# TRC Bulk Bean Sourcing — Specialty Grade at Near-Commodity Price
Researched 2026-09-09. Every price carries a source. Exa was out of credits; all figures via WebSearch/WebFetch.

## 0. Consumption estimate
40–100 members + staff. A 2 lb bag yields ~45 double espressos (20 g) or ~15 L of drip. At 20–50 drinks/day, 20 g average dose: **0.9–2.2 lb/day → 6–15 lb/week**, call it 10 lb/week / ~520 lb/year. Their 6-bag par (12 lb) is roughly one week of stock, which is consistent.

## 1. Price ladder, $/lb landed, roasted

**(a) Retail / club-store**
| Item | Price | $/lb | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Fresh Colombia whole bean 32 oz | $16.33 (Feb 2026) | **$8.17** | [homebrewfinds](https://www.homebrewfinds.com/amazon-fresh-colombia-whole-bean-coffee/) |
| Kirkland House Blend whole bean 2.5 lb | $12.99 | **$5.20** | [Costco](https://www.costco.com/p/-/kirkland-signature-house-blend-coffee-medium-roast-whole-bean-25-lbs/100493931) |
| Kirkland House Blend (second listing) | $21.49 | $8.60 | [Costco](https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-house-blend-whole-bean-coffee,-medium-roast,-2.5-lbs.product.4000232205.html) |
| San Francisco Bay French Roast 3 lb ×2 | $54.99 | $9.17 | [Costco](https://www.costco.com/whole-bean-coffee.html?brand=san-francisco-bay) |

Kirkland listings conflict ($5.20 vs $8.60/lb) — verify in-warehouse. None are 84+ SCA; all are commercial grade.

**(b–c) Specialty roaster wholesale.** Published range **$8–18/lb**, single 5 lb bags **$20+/lb**, dropping to **$9–12/lb at 100 lb+**, with tiers typically starting at 50 lb and 10–15% off above 100 lb/month ([Cumbre 2026 guide](https://www.cumbre.coffee/wholesale-coffee-beans-price/), [Busy Bean](https://blog.busybeancoffee.com/how-much-specialty-coffee-beans-cost)). Colombian washed arabica runs $8–12/lb roasted, Ethiopian naturals $10–15/lb. LA roasters (Verve, Go Get Em Tiger, Canyon, Maru) publish **no** wholesale price sheets — all quote-on-application ([Verve wholesale](https://www.vervecoffee.com/pages/wholesale)). A private members club with a business entity and a food facility qualifies as a wholesale account without difficulty; the gating item is minimum volume, not membership model. At 10 lb/week TRC lands in the 40 lb/month band — the weakest tier, so expect **$14–18/lb** from a name LA roaster.

**(d) Green coffee, direct, small lots** — this is where the economics change.
| Supplier | Lot | Cup | $/lb green | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine Origin, Colombia Huila El Tiple Supremo | 65 lb box, $406.90 | **84.75** | **$6.26** | [genuineorigin.com](https://www.genuineorigin.com/greencoffee) |
| Genuine Origin, Brazil Salmo Plus Natural | 65 lb box, $380.90 | 83.25 | $5.86 | same |
| Genuine Origin, Costa Rica Finca El Centro Villa Sarchi | 65 lb box, $633.75 | **87.5** | $9.75 | same |
| Royal Coffee Crown Jewels | 22 lb boxes | microlot | $6–9 | [royalcoffee.com](https://royalcoffee.com/crown-jewels/) |
| Bodhi Leaf commercial | 20 lb minimum | specialty | quote | [bodhileafcoffee.com](https://www.bodhileafcoffee.com/pages/bulk-ordering) |

Genuine Origin ships free, has no account minimum, publishes the cup score on every lot, and discounts 10¢/lb at 3 boxes, 15¢ at 6, 20¢ at 12 ([FAQ](https://www.genuineorigin.com/frequently-asked-questions)). Prices float with the C market.

