Selling it

Origin and process claims, and what you can substantiate

Updated October 2026

On this page7

The claims this category makes Which means documentation against the lot Certifications are a separate thing again Blends need care The test before printing File the documents with the lot References

Coffee marketing runs on specificity, and almost every specific thing you say is about somebody else’s farm. You need it in writing.

The claims this category makes

Country, region, farm or cooperative, altitude, variety, processing method, harvest year and sometimes the name of a producer. All of them are genuinely interesting and none of them is something you observed.

Which means documentation against the lot

An importer’s offer sheet is marketing; what you want is documentation that names the specific lot you bought. A general assurance that a supplier deals in a particular region is not evidence about the sacks in your store room, and the lot number is what makes it specific.

Certifications are a separate thing again

Organic and similar schemes are certifications with their own rules about who may use the term and what chain of custody is required. A roaster handling certified coffee usually needs to be in the scheme themselves to carry the claim, which surprises people who assume the certificate travels with the bean.

Blends need care

Naming a blend after one component, or describing it in language that implies a single farm, is the most common way an honest roaster makes a misleading claim. If it is a blend, the label should make that plain even where the name is evocative.

The test before printing

For every claim, ask what you would hand somebody who asked you to prove it. If the answer is a document with a lot reference, print it. If the answer is a conversation you remember, take it off.

File the documents with the lot

In the same place the roast log lives, so proving a claim later is a lookup rather than a search through old email. A certificate nobody can find is a certificate you do not have.

References

21 CFR 101, Food Labeling, which carries the general requirements that apply here in the absence of a standard of identity: the statement of identity, net quantity, ingredient list and the name and place of business of the responsible party. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal regulation and from the published physics and chemistry of staling, not from a laboratory. There is no standard of identity for coffee or tea, so most of what governs a product here is the general requirement that labels be truthful and claims be substantiated. Anything here is a starting point for a conversation with your state department of agriculture, not a determination that you comply.