Cropster Introduces ‘Shops’ Platform for Green Traders and Buyers

Screenshot of Cropster Shops.

Cropster Hub — the online trading platform recently unveiled by roasting software provider Cropster — has launched its new framework called “Shops” that brings green coffee buyers and sellers together.

The framework allows coffee traders who have been vetted by Cropster a public profile on the Cropster Hub that includes a detailed company profile, contact and shipping information, logos attached to each coffee offered and other company-specific information. Traders are able to log into the Cropster Hub dashboard to make real-time updates to green coffee offer lists, while offering details on each coffee sold.

From a buyer’s perspective, the Shops framework allows for detailed searches with filters such as flavor notes, region of origin, coffee varietal, processing method and certifications. Maps, data tables and real-time location information provide buyers further details prior to purchase.

“We are making coffee offering sheets more accessible and available. Traders offering sheets are in so many different version and formats, it is difficult for buyers for green coffee to find their dream coffees,” Cropster Hub Product Manager Matt Stringer said in an announcement of the feature, unveiled this week. “On the other side, coffee sellers want to have their offering list online, accessible, and up-to-date. Hub puts their selected offer list online, makes it look amazing and saves them from hiring a software developer.”

Andy Newbom of IPCoffees Specialty, one of the green coffee traders currently included in the Cropster Shops platform, said he hopes the system will help simplify his own operations as a trader. “May the spreadsheet offer sheet die a quick death,” Newbom said. “The number of hours we spend trying to keep our offer sheets up to date and our coffee profiles and farm bios available is a massive time suck. We love the simplicity and efficiency of Cropster Hub and can’t wait to showcase even more coffees on the platform.”

Screenshot of an individual coffee listing made available by the US branch of the Collaborative Coffee Source.

Stringer told Daily Coffee News by phone that Cropster is totally open to including new traders in the platform. Green coffee sellers can simply fill out a registration form on the Hub site, then begin selling if they meet Cropster’s own standards. “We’re very open to more traders,” Stringer said. “Right now, we want high-profile traders who have an existing legacy in the industry. We wanted to get a good base of traders before we released this.”

Samples of each coffee can be requested via a simple link in the platform, although the process technically depends on each seller, with Cropster merely providing the platform to open that dialogue.

As of this writing, there are currently coffees from 82 lots available via Cropster Shops, with traders importers to the U.S. and European markets. Current traders on the platform include FAFCoffees (São Paolo, Brazil), Nordic Approach (Oslo, Norway), Zephyr Green Coffee Importers (New Orleans), Falcon Specialty (Lewes, U.K.), Ruffatti Battle Specialty Coffee (Berlin, Germany), Onyx Coffee (Bellingham, Wash.), Collaborative Coffee Source (Jersey City, N.J., and Antwerp, Belgium), and IPCoffees Specialty (San Diego).

The Shops framework also makes room for Cup of Excellence competition coffees, for which Cropster Hub is providing the auction framework.