TYPICA Holdings signs Brazil direct coffee trade agreement

TYPICA Holdings, based in Osaka, Japan, signed a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) for direct coffee trade between Japan and Brazil. The MOA aims to maintain a steady coffee price that is profitable and sustainable for both producers and importers.

Established in 2019, TYPICA Holdings introduced a direct trading platform for specialty coffee in 2021. Currently, it operates in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands and the USA, connecting about 170,000 producers and coffee roasters in 95 countries and regions.

The MOA was accepted by a Japanese coffee shop operator and two Brazilian coffee-related firms, on the occasion of the Economic Forum celebrating the 130th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In this scheme, Doutor Coffee, an importer and chain coffee shop operator, will purchase a maximum of 1,000 tonnes of coffee beans per year from Brazil at a fixed price for 10 years, creating a market worth JPY ¥8 billion (approximately USD $54.7 million). The two Brazilian partners are: Acaua (a coffee warehouse operator) and Fertinutri (a soil solution provider). In addition, Fazenda Amizade, the first coffee estate to join the project, appeared at the press conference. TYPICA Holdings expects more producers will begin to participate.

For this project, Doutor Coffee offers their buying price and quantity on TYPICA’s platform, and TYPICA matches with one or multiple suppliers in Brazil. After both sides consent on price, quality, quantity and other trading conditions, the deal is then confirmed.

Masanori Hoshino, president of Doutor Coffee, said “1,000 tonnes of coffee is roughly 10 percent of our annual requirements. We joined this project since we hope to supply good quality coffee at a reasonable price for our customers in the long term. We try and see how it works.”

Masashi Goto, CEO of TYPICA Holdings, explained, “We are seriously concerned about the soaring international coffee price in the futures market in the recent years, which is caused not only by global warming but also by speculative money flowing into the coffee market. We hope this direct trading project will help to stabilise the coffee price and secure the livelihoods of producers, as well as improve the quality of coffee, leading to a sustainable future of coffee production and consumption.” Based on TYPICA’s previous experience in specialty coffee trading, Goto added, “we hope to establish 10 similar direct trade agreements between Japan and Brazil in 10 years and expand its market size to JPY ¥100 billion (approximately USD $685 million).” — Yumi Nakatsugawa