CropConex launches new digital end-to-end coffee trading marketplace
Courtesy of CropConex
CropConex® is pioneering technology to radically increase international trading efficiency and transparency. The company aims to create opportunities for smaller buyers and suppliers to participate in an open coffee marketplace traditionally dominated by large enterprises. By connecting buyers directly to coffee suppliers – and everyone in-between – on a unified software platform, CropConex helps make direct trade easy, accessible, and secure.
CropConex is a value chain management platform bringing the coffee trade ecosystem online, with tools to streamline operations and de-risk trade. The platform empowers buyers, sellers, and exporters to grow together, by making value chains traceable, efficient, and accessible. Starting in Ethiopia, this New York based startup seeks to unlock greater efficiency in global trade, increasing access and prosperity for all. Visit the website to learn more.
The CropConex marketplace launched this summer, presenting coffees from reliable Ethiopian suppliers to the North American market in an e-commerce system designed for international agricultural trade. An open marketplace with validated listings, efficient communication, and secure and compliant transactions can build greater confidence in direct trade participation across different sizes and levels of experience in both buyers and sellers.
The digital system tracks every step in the sales and logistics process, from sampling to ordering to delivery, and reports progress in an easy-to-use portal. This workflow enables open communications between suppliers, buyers, and logistics service providers throughout the entire process, cultivating a deeper level of transparency and traceability in the specialty coffee supply chain.
CropConex’s marketplace currently offers:
• A diverse catalog of Ethiopian coffees.
• Access to greater volume flexibility than traditional channels.
• A commercial airline partnership with groundbreaking air-shipping rates from Ethiopia at under USD $1.30/lb.
• Real-time data updates and feedback as coffee moves through the supply chain.
• On-the-ground team presence and quality controls at origin.
How the platform works for coffee buyers:
• Browse the marketplace and request samples for coffees of interest.
• Provide sample feedback and enter price negotiations directly with suppliers.
• Secure contracts, payment and export logistics within the platform.
• Receive quality checks, shipment status updates and final delivery within weeks.
Brianna Dickey, founder and CEO of CropConex, developed the platform to unlock greater access, equitability and economic potential in the international coffee trade market. The company plans to offer education on existing and future ecosystems of trade. They encourage discourse on the distributed rights to growth and the mutual benefits found in collective progress.
Tackling the complexities in current trading between Ethiopia and the United States, CropConex worked with the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration offices, the Coffee and Tea Authority, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, and the Ethiopian Investment Commissioner to finalize the legal incorporation of e-commerce into their business registration codes. On 11 November 2022 CropConex was licensed as the first E-Commerce Platform Operator business in the nation. They are working to expand their operation to other countries in the near future.
