Wholesale shares the consumer storefront
Koppi Roasters needed a wholesale section that consumers could not reach.
Industry: coffee, tea and specialty food
Shopify Wholesale for Coffee, Tea and Specialty Food Brands
A coffee, tea or specialty food brand can run wholesale on its existing Shopify store by tagging each buyer group (cafés, retailers, hotels), approving them through a registration form, giving each group its own price, and keeping wholesale pages away from consumers. Shopify's native B2B covers companies, catalogs and payment terms. BSS B2B Solution adds tag-based pricing and payment terms, BSS B2B Lock keeps wholesale private, and BSS B2B Quote adds Quick Order and reorders. Four brands in our case studies run this setup.
Install BSS B2B Solution See pricing BSS B2B Solution has a 14-day free trial on paid plans. 4.9 out of 5 from 1,187 reviews on the Shopify App Store (as of October 4, 2026).
Common wholesale models in coffee, tea and specialty food
Alpha Coffee sells to cafés, hotels, offices and resellers beside its consumer business, and Patek Packaging supplies restaurants, hotels and caterers.
| Model | What buyers expect | What you set up |
|---|---|---|
| Roaster or maker to cafés and offices | A trade price and fast reorders. | Registration form, tags, Custom Pricing, Quick Order. |
| Brand to specialty retailers | Wholesale price, case packs, terms. | Tag per tier, Quantity Increments, Net Terms. |
| Foodservice to restaurants and hotels | Negotiated prices, credit terms, phone orders. | Price List per account, Net Terms, Manual Orders. |
| One store for consumers and trade | Retail for the public, own prices after login. | Customer tags and Lock rules. |
Pain points for coffee, tea and food wholesale on Shopify
These problems come up again and again. Each maps to a setup further down.
Every account has its own price
Patek Packaging describes key accounts with negotiated prices and credit terms.
Applications arrive by email
Alpha Coffee describes early wholesale interest handled through email and manual reviews.
Long lists break order forms
GreenTeaEveryday's Quick Order form did not show every product when set to a thousand per page.
Case packs
A buyer who types 7 instead of 6 leaves you splitting cases.
Native Shopify B2B or BSS apps: what food brands usually need
Native B2B is included on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus, so start there. Every native claim is sourced on our native vs BSS comparison.
| Need | Shopify native B2B | With BSS apps |
|---|---|---|
| Price groups | Catalogs per B2B market, up to 3 active on Basic, Grow and Advanced. Plus has no cap. | Custom Pricing by tag or named customer. Price List (Platinum plan) for exact prices per account.Hub: wholesale pricing |
| Applications | Company account requests through Shopify Forms. | Registration form with a live tax ID check, approval, a tag and automatic emails.Hub: customer onboarding |
| Private wholesale section | Not described on Shopify's B2B pages. Shopify points to apps to lock parts of a store. | BSS B2B Lock: login prompt, hidden prices, products and pages by tag. Checkout lock on Shopify Plus.Hub: access control |
| VAT and tax | A tax ID and exemption setting per company location. | Tax Exempt from the cart page (Advanced plan and up), live tax ID checks.Hub: tax and compliance |
| Minimums and case packs | Quantity rules and up to 10 price breaks per variant. | Order Limits and Quantity Increments (Advanced plan and up), by tag.Hub: order rules and terms |
| Reorders and quotes | A quick order list. No quote workflow. | BSS B2B Quote: Quick Order, CSV upload, Reorder, request for quote.Hub: quick order and RFQ |
BSS B2B Solution is free on development stores and has a 14-day free trial on paid plans, so you can build the setup below before you charge anyone.
Get BSS B2B SolutionPlans follow the Shopify App Store listings as of October 4, 2026. Check the listing before you install.
Price tiers for cafés, retailers and foodservice accounts
Five jobs cover most coffee, tea and food wholesale stores.
Give each buyer group a customer tag, such as cafe, retailer and hotel. A Custom Pricing rule sets a percentage off, an amount off or a fixed price for that tag. Alpha Coffee tags each customer group and assigns prices, order limits and shipping rates per segment. Quantity breaks stack on the account price (tiered pricing).
For negotiated accounts a Price List keeps exact prices per group. It needs the Platinum plan and wins over Custom Pricing on the same variant. Patek Packaging uses customer-specific price lists (foodservice pricing).
Applications that replace emailed requests
GreenTeaEveryday built a registration form with custom fields that assigns a wholesale tag, and approves accounts manually. Alpha Coffee reports that automated emails handle approval updates and onboarding messages.
A tax ID field is checked live for EU VAT, UK VAT, Australian ABN and India GST (US EIN is on the Platinum plan). The check is not a legal verification, so review each application. See registration form with approval.
A private wholesale section beside the consumer store
Koppi Roasters uses BSS B2B Lock for a forced login and hidden prices. GreenTeaEveryday hides wholesale-only products. Alpha Coffee controls page visibility by customer tag, login status and page rules, with one Shopify admin. For locked pages, products and collections, the main content is left out of the page HTML.
See hide prices from guests and lock the entire store. The checkout lock works on Shopify Plus only. Lock controls what visitors see. It is not a licence check.