**(e) In-house roasting — the arithmetic**
Green $6.26/lb ÷ 0.85 (15% roast loss) = **$7.36/lb roasted, ingredient only.**
Machine: Aillio Bullet R2 **$4,099**; R1 V2 discontinued at $3,599 ([Aillio US](https://us.aillio.com/collections/all-products)). Kaleido M6 Pro 700 g $2,349, M2 Lite 500 g $1,199 ([Kaleido](https://kaleidoroasters.com/)). Mill City no longer sells 500 g/1 kg; entry is now $19,500+ ([Mill City](https://millcityroasters.com/collections/coffee-roasters)).
Amortize $4,099 over 3 years at 520 lb/yr = **$2.63/lb**.
Labor: 1 kg green/batch → 1.9 lb roasted; 10 lb/week = 6 batches ≈ 2.5–3 hr including warm-up, cooling, bagging. At $22/hr = $66/wk ÷ 10 lb = **$6.60/lb**.
**Total in-house ≈ $16.59/lb** with labor, ≈ **$10/lb** if roasting is absorbed into existing staff downtime.
Regulatory: SCAQMD Rule 1153.1 governs roasters; small units may be exempt below ~10 lb/batch, and afterburners ≥1 MMBtu/hr need their own Authority to Construct ([Rule 1153.1 PDF](https://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/rule-book/recent-rules/r1153_1x-0804231.pdf?sfvrsn=8), [Envera](https://enveraconsulting.com/scaqmd-rule-1153-1-and-southern-california-coffee-roasters); the <10 lb/batch exemption language is from [Sac Metro AQMD](https://www.airquality.org/businesses/permits-registration-programs/permit-applications-recordkeeping-advisories/coffee-bean-roasting-operations) — confirm with SCAQMD before buying). California Cottage Food does not cover coffee roasting; roasting for service is food processing in a permitted facility, so LA County Environmental Health has to bless the kitchen. Add chaff (fire load) and smoke venting in a shared building.

**(f) Co-roasting / toll roasting**
- **Yipao Coffee, San Diego: $3.50/lb toll roasting**, 5.5 lb and 9.9 lb green batches ([yipao-coffee.com](https://yipao-coffee.com/products/roasting-service-by-pound)) — the only publicly posted per-lb rate found in SoCal.
- **Moustache Coffee Club, east of Downtown LA**, Loring S15 Falcon, 33 lb batches, toll roasting per lb plus rental from ~**$900/month** minimum ([moustachecoffeeclub.com](https://www.moustachecoffeeclub.com/roaster-rental-and-services-la)) — rental is uneconomic at 10 lb/wk; toll is the play.
- **California Roasting Collective**, co-roast + toll + white label, pricing on tour ([caroastingcollective.com](https://caroastingcollective.com/roastery/)).
- Co-roasting memberships generally run **$1,000–3,500/month**, hourly $60–400 ([Daily Coffee News](https://dailycoffeenews.com/2019/01/30/a-place-to-grow-shared-production-facilities-ease-entry-for-new-roasters/)) — wrong scale for TRC.

**(g) Private label / white label:** from **$10.50/lb** for core selections, typically **$10–20/lb**, **50 lb minimum per blend** (100 lb for custom) ([Bellwether](https://bellwethercoffee.com/blog/private-label-coffee-guide), [Tia Coffee](https://tiacoffee.us/private-label-coffee/)). Adds TRC-branded bags, which has member-facing value.

## 2. The verdict
**The $6.50–7.50/lb target is not reachable for 84+ point roasted coffee. Not by any route.** $7.36/lb is the *ingredient* cost of an 84.75-point green before anyone touches it. Every route adds $2.50–10 on top.

