Wholesale Coffee vs Retail Coffee vs Online Coffee

When most people think about buying coffee, they picture grabbing a bag from a shelf or ordering online. But behind the scenes, there’s another side of the coffee world that’s just as important wholesale.

At Behind the Label, I work across wholesale, retail, and webshop. Each plays a different role in how coffee moves from farm to cup. Wholesale is the backbone, retail is the bridge, and the webshop is where home brewers connect most deeply.

Wholesale Coffee 

If you run a café, restaurant, or office in Dublin, choosing a wholesale coffee supplier is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Coffee isn’t just another line on a menu, it’s part of the experience your customers or staff have every single day.

That’s why wholesale is about more than just beans. It’s about trust and partnership.

• Consistency: Every espresso and every filter should taste right, day in and day out. This is vital for the coffee shop to build trust with it's customers.

• Support: I don’t just deliver bags. I help with training, equipment advice, workflow and menu ideas. In some cases I have even helped build their website.

• Connection: When a business chooses Behind the Label as their wholesale coffee partner, they’re trusting me to represent them — and I take that seriously.

For me, wholesale coffee is amazing because I have the opportunity to help people succeed in life by sharing my passion and knowledge. It’s cafés who want to share our story with their customers, offices who want to give their teams something better than instant, and restaurants who understand that a meal ends with coffee. These partners are the reason the roaster keeps turning, and I’m grateful for every one of them. At the moment, wholesale coffee works ou

Retail Coffee

Retail coffee is what you see in cafés or shops, the bag you pick up alongside your flat white. It’s accessible, quick, and often an impulse decision.

For home brewers, retail is a starting point. You see a bag, try it at home, and get curious about what else is out there.

Right now, retail makes up about 4% of our Behind the Labels sales. That shows how many people are already brewing Behind the Label coffee at home, which is incredible. But it also highlights where I want to grow: creating more balance by encouraging people to visit the webshop.

Webshop Coffee

The webshop is where I get to share the full story. Here, I can tell you about the farm, the people behind the coffee, and the choices we’ve made around sustainability. It’s not just coffee — it’s context.

For the home brewer, webshop coffee means:

• Wider range: More coffees than you’ll find on a shelf.

• Education: Brew guides, blog posts, and videos to help you get the best out of it.

• Connection: A direct line to me as the roaster, not filtered through a retailer.

At the moment, webshop sales make up only 5% of the total. But that’s where I’d love to see more growth, because it’s where the deepest conversations and most curious brewers are found.

The Balance I’m Working Towards

• Wholesale coffee is the foundation. It’s about trust, consistency, and building lasting connections with the people who choose Behind the Label for their space.

• Retail coffee is the bridge, introducing more people to what we do.

• Webshop coffee is where home brewers can dig deeper, explore origins, and brew with purpose.

Each part is essential, and together they keep the whole ecosystem alive. My goal is to create a healthier balance, keeping wholesale strong, while shifting more energy into connecting directly with home brewers through the webshop.

Because in the end, whether it’s in a café, a shop, or your kitchen at home, coffee is about experience. And my job is to make sure every cup of Behind the Label coffee delivers that.