Vollers Buying Green Coffee Marketplace Cropster Hub, Launching V-Hub

Following the sale, Cropster Hub will be relaunched as V-Hub under Vollers’ control.

German logistics service provider Vollers Group is purchasing Cropster Hub, the six-year-old online green coffee marketplace created by coffee roasting and inventory software provider Cropster.

The sale will change the name of the platform from Cropster Hub to V-Hub, and Vollers says it plans to develop additional features and services to ensure “a seamless buying and selling experience, including logistical background processes and the final delivery of coffees,” the German company said in an announcement of the sale.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

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Based in Bremen, Vollers has been providing logistics services for 85+ years with a focus on the coffee, cocoa, tea and metals sectors.

“We realized a while ago that to continue its journey and growth Hub needed additional services like logistics and all the advantages deeper integration into core processes can bring,” Cropster CEO Andreas Idl said in the announcement. “Vollers excels in all the areas Hub needs to grow, they share our original vision, passion and values when it comes to Hub, it’s partners and buyers. We’re excited to see where they take it next.”

A coffee warehouse rack system at a Vollers facility in Hamburg, Germany. Vollers press photo.

Cropster introduced the green coffee trading platform in 2015, forming a high-profile partnership with Cup of Excellence green coffee competition organizer the Alliance for Coffee Excellence for the 2016 competition and auction year.

According to DCN records, Cropster was one of at least five tech-based companies to debut an online wholesale green coffee marketplace in 2015. All but two of those —namely Cropster Hub and Switzerland-based Algrano — have since folded.