí, and Caturra varieties. It’s a SHB (Strictly High Bean) Fully Washed. This coffee has a clean profile, good sweetness, and a pleasant aftertaste.
This coffee stands out in taste for having hints of stone fruits like apple and pear and mild citric acidity. A great introduction to specialty coffee for the average consumer.
As with every new producer, Tchibo sent San Miguel a checklist with questions about the company and even personal queries for Adrián.
Not all producers feel confident to answer these questions via email, so Lea creates a more personal exchange through video calls or in-person meetings.
Here are some of the main questions the roastery includes in its checklist. They help the team put together compelling and true-to-source descriptions of their coffees. “It is probably precisely this openness and passion that gives this coffee its special character,” they write.
- General information about the farm such as altitude, size, varieties, climate, soil, and processing methods.
- Are there any challenges you or other farmers in the region face in coffee farming?
- How did you start working with coffee?
- What does working with coffee mean to you? Passion? Tradition? Work/money?
- What would you like to say to us as roasters and to consumers?
See how Lea uses some of this information here.
“In early 2022, Tchibo reached out to connect, and the idea of visiting them in Hamburg came up. As a family, we value connecting with the roasters we work with and it was fun leaving coffee on the side for a moment and talking about our favourite football clubs and life experiences. Despite a strong language barrier, there was a strong connection, knowing we’re all important parts of the supply chain. We are incredibly thankful for the relationship with Tchibo.”
Adrián Cabrera | Commercial Manager, San Miguel Coffees
Involving producers in the creative process
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Lea believes that roasters have a great responsibility to producers and their stories. “We want to share these stories authentically, not how we think it's right or how it sells. That's why we are in close contact with them [farmers]. We always ask if they can send pictures that they would like to see of themselves on the key product visuals. We ask how they would like to see themselves on German shelves.”
In June 2022, before World of Coffee, Adrián visited the coffee lab and roastery of Tchibo in Hamburg. He went to cup El Tempixque Rarity and other lots from the farm.
“It’s a day when we invite people from our shops who earned the chance to be at that meet and greet. We taste the coffee and determine the taste notes for the packaging together. It’s so good to give employees a crop-to-cup experience and show how much we involve the farmer!”
Farmers as models for better production
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The type of story a roaster chooses to tell about a producer depends on the roaster’s values. With the single origins, Tchibo wants to contradict stereotypes. The roastery wants German coffee lovers to see producers as young and entrepreneurial.
“There’s an overrated picture of the third-world poor farmer in people’s minds. We did market research and found that this is how most German consumers think,” Lea says.
She adds that her goal is to show that producers are business people. “Farmers like Adrián are role models. They show that coffee can be economically sustainable and profitable.”
The Sourcing Manager defends talking “at eye level” with producers, “not treating them as people without their own opinion.” For her, this kind of relationship secures the sustainability of the coffee chain. It also puts more money in the pockets of producers.
How stories link back to quality
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Like many specialty buyers, Lea struggles to quantify how important the coffee story is. And Tchibo doesn’t select producers based on stories alone. But she gets positive customer feedback on these stories and believes that conscious consumers want to know who grows the coffee. “It gives life to the raw product,” she says.
The producer's ability to answer questions also offers insight beyond marketing material. “You can see the professionalism behind the coffee,” Lea says. What they say about processing shows expertise in post-harvesting methods. This, in turn, indicates that the quality will be consistent and stable over time. “It’s all about the quality you deliver in the end.”
