Six sizes fit all.

Our vision is that the coffee world becomes a community that trades transparently with partner farmers whom they know and trust. Our role in this is that of the matchmaker.

The six markups we use are based on how we make a match between roaster and farmer, and they decrease based on the risk and work you take away from us. If you want to buy or reserve coffee from stocks in Europe, you pay the full price. Are you financing your own coffee and just piggybacking in our containers? Then we charge you the least. We can do this, or the four options that lie in between. The fees always apply, predictably and transparently.

In 2024, (from the Colombia import onwards), our markup went up with ten cents on average per trade model, to cover increased operating costs. The other big change is that model 6 is now at no fee, but starts from a higher quantity onwards.

Model 1
Stock Buy and
STOCK Reservation

Choose this model if you are a starting roaster, want to try a new coffee or just want coffee quickly. Reserving coffee from our stock list ( for 12 months from moment of arrival in stock ) is free at TSU, easily done through your personal portal in our shop.

Model 2

Origin Reservation

If you know and trust the quality of your coffee from previous seasons, you might as well reserve it before it leaves the country of origin to ensure you have enough (personalised) stock for next season.

Model 3

SMALL Origin Buy

If you pay for your coffee before it leaves the export warehouse, we need less financing for our imports. We pass the savings of having to look for more financing on to you.

Model 4

Large Origin Buy

At around 2.400 kg you would pay us € 2.280 on average in model 3. If you need more than this (up to 300 bags), we think it’s fair to simply turn the € 2.280 into a flat fee on top of the landed price.

Model 5

SMALL PiggyBack

If you have your own relationship with a coffee farm and just want to get your coffee to Europe, check our export calendar in the shop if you can piggyback with us. If you can make sure the coffee is ready in our export warehouse, we charge € 0,75 on the landed price for this service.

Model 6

Large PIggyback

Beyond 5.400 kg, piggybacks become of mutual benefit to us and the piggybacker, because the cost savings we make together outweigh the costs of organising the transport. Subject to availability and on request.

PERCENTAGES ARE MISLEADING

“50% more value to the farmer”. “100% over fair trade price”. We hear these well intended messages often in specialty coffee marketing. The truth is, these statements mean nothing. The only thing that is interesting and worth talking about is how much the farmer got paid in real currency and how you arrived at that price - collectively.

PREDICTABILITY

Our margins represent a fixed cost per kilogram for doing business with This Side Up - regardless of the coffee or its price. We publish this price annually in June so that roasters and farmers know exactly what moving coffee through the TSU value chain costs. This predictability is a service that we hope can become the norm for all trade facilitators.

TO AVOID DISCOUNTS

It’s a human nature to want a discount. It makes you feel you had a bargain, but also implies that you feel you’re normally being overcharged. When you show what every player of the value chain earns and explain why this price is fair, discounts feel uncomfortable - it means you’re asking for a cut in someone’s margin or livelihood. Let’s stop this behaviour and strive to divide the profits and risks equally throughout the chain.

NO GROWTH FOR THE SAKE OF GROWTH

Nothing grows forever. If it would, then an old tree would be several kilometers tall. Every living organism reaches a point of maturation. As This Side Up, we have calculated this point, based on a few simple facts. What is the quantity and therefore impact at which we are satisfied for a year, at all our individual origins? What is a healthy revenue for the company, including decent salaries? We don’t grow for the sake of growth.

CURRENCIES OF TRADE

Almost all our contracts are being agreed on, and paid in, US dollars per American pound. As our shop operates in euros (and kilograms), we need to purchase dollars beforehand, or work with the currency of the day. In the last five years, we’ve had situations where €1,00 would give us $1,07 but in other times, it’s been closer to $1,18. This difference we partly need to “hedge” ourselves, but always calculate the difference - in this case a discount - to the roaster. 

POLITICAL INSTABILITY

Unfortunately local currencies can be extremely volatile in developing countries. In our global ecosystem, we deal with political factors like an army coup in Myanmar or a rebel attack in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  In some cases we might need to adjust our prices to be able to provide our farmer partners with what they need to fulfil in their daily livelihoods and make the proper investments in their business. In the end, our value chain is as strong as the weakest link. 

LOGISTICAL CHANGES

Filling full containers instead of half containers obviously makes a big difference on the transport costs per transported kilogram of coffee. With every harvest, we do our outmost best to fill the container as well as we can, and we offer the empty space for “piggy backers” to maximise efficiency. Nevertheless, shortage of containers, overbooked voyages or even a blockage such as in the Suez canal in 2021 can also push the prices of transporting a simple container. 

HISTORY AND LOCATION

Some countries have had a more prosperous past than others. This reflects on the infrastructure of roads, but also basic human needs like safety, access to education or finance. A country like Brazil has seen more investments in the past, than for example Rwanda. It has led to bigger and more mechanised farms in the former, and smaller manual labour intense ones in the latter. Also, exporting from a country with a sea port is easier and cheaper than exporting from a landlocked country.