Algrano Launches Suite of Tools Designed to Improve Sales for Producers

All images courtesy of Algrano.

Switzerland-based green coffee platform provider Algrano has introduced a suite of new features specifically aimed to improve the user experience of coffee sellers, a.k.a. producers.

The company has introduced a producer-focused Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, a differential price setting mechanism for producers, and new European warehousing services for producers. Algrano is calling coffees available through the latter service Destination Stock Offers.

CRM for Producers

Algrano’s new CRM tool, which won an SCA Best New Product Award in the technology category at the World of Coffee event in Milan last month, has been available to all coffee producers on the platform since late last year.

The tool automatically pulls and organizes customer data into actionable views, making it easier to manage direct sales and to track sample orders, sales and buyer behavior.

Algrano, which in 2020 completed a $4 million funding round, has always provided the means for coffee producers to message roasters, view sample orders and sales info through its online coffee marketplace. The new tool consolidates and streamlines that information based on histories with individual roasters.

The CRM also employs anonymized data to provide pricing guidance based on purchase data for similar volumes and qualities. A new sample order index in the CRM also provides a clear view of how different individual coffees perform with a given customer.

Producers can monitor which coffees have been most requested as samples, which of those have most often been followed by sales, and then the volumes and repetition of those sales as years go by.

“Sellers can get this information from their inventory page if they want to check the popularity by lot, or from the CRM if they want to check it by roaster,” Algrano’s Simon Streit told Daily Coffee News. “Year-over-year analytics are still limited but will be extended in the future.”

Differential Price Setting

The mechanism for differential price setting, officially launched by the company on the July 4, simplifies the process for sellers seeking to automate adjustments based on C-market fluctuations.

Whereas previously producers were only able to make offers to prospective buyers based on fixed prices, the new mechanism automatically updates their offers based on current market prices.

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“Last year, when prices skyrocketed and the market went really volatile, producers started asking us to allow them to make offers based on differentials,” said Streit. “Otherwise, they had to log in nearly every day to update their prices. The platform pulls data from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) daily, displaying the closing price of the previous day. Producers can also set a price floor and guarantee they will always get the price they want — or the FT and FTO minimum price, if that’s the case — in case the market drops below expectations.”

European Warehousing for Producers

Warehousing of coffees contracted by roasters has always been a service provided by Algrano. At the World of Coffee event last month, the company officially kicked off its structured Destination Stock Offers program, providing producers the opportunity to store coffee in a warehouse in Europe without a previous roaster contract, and to sell it from there.

“The idea is that they can keep their coffee close to roasters, so that roasters can buy easily and receive their order within days,” said Streit. “Algrano manages warehousing and deliveries, and producers can sell with total freedom, either on the marketplace or elsewhere.”

Roasters who engage with the Algrano platform are also now able send coffee requests directly to sellers. Streit said the company is working on features that further automate resales and roaster notifications so that roasters never miss the chance to buy the coffees they want.

Said Streit, “In the end, we want to empower producers to make the right sales decision at the right time, with the help of technology.”

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