Ranked, all-in, at 10 lb/week:
1. **Green + toll roast — ≈$12/lb.** Toll fees are charged on green weight: $6.26 + $3.50 = $9.76 per green lb, ÷ 0.85 for roast loss = **$11.48/lb roasted**, plus ~$0.50/lb freight from San Diego. Staff time: one order every five weeks, about 30 minutes.
2. **In-house roasting, labor absorbed — ~$10/lb.** Cheapest on paper, but costs ~3 hr/week of staff attention forever, plus an AQMD and Health Department conversation. Real all-in with labor priced: **$16.59/lb.**
3. **Private label, 50 lb minimum — $10.50–20/lb**, TRC-branded, zero staff time.
4. **LA specialty roaster wholesale — $14–18/lb** at TRC's volume, delivered, zero staff time, best relationship value.
5. **Stay on Amazon/Costco — $5.20–8.17/lb**, commercial grade, not 84+.

So: **roughly $11–12/lb for genuinely excellent coffee, versus $8.17 today.** At 520 lb/year that is a **$1,500–2,000/year increase** for a two-grade jump in quality. For a members club selling an experience, that is the cheapest quality upgrade on the premises. Recommend route 3 or 4 over route 1 — the $2–6/lb saved by toll roasting buys back less than the logistics cost in staff attention.

Confidence: high on green and retail prices (published), moderate on LA roaster wholesale (unpublished, inferred from industry ranges), moderate on the toll-roast total (Yipao rate is published, freight is estimated).

## 3. Freshness under bulk buying
Roasted coffee needs 5–10 days of degassing for espresso and holds well for roughly 4–6 weeks in a one-way-valve bag; past that, aroma flattens. At 10 lb/week a 50 lb order is a five-week supply — right at the edge.
Fix: keep one week ambient in the valve bag, **vacuum-seal the rest in 1 lb portions and freeze**. Penn State research found freezing preserves aroma intensity and pleasantness, with frozen dark-roast samples judged closer to freshly roasted than room-temperature samples ([Penn State](https://news.psu.edu/story/554273/2019/01/15/research/wake-and-smell-coffee-research-shows-freezing-beans-can-preserve)). James Hoffmann's freezing work reaches the same conclusion, and single-dose freezing in sealed tubes is standard practice in competition cafés ([Hoffmann](https://www.facebook.com/jameshoffmanncoffee/videos/should-you-freeze-coffee-beans/1293656707677359/), [Clive Coffee](https://clivecoffee.com/blogs/learn/how-to-store-coffee-correctly)). Thaw sealed, never refreeze.
Green coffee holds 6–12 months, so a 65 lb green box is no freshness compromise at all.

## 4. Recommended suppliers
1. **[Genuine Origin](https://www.genuineorigin.com/greencoffee)** — Colombia Huila El Tiple Supremo, 84.75 cup, **$6.26/lb**, 65 lb box, free shipping, no account minimum. *Published cup scores and no wholesale gatekeeping make it the only green source you can buy from this afternoon.*
2. **[Yipao Coffee](https://yipao-coffee.com/products/roasting-service-by-pound)** (San Diego) — toll roasting **$3.50/lb**, 9.9 lb batches. *The only publicly posted per-pound roast fee in Southern California; pairs directly with the Genuine Origin box.*
3. **[Moustache Coffee Club](https://www.moustachecoffeeclub.com/roaster-rental-and-services-la)** (east of DTLA) — Loring S15, toll roasting per lb, quote required. *Local pickup kills the freight and the five-week staleness problem in one move.*
4. **[Bellwether Coffee private label](https://bellwethercoffee.com/blog/private-label-coffee-guide)** — from **$10.50/lb**, 50 lb minimum per blend. *TRC-branded bags at roughly wholesale cost, no staff time, and the bag itself is a member-facing asset.*
5. **[Verve Coffee wholesale](https://www.vervecoffee.com/pages/wholesale)** (Santa Cruz/LA) — application-based, expect $14–18/lb at this volume, includes barista training. *If the espresso program matters more than the line item, this is the one to call first.*

## Action
Order one 65 lb Genuine Origin Colombia Huila box ($406.90) and send half to a toll roaster as a live test against the current Amazon bean. Simultaneously submit wholesale applications to Verve and one LA roaster. Decide after a side-by-side on the club's own machines.