Coffee Minimum Order Quantity: Plan a First Wholesale Order

An SKU minimum applies to a particular product line. A total-order minimum applies across the commercial order and may be expressed in units, cases, weight or value. A case multiple specifies the increments in which you can order. A price tier tells you when the quoted price changes; it is a separate condition unless the supplier says that tier is also the minimum.

A supplier may also define different rules for an initial sample, a commercial pilot or a repeat order. Ask which offer the response refers to. Do not assume that a sample arrangement establishes the rules for a commercial shipment.

No single industry-wide number answers these questions. For MR.VIET, request the current conditions for your proposed products and destination rather than using an assumed minimum.

Start with the sellable unit. For a bag of coffee, that might be one retail bag. For sachets, it might be a retail box containing several sachets. Counting individual sachets as retail packs can greatly distort your trial allocation.

Then record units per case for each SKU. A ground-coffee bag and an instant-coffee box need not use the same case count. Where an inner pack exists, show both inner packs per case and retail units per inner. Do not add an inner level that the actual packaging does not use.

Round your planned quantity to the permitted ordering increment, then test it against the SKU and total-order minimums. Rounding up one line can be acceptable; rounding up every line across a broad assortment may create more stock than the pilot can use.

Once a case quantity is confirmed, preserve that configuration in your order data. GS1's pack/case quantity rule requires a new GTIN at the affected higher packaging level when its contained quantity changes. A case-count change should therefore trigger a product-data check as well as a quantity recalculation.

Define what the first order needs to teach you. A retail pilot might test pack presentation, sales rate and repeat interest in a limited group of stores. An office trial might test format preference and replenishment workload. A distributor trial might focus on whether selected accounts will reorder.

Choose the smallest useful assortment for that question. Adding several similar variants can spread sales too thinly to reveal which one works. Keep a core SKU, a deliberate alternative and a clear reason for each additional line. If you cannot explain what a variant will teach you, consider postponing it.

Reserve stock for agreed purposes before assigning everything to sale: tasting, buyer evaluation, display preparation or replacement of a damaged sample. Record these allocations separately so they do not appear as poor sell-through later. Agree who can release them and how use will be logged.

The following values are fictional. A buyer plans to supply six trial stores for eight weeks using two coffee SKUs, each packed twelve retail units per case. Assume the quoted offer requires at least five cases per SKU and twelve cases across the order, with full-case ordering only.

Both lines meet the assumed five-case SKU minimum and the combined order exceeds twelve cases. The core allocation gives each store fourteen packs for sale; the alternative gives each store eight. Across eight weeks, that implies planned average sales of 1.75 and 1 pack per store per week respectively.

These are planning assumptions, not demand forecasts. The buyer should decide whether those rates are plausible from its own comparable products, store discussions and display plan. If the alternative has weak support, removing that SKU and asking for a revised single-SKU offer may be more useful than increasing its stock to fill a price tier.

Evaluate the rounded order against available cash, receiving capacity and the selling window. Request the proposed remaining shelf life at a clearly defined milestone, such as dispatch or receipt. Build the trial timeline from expected receipt, listing readiness and the period needed to evaluate results.

An order can meet the minimum and still be too large for the test. Ask for alternatives: fewer confirmed SKUs, a later introduction of the second line, or a different proposed quantity. Ask whether these options are available; do not build the plan around unconfirmed mixed cases or split deliveries.

Use the coffee landed-cost guide to evaluate the financial effect of the actual order quantity. A better unit price should be considered alongside the cash committed and the time needed to sell the additional stock.

Track received packs, sale allocation, reserve use, units sold and stock remaining by SKU and location. Report sales only for outlets where the product was available for the relevant period. A listing delay should not look like a full week of weak customer demand.

Agree when you will review the trial and what evidence will support a reorder. Look at sales rate, repeat requests, returns, preparation feedback where relevant and the remaining usable stock. Include the supplier's confirmed replenishment timing so the decision happens early enough to avoid an avoidable gap.

Keep the next order as a separate decision. Strong results for one SKU do not justify automatically repeating the full original assortment. To discuss a first commercial order with MR.VIET wholesale, send your destination market, channel, preferred format and expected volume, and ask for the current minimums and case configuration for each shortlisted SKU.