- Ecommerce has permanently changed how specialty coffee is bought and sold.
- B2B buyers now expect freshness, quality, and transparent supply chains.
- Independent roasters can scale without sacrificing quality or values.
- Curated platforms like RoasterCup reduce procurement friction for buyers and sellers.
In a little over three decades, ecommerce has revolutionised the way we shop. And when the pandemic hit, forcing businesses worldwide to close their doors, online sales exploded.
Ecommerce sales in the US more than doubled to about 35% in 2020, roughly the equivalent of ten years of growth. Today, according to McKinsey, around 20% of global sales are online.
The impact on the coffee industry has also been substantial. Ecommerce, once a secondary channel for specialty coffee, has become the primary driver of growth – connecting roasters with buyers they could never have reached through traditional means.
“Roasters are artisans who focus on their craft, but often face local distribution limits,” says Yassine Turki, the CEO of RoasterCup. “We provide the infrastructure to transition from traditional, local relationship-based sales to international, accessible digital markets.”
As the coffee industry becomes increasingly digital, it’s essential for roasters to develop an online presence to effectively market and sell their coffees through ecommerce platforms.
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Covid-19 essentially compressed years of ecommerce growth into roughly 24 months. By 2023, global ecommerce sales had surpassed US$5.8 trillion, and data from the Pew Research Centre found that 90% of US citizens said the internet was “essential” for them during the pandemic.
Consumer habits, even with specialty and artisan food and drink – where people typically want to touch, smell, or taste before buying – changed in ways that show no sign of reversing.
Coffee is no exception. The global online coffee market is projected to exceed US$13.6bn by 2027, driven by consumers who now expect direct access to high-quality coffee regardless of where they live.
For smaller, independent roasters, this presents a significant opportunity to extend customer reach well beyond physical location. During the pandemic, many invested in their ecommerce platforms, providing an easy-to-use interface for buying products, as well as enough information on the product itself so that consumers felt informed.
But the main challenge lies in the business-to-business (B2B) market. In many countries, the multi-roaster café model has emerged, rotating among suppliers rather than committing to a single roaster for the long term.
To reach those buyers, roasters either need to develop a strong digital presence or partner with a dedicated ecommerce platform. “By digitising procurement and ensuring reliable delivery of artisanal products, RoasterCup helps bridge quality gaps while maintaining sustainable pricing for buyers,” Yassine explains.
Simultaneously, these platforms give buyers – including coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses – access to a much wider range of roasters.
“We previously didn’t buy coffee from specific suppliers,” says Sara Chalouah, the owner of L’Original Restaurant in Montpellier, France. “This process often led to stockouts, forcing us to use capsules as a backup, so quality was a concern. The coffee also wasn’t from local roasters, which contradicted our usual ‘trademark’ of using local products.
“RoasterCup has provided a wide choice of roasters, and it allows us to sample different coffees before committing to purchase,” Sara adds. “Our coffee is now locally roasted, and the platform connects us with local businesses that we can visit in person to create long-term partnerships.”
But access to ecommerce platforms is only the beginning. As digital coffee procurement has matured, so have buyers’ expectations. Hotels, offices, and hospitality venues are under growing pressure to invest more in their coffee programmes.
A recent UK study found that 82% of employees felt access to good coffee at work made them more productive. For hospitality operators, the stakes are even higher: serve poor-quality coffee, and customers are unlikely to return.
In turn, buyers are increasingly seeking specialty-grade, freshly roasted coffee with a transparent supply chain behind it. What they frequently find, however, is that the ecommerce options available tend to trade quality for convenience, or freshness for scale.
Yassine explains that RoasterCup is designed to close this gap. The platform connects buyers directly with independent artisan roasters, positioning freshness and quality as operating standards rather than selling points.
“While experienced coffee enthusiasts prioritise freshness, all consumers benefit from the clear quality distinction that our strict sourcing and fulfillment protocols guarantee,” he says. The platform operates on a made-to-order model, paired with a decentralised fulfilment network, so coffee reaches buyers quickly.
Sellers are also vetted against a defined set of standards. “We prioritise partners who embody independent artisanal values,” Yassine explains. “Our platform is specifically curated for specialty roasters rather than large-scale industrial producers to ensure brand alignment.”
For businesses serving coffee, the value of knowing exactly where it comes from has become something their customers actively care about.
Guests at restaurants and hotels increasingly want to know the roaster, where the beans come from, and the producers behind the coffee. For operators, being able to answer these questions, whether through staff knowledge, labelling, or clear brand storytelling, has become part of the service itself.
“When we switched to RoasterCup, loyal customers noticed the difference immediately,” Sara says. “Especially since our previous offerings were actually driving customers to go elsewhere for their coffee.”
There were also practical benefits to switching to an ecommerce platform. “Previously, a lack of coffee knowledge made it very difficult to choose a product, and because the quality wasn’t high, we changed coffees constantly,” Sara says. “We’ve saved time and energy, and can focus more on developing the restaurant, including a brunch menu and breakfast service, both with a wide selection of coffee drinks, and the catering side of the business.”
For roasters, meanwhile, the platform offers a route to B2B customers beyond their immediate geography, without the infrastructure costs that typically make this kind of reach unattainable. Buyers, in turn, gain access to roasters they would not have found through traditional procurement channels, along with the origin information and direct relationships that hospitality guests now expect.
But many B2B procurement platforms still demand significant manual input. Repeat order management, supplier onboarding, and invoice handling all add friction for operators who are already stretched.
Yassine explains that RoasterCup addresses this with a fully digital solution that includes net 30 payment terms, removing the administrative burden without asking buyers to accept a lower standard of product.
Ecommerce has not just changed where coffee is bought and sold, but who can access quality and who can scale without sacrificing it.
Thanks to the pandemic, the market has moved much faster than many anticipated. For roasters, the opportunity to build a meaningful digital presence is real, whether through their own direct-to-consumer infrastructure or dedicated ecommerce platforms.
For the hotels, cafés, and offices investing in better coffee programmes, these platforms offer curated quality and a procurement process that reduces the administrative burden.
What has driven the growth of ecommerce in specialty coffee?
The pandemic accelerated ecommerce adoption across all industries, including coffee. Lockdowns pushed consumers online, compressing years of expected growth into around 24 months. Consumer habits shifted permanently, and the global online coffee market is projected to exceed US$13.6bn by 2027.
How does B2B ecommerce help coffee roasters reach new customers?
Dedicated B2B platforms give them access to hospitality buyers, such as cafés, restaurants, and hotels, far beyond their local area, without the infrastructure costs that would otherwise make such reach impossible.
What should hospitality businesses look for in a coffee ecommerce platform?
Quality and freshness are the main considerations, and it’s worth looking for those that operate on a made-to-order model and vet roasters against rigid standards. Supply chain transparency is also increasingly important, as restaurant and hotel guests now frequently ask about the roasters and producers behind the coffee.
Photo credits: RoasterCup
Perfect Daily Grind
Please note:RoasterCupis a sponsor of Perfect Daily Grind.
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Bhavi is a brand-building specialist, a dairy technologist, and a storyteller with a keen interest in coffee.
