Algrano launches ‘direct trade’ green coffee platform in the USDaily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

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A coffee producer using the Algrano platform. Photo from 2022 courtesy of Algrano.

Swiss-based coffee trading platform and logistics provider Algrano is launching in the US, with plans to offer quantities as small as individual 60-kilogram bags to US roasters.

The forward-thinking company was initially launched in 2015 and has since been boosted by at least two multimillion-dollar investments, while leading the shipment of hundreds of containers of coffee to European roasters in 30 countries.

Algrano is currently gearing up to make its public debut in the United States in Portland, Oregon at the Specialty Coffee Expo 2023, taking place April 21-23. (See DCN’s full Expo coverage here.)

Kosta Kallivrousis, a Kansas City-based specialty coffee professional who previously served as an account manager for green coffee trader Ally Coffee, has been tapped to lead Algrano’s sales efforts in the United States.

After spending eight years building a strong direct sourcing market used by hundreds of roasters in 30 European countries, we were positively surprised to see that American roasters share the same needs as their peers in Europe,” said the Algrano CEO Raphael Studer in an announcement of the US Launch. “Now we’re excited to help them find the right partners and coffees at origin, have an easier way to communicate with growers, and get full price transparency and live online tracking of shipments.

Kosta Kallivrousis, director of sales for Algrano in the United States. Courtesy picture.

The Algrano platform is designed to facilitate seamless direct trade between green coffee producers and coffee buyers, while Algrano manages the logistics. The platform functions as a social media platform with growers and buyers able to create their own verified profiles and tell their own stories while facilitating direct communications between players at both ends of the sourcing flow.

Algrano also facilitates the purchase of small volumes for small commercial roasters through a “shared shipments” program.

A number of US roasters have participated in a US pilot of the platform, with the first shipment to North America expected soon from Peru. The platform will launch in the United States with shared shipments from Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Rwanda, with more to follow later in the year, according to Algrano.

In the launch announcement, Kallivrousis suggested that US operations could ultimately benefit coffee growers, while offering more variety to US roasters.

Direct trade is not just about paying a better price directly to a producer,” Kallivrousis said. “Coffee farmers are removed from determining their own reality. Algrano gives producers a platform to have direct conversations with the people who buy their coffee. It’s unique. The marketplace is the starting point for meaningful relationships, which leads to greater agency for coffee growers.

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