Burman Coffee Traders

What Burman Coffee Traders does

Burman Coffee Traders is a family-owned, bootstrapped e-commerce retailer founded in 2002 and headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin. The company specializes in premium unroasted (green) coffee beans sourced from farmers across more than 20 producing countries spanning Africa, Central and South America, Asia, and Oceania, alongside a curated lineup of home coffee roasters (FreshRoast, Gene Café, Behmor), teas, and coffee preparation accessories. Its primary customer is the individual home coffee roasting enthusiast who wants direct access to specialty-grade green beans and the equipment to roast them at home; commercial sales are limited to the contiguous United States via burmancoffee.com and a single physical retail/warehouse location in Middleton.

The business is a direct-to-consumer specialty retailer with no proprietary technology platform, no mobile app, no API, and no AI/ML capabilities; the only connected feature is the third-party Gene Café smartphone app that pairs with the CBR-301 roaster. Revenue is generated almost entirely through unit-priced product sales — green beans tiered from $4.49/lb (value) to $21.99/lb (premium/Hawaiian), home roasters around $950, house blends (BCT Espresso, BCT Jumpstart), curated 3 lb and 6 lb bundles with bulk discounts up to 10%, and adjacent tea and accessory categories. Distribution is a single e-commerce storefront plus the Middleton retail site, supported by content marketing through a Learning Center and active social channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram), email newsletter, and SEO-oriented blog content.

The company is privately held by co-owners and brothers Jon Burman and Garry Burman, has operated without external capital, acquisitions, or parent-company involvement since founding, and shows no documented M&A, funding, or executive turnover. Its value proposition rests on long-tenured farmer relationships, broad origin diversity, an established community of hobbyist home roasters, and educational content — all serving a niche but durable consumer segment.

Name

Burman Coffee Traders

Legal name

Burman Coffee Traders

Website

https://burmancoffee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Family-owned e-commerce retailer founded in 2002 in Middleton, Wisconsin, selling premium unroasted green coffee beans, home coffee roasters, teas, and accessories to individual home roasting enthusiasts across the contiguous United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Retail

NAICS

Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Trading/Wholesale (AFAIAKAD)

Keywords

• Green coffee beans
• Home coffee roasters
• Specialty coffee retail
• Coffee accessories
• Loose leaf teas

Headquarters

HQ city

Middleton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Green Coffee Bean Sales: Primary revenue stream from selling unroasted green coffee beans sourced from various origins worldwide. Products sold in bulk quantities with tiered pricing based on volume and quality.
2. Home Coffee Roaster Sales: Sale of home coffee roasting equipment including FreshRoast, Gene Cafe, and Behmor brands. One-time hardware sales with accessories.
3. Tea and Accessories: Sale of teas including white, green, black, herbal, and flavored varieties, plus coffee makers, grinders, kettles, scales, storage, and books.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Burman Coffee Traders is a family-owned direct-to-consumer retailer that distributes premium unroasted green coffee beans sourced from coffee farmers across Africa, Central America, South America, Asia, and Oceania. The company complements its green bean catalog with home coffee roasting equipment (FreshRoast, Gene Café, and Behmor brands), a selection of teas, and coffee/tea accessories, sold primarily through its e-commerce website and a physical store in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Product overview

Burman Coffee Traders operates as a family-owned e-commerce retailer specializing in premium unroasted green coffee beans and home coffee roasting equipment. Their core product offering centers on Green Coffee Beans sourced from global origins (Africa, Central/South America, Asia, Oceania), complemented by Home Coffee Roasters (FreshRoast, Gene Cafe, Behmor brands) and a expanding Tea category. Additional offerings include Coffee Accessories, specialty Blends (Espresso Blend, Jumpstart Blend), and value-added Sampler Bundles. The business model combines direct-to-consumer online retail with educational resources for home roasting enthusiasts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Green Coffee Beans
• Home Coffee Roasters
• Teas
• Coffee and Tea Accessories

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Coffee Bean Corral: DTC seller of green coffee beans and home roasters targeting home-roasting enthusiasts, directly overlapping Burman's product mix and customer base.
• The Captain's Coffee: Online retailer of green coffee beans and home roasting machines and accessories, serving the same home-roaster niche as Burman.
• Sweet Maria's Coffee: The best-known US retailer of green (unroasted) coffee beans and home roasting equipment for hobbyists, mirroring Burman's core DTC model, catalog, and educational content.
• Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders: Retails and wholesales green coffee beans plus roasting equipment to home and small-batch roasters, closely matching Burman's positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Royal Coffee, Inc. Large specialty green coffee importer and wholesaler with global sourcing; overlaps on green coffee trading but operates at commercial scale beyond Burman's DTC niche.

Others

• Behmor: Manufacturer of home coffee roasters (Behmor 2000 AB) that Burman resells; an ecosystem supplier rather than a direct competitor.
• Cafe Imports: Specialty green coffee importer with direct-trade origin relationships; adjacent supplier-side peer comparable on sourcing model but focused on wholesale roasters.
• Genuine Origin: Green coffee importer offering smaller-lot sales; comparable on sourcing and green-bean supply but oriented more toward small commercial roasters than home hobbyists.

Emerging players

• Mill City Roasters: Sells roasting equipment and green coffee with strong educational content, overlapping Burman's roaster-sales and learning-center approach.
• Happy Mug Coffee: Sells green and roasted coffee plus roasting supplies online to hobbyist and small roasters, overlapping Burman's green-bean e-commerce segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BurmanCoffee
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdJIs7_0UFFLX6aUBI0hdcA/videos?view=0&shelf_id=0&sort=dd
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• Instagraminstagram.com/burmancoffeetraders/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/burman-coffee-traders

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Burman Coffee Traders