Behind Coffee Pricing Part II: Processing Methods & The "C-Market"

When a bag of coffee costs $22 instead of $8, it’s easy to assume someone along the way is making a huge profit. In reality, though, specialty coffee’s higher price reflects a long chain of investments, like farming practices, quality control, sourcing, roasting, and labor.

We've already covered how species and varietal (fancy words for the type of coffee plant) impact price -- check that out here if you haven't yet. Next up, we're talking processing methods, the mysterious "C-Market," and how general market trends make a big difference for coffee bag price tags.

Part II: Processing, C-Market, and Market Trends

Farmers in Veracruz, Mexico spread freshly harvested and depulped green coffee on drying beds.

Processing Method

How coffee is processed after harvest has a direct impact on cost, just like species and varietal. Some methods require extra time, labor, and equipment. For example:

• Anaerobic fermentation requires oxygen-free tanks and careful monitoring.
  
• Other methods like washed, honey, and natural each have their own cost implications.

A lot of farms (especially small-scale, family-based ones) lack the space or resources to process coffee on-site, so they have to pay to outsource processing or join collectives that handle it—adding additional cost.

Wtf is the "C-Market" (aka "Commodity Market")?

Before roasting, roasters purchase “green” coffee at various scales and quantities directly from farmers. (At Onda, we're a tiny operation -- we roast 10lbs at a time on a single machine.) Here’s where pricing gets complex:

• Commodity Coffee (C Market): The cheapest coffee, often low quality, with little transparency. Mass-market brands use this system.
• Specialty Coffee: Traded at higher prices, requires strict quality standards. Farmers must invest more time and resources to meet those standards.

For a deeper dive into the difference between commodity grade and specialty grade coffee, click here.

At Onda, we negotiate prices directly with farmers to ensure they’re earning a sustainable profit. This is often well above Fair Trade rates. We also share an additional $1 per pound through our Revenue Share model, meaning farmers continue to earn after we roast and sell their coffee.

Market Trends & Climate Impact

The global coffee market has seen record-high prices in recent years due to climate change, supply chain disruptions, and increased demand. Even commodity-grade coffee (C Market coffee) is pretty expensive these days.

But that doesn’t mean farmers are earning more.

Since C Market prices have doubled in the past two years, many growers sell lower-quality lots at the same price as specialty coffee, making it harder for small-scale roasters (like us) to secure the best beans.

To continue sourcing high-quality coffee, we have to pay a premium—and that cost is reflected in our pricing. The reality is that if specialty roasters don’t keep incentivizing higher quality by continuing to opt for more ecologically invested coffees at prices well above “C Market” requirements, specialty coffee will begin to disappear.

As climate change continues to wreak havoc on coffee-growing regions around the world, supporting specialty coffee becomes about more than taste. Supporting small specialty roasters means preserving the future of sustainable coffee itself.

Great coffee isn't expensive because someone is getting rich. It's expensive because growing, sourcing, and roasting coffee responsibly takes extraordinary effort. And in an ever-changing climate, that effort matters more than ever.

(Stay tuned for Part 3, where we'll talk roasting methods and local production!)