📉 Why Your Favorite Single Origin Coffees Are Disappearing (And What's Coming Next)
Eagle-eyed customers may have noticed a few coffees recently disappearing from our extensive range. This strategic rationalization of our coffee line-up is a necessary move to uphold our core values: uncompromising quality and exceptional freshness.
Since 2007, we have prided ourselves on offering more single-origin coffees than almost any other Australian brand. However, managing nearly 50 different coffees (and over 900 SKUs when considering size and grind options) creates immense production pressure. To ensure every batch is roasted, packed, and shipped perfectly, some sacrifices must be made.
1. The Core Challenge: Freshness and Precision at Scale
Speed is everything when delivering fresh coffee online. Our daily routine of sourcing, roasting (five days a week on 3x roasters), quality control, and packing hundreds of parcels has faced extreme time pressures.
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The Conflict: Running a controlled manufacturing process is in tension with the need to rapidly pivot and roast every single origin every day.
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The Solution: By pruning our line-up, we reduce the risk of errors and long roasting sessions, ensuring we can maintain super accuracy and precision—because we live and die by the quality of our last roast.
2. Global Supply Chain & Seasonal Scarcity
Coffees will always rotate because specialty-grade lots are never guaranteed to be available from crop to crop. Sourcing is complex—we commit to contracting lots up to 9 months ahead (before harvesting!) to avoid missing out on the best crops.
The recent global shifts (including the 2020 impact of COVID-19) exacerbated three main issues:
| Supply Issue | Impact on Availability |
| Inventory Depletion | High volume shifts to online sales meant we went through many of our contracted lots (especially exotic holdings) much faster than planned. |
| Seasonal End | We are currently at the end of the season for most Central American and African origins. We refuse to buy at the end of the season because Fresh is always best. |
| Shipping Logistics | Global lockdowns and shipping line disruptions caused log-jams, slowing the flow of new crop arrivals into Australian importer warehouses. |
3. Coffee Discontinuations & Exciting New Arrivals
Our decision to discontinue certain coffees is driven by a commitment to quality, consistency, and focusing on securing superior new lots.
🇵🇦 Costa Rica & 🇿🇲 Zambia (Discontinued)
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Zambia: Was always a small, tight lot. It has been removed from our everyday line-up due to low sales volume and for the sake of efficiency.
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Costa Rica: Has faced years of smaller harvests and high premiums (following Panama's market trend). We made the difficult decision to focus our resources entirely on securing one stunning single lot rather than offering inconsistent variety.
🇮🇩 Sumatra (Reduced Variety, Better Quality)
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The Pruning: We have stopped Sulawesi and other Sumatrans, such as Aceh Gayo, due to inconsistent quality—a persistent risk with the Wet-Hulling process's high moisture levels.
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The Good News: We have secured exceptional new season lots that land in mid-May. This new lot is hands-down the best Sumatran coming into Australia, and we are reducing our variety (from 5x to fewer) to minimize sourcing risk and maximize quality.
🇧🇷 Brazil (Streamlining for Freshness)
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The Challenge: Despite being the largest producer, the rigor of keeping three freshly roasted single-origin Brazil offerings available every day takes a heavy toll.
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The Change: We have slimmed down our Brazil offerings from four or five to just two premium offerings to ensure better stock rotation and guarantee maximum freshness on every single order.
🇬🇹 Guatemala & 🇪🇹 Ethiopia (Focusing on the Best)
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Guatemala: Despite ongoing economic struggles and supply issues in the region, we are committed to this prized origin. We have dropped the classic Antigua and put all our focus behind ensuring our wonderful Huehuetenango continues to deliver exceptional quality.
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Ethiopia: After a long history, we made the emotional decision to drop Ethiopia Limu (or Limou) from our everyday single-origin line-up, again, to avoid tying up capacity and focus on our flagship Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Harrar offerings.
Our Core Value Proposition
Coffees will always come and go in our store—that is the true lifecycle of seasonal specialty coffee. We must always respect freshness.
At MyCuppa, it's never about being the cheapest or the most convenient; we live and die by the quality of our last roast. Our goal is to always offer great value to the Australian consumer who wants a decent coffee freshly roasted and shipped fast at a fair price.
