Green coffee sold internationally is typically split into commercial grades — mainstream, consistent, suited to larger-volume roasting — and specialty grades, with higher cup scores, tighter defect tolerances and often traceable to a single farm or lot. The two grades are priced and used differently, and buying the wrong one for the intended product usually shows up later, either in cup quality or in an unnecessarily high landed cost.
Atlas asks buyers to define the intended shelf or menu position before requesting a quotation, since a specification built for commercial volume will not match a specialty program’s defect tolerance, moisture and cup-score requirements, and the reverse mismatch wastes budget on quality the buyer’s product does not need. Confirming the grade, defect count and minimum cup score in writing at the sample stage keeps the later order aligned with what the buyer actually intends to sell.