OEM coffee & contract roasting

What is OEM coffee & contract roasting?

What is OEM coffee?

According to Investopia, OEM is abbreviated from 'Original Equipment Manufacturer' which "provides components for another company’s product and works closely with the seller of the finished product". "The OEM is a company whose goods are used as components in the products of another company". The most noticeable characteristic of an OEM is that it is going to produce a product which will be marked and advertised in the other company's name. It sounds like the OEM company won't care much about their branding and just focuses on quality and manufacturing.

OEM was initially applied for technology product manufacturers. Since OEM is very famous for technology products, many people gradually suppose that it can be applied for any business sectors including coffee. Although the word OEM as in word usage is not quite appropriate for coffee business, it has been widely accepted for a coffee production service. That is, with OEM coffee, one coffee manufacturer will accept to produce any specific kind of coffee and supply it to any coffee brands and to be packed under their brands (or trademarks).

In fact, OEM in coffee means OUR coffee ➕ YOUR packaging ➡️ YOUR OWN coffee (under your brand / trademark) 🎉

What is contract roasting?

Contract roasting, to some extent, is similar to OEM coffee. In the practical world of business, many customers think that these two definitions are synonyms and use them two as of one unique meaning. Actually, contract roasting is different from OEM coffee a little bit; that is, with coffee contract roasting service, the buyers will send their coffee to our factory to have us to roast the coffee for them. It sounds like outsourcing in the coffee industry. In many cases, the buyers will leave the sourcing green coffee beans on us at a specific price from farmers and keep them at stocks for their roasting orders. As the coffee prices fluctuate very frequently, to separate the green coffee beans sourcing and the fixed roasting service charges will utilize customer's purchasing plans and maximize profits.

In short, coffee contract roasting means your coffee ➕ WSCAFE roasting facilities ➡️ YOUR OWN coffee

Why are OEM coffee & contract roasting necessary for any coffee brands?

Manufacturing is an important business activity. However, to run a perfect manufacturing like just-in-time, leaning manfacturing, etc. is a very challenging game. It is really a game of balancing. Overproduction and underproduction both could harm any coffee businesses and steps-by-steps will lead the company to the crisis. Although the sales forecast of the big coffee brands and multi-national brands are very comprehensive and technology-centric, the overproduction and underproduction on coffee business are unavoidable because the markets are unpredictable. As a result, production managers of coffee brands will eventually need a strong-commited oem coffee & contract roasting partners like us.

The oem coffee & contract roasters will help their customers to 'balance' the overproduction and underproduction. When one might face an unexpected overproduction, oem coffee roasters will take care of the overproduced orders in which the coffee brands won't need to invest more money in factory expansion. Similar to that, during winter time of doing business, small orders won't be able to cover production costs, laying the coffee production one an oem roasters will be the best option.

Frankly saying, oem coffee and contract roasters can act either as a back-up plan or as a main plan for any coffee brands. For these two plans, the coffee brands are confident and hands-free to focus on selling, marketing and branding their own coffee brands.

Mr. Tam
Founder of Atam Coffee

Here are three main reasons that oem coffee and contract roasting necessary for any coffee brands:

First, time savings. OEM coffee roasters like WSCAFE are professional and experienced. With many years of R&D on coffee business, we gain a lot of experiences and expertise to find out the right coffee for your needs and your markets. This will be the huge time-savings for your coffee brands that you won't need to pay more time to develop coffee blendings of your own. And time means money. 

Second, money savings. The research and development of coffee costs a lot. A failed coffee batch will be paid a high price if one lacks experiences and experiments. Not only that, a wrong coffee blending after being launched to the market will ruin any coffee brand just because fmcg goods and food & beverage markets are extremely competitive and aggressive. Working with a pro-rated oem coffee producers will raise your opportunities to win. That definitely is money savings as it is value for money. 

Third, easy to scale up and flexibility. When ideas come, you dream big but it is not easy to start big at the beginning, especially for coffee start-ups/ entrepreneurs. OEM coffee & contract roasters are going to be a good choice to consider. OEM service providers will offer a number of options with flexible characteristics for you to choose. We also build various packages for customers at affordable MOQs which are interexchangeable for their needs. When their businesses grow, our facilities are able to help the brand owners to scale up immediately and at an ease. 

How do OEM coffee & contract roasting work?

It is very easy to work with oem coffee and contract roasters like us. First, you need to consider when you need an oem coffee roaster. Second, you need to decide which kinds of coffee and order quantity for doing OEM. Third, a payment scheme is also important.

When should a buyer consider the OEM coffee & contract roasting?

This is a very interesting question. In the chaotic world of business today, any coffee brands definitely need to work with an oem coffee roaster as soon as possible. A coffee brand today faces a lot of challenges and obstacles from transportation, taxes, technical barriers, trade protectionism, climate change, EUDR (EU deforestation regulation), to the unstable supply in growing countries like Vietnam where many farmers have cut down coffee trees to replant with durian trees, etc.

In fact, an oem coffee & contract roaster is not only a trade partner but also a trade alliance with a shield to help any coffee brands to win the market.

Mr. Nguyen
Founder of WSCAFE

What kind of coffee would the buyer need to do OEM? Payment scheme?

Choosing which kind of coffee to do OEM will direct your oem plan and strategy. All kinds of coffee can be done as an OEM service. They are green coffee beans, roasted and ground coffee, instant coffee, instant coffee mixes (2 in 1, 3 in 1, 4 in 1 coffee, etc.), coffee liquid (coffee syrup), canned coffee and so on. Among them, roasted and ground coffee, instant coffee and coffee mixes are the three most popular coffee products for doing oem because they are accounting for the majority of coffee consumption and they have a longer shelf-life.

Does taking the oem coffee & contract roasting need a payment scheme? Yes, it does. However, unlike spot contracts with immediate payments, oem coffee and contract roasting need a specific and well-planned payment scheme which running capital plays an important role to meet unexpected orders. A good payment scheme will give you advantages against competitors, especially the readiness for purchasing green coffee beans at good prices.

Why should a coffee brand choose WSCAFE for the OEM in coffee & contract roasting?

A wide range of coffee products.

We offer three main types of coffee products for OEM coffee and contract roasting including roasted and ground coffee, instant coffee and instant coffee mixes (black coffee 2 in 1, white coffee 2 in 1, 3 in 1 coffee, 4 in 1 coffee, cappuccino, latte, coconut coffee, etc.)

To sum up, OEM coffee is abbreviated from the 'Original Equipment Manufacturer' which produces coffee to be a part of or to be labeled as a coffee brand's product. And coffee contract roasting is the roasting service with our facilities. With many years of experiences, we have expertise and know-hows to offer flexible orders and solutions for the world's local coffee brands. Our main coffee products for oem coffee and contract roasting are roasted and ground coffee, instant coffee and instant coffee mixes.