Running wholesale beside a consumer store? BSS B2B Lock hides prices, products and pages by customer tag and has a free plan.
Quick Order, CSV upload and reorders
BSS B2B Quote gives repeat buyers a Quick Order page, CSV or XLSX upload that merges duplicate SKUs, and Reorder from order history at current prices (Growth plan and up). See reorder page and CSV upload.
GreenTeaEveryday shows Quick Order only to logged-in wholesale customers, and BSS advised about 100 products per page. Alpha Coffee moved repeat buyers to self-service ordering in a buyer portal, with request for quote for negotiated terms.
Repeat buyers still emailing order lists? BSS B2B Quote adds Quick Order, CSV upload, Reorder and request for quote.
Payment terms, VAT and orders from your team
GreenTeaEveryday lets only wholesale customers buy now and pay later, and Patek Packaging pairs price lists with Net 30. Net Terms needs the Advanced plan and creates a draft order, so a direct checkout link bypasses it. Patek's sales and support teams create orders with customer pricing, quantity breaks, taxes and terms applied automatically (Manual Orders).
Koppi Roasters uses VAT exemptions. Tax Exempt takes a tax ID on the cart page and creates a tax-exempt draft order (Advanced or Platinum plan). This is not tax advice. Alpha Coffee points to API access for ERP and finance sync, which is on the Platinum plan (API use case).
ExampleFour buyer groups on one coffee store
The numbers are illustrative, not results from a real store. A roaster sells a 250 g bag at a retail price of 20.00.
| Buyer group | Tag | Price they see | Order rules | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer | None | 20.00 per bag | None | Public store |
| Café | cafe | 30% off: 14.00, and 13.30 from 60 bags with a 5% quantity break | Minimum 12 bags, Quick Order | Wholesale pages after approval |
| Specialty retailer | retailer | 40% off: 12.00, with the suggested retail price beside it | Cases of 12 bags, Net 30 | Wholesale catalog after approval |
| Hotel account | account | A Price List price per product (Platinum plan) | Net 30, orders also entered in Manual Orders | A reorder list |
Custom Pricing prices the café and the retailer, and a Price List prices the hotel. The quantity break comes off the café price: 5% off 14.00 is 13.30.
Case studies from coffee, tea and food brands
The coffee and tea stories in our customer library, plus one foodservice supplier. Results are the merchants' own reports, and yours will differ.
Alpha Coffee
Coffee, United States
A Utah roaster whose beans drew cafés, hotels, offices and resellers. It uses price lists and tags, a buyer portal with Quick Order and request for quote, and tag and login rules.
Reports a wholesale experience separate from its consumer storefront and less manual work.
Read the Alpha Coffee storyKoppi Roasters
Coffee, Sweden
A roaster founded in 2007 that wanted a wholesale section closed to consumers. BSS set up Force Login, price hiding, a custom registration form, custom prices and VAT exemptions.
Reports a dedicated B2B section and registration form, and a 5-star review for support.
Read the Koppi Roasters storyGreenTeaEveryday
Green tea drinks, Israel
A seller of cold-pressed green tea concentrate with one store for retail and wholesale. It uses registration with manual approval, Custom Pricing per tag, Hide Products, Quick Order, Net Terms and Reorder.
Reports turnover up about 35% over six months, noting seasonality.
Read the GreenTeaEveryday storyPatek Packaging
Foodservice packaging, Canada
A supplier of take-out packaging to restaurants, hotels and caterers with negotiated prices and Net 30. It uses price lists, Net Terms, Manual Orders and personalized Quick Order and Reorder.
Reports key accounts logging in often and reordering with familiar prices and terms.
Read the Patek Packaging storyCoffee, tea and food wholesale setup checklist
Work through these in order. Each step builds on the one before it.
Map your buyer groups
List cafés, retailers, hotels and consumers, with a tag for each.
Write the application
Build the registration form with a tax ID field. Decide who approves.
Set prices
Add a Custom Pricing rule per tag, quantity breaks, and a Price List for negotiated accounts.
Keep wholesale private
Add a Lock rule that asks for login or hides prices by tag.
Set order rules
Set minimums, case-pack increments and Net Terms.
Add reordering
Turn on Quick Order, CSV upload and Reorder, about 100 products per page.
Plan for VAT
Add Tax Exempt for eligible buyers and check the rules with your accountant.
Test as each buyer
Check a guest, a consumer, a pending applicant and an approved café, on mobile too.
Use cases for coffee, tea and food brands
Worked examples with steps and screenshots. The first group is tagged food and beverage in our use case library. Browse all use cases.
Coffee Roaster: Self-Service Wholesale Portal
Give cafes and retailers a self-service wholesale portal on your coffee roaster store: tag-based pricing in BSS B2B Solution, Quick Order and quotes in BSS B2B Quote, and private pages with BSS B2B Lock.
Explore use case: Coffee Roaster: Self-Service Wholesale Portal
Foodservice Distributors: Customer Prices and Net Terms
Give restaurant and hotel accounts their negotiated prices and payment terms, let your sales team enter phone orders with the same rules, and offer reorder lists, using BSS B2B Solution and BSS B2B Quote.
Explore use case: Foodservice Distributors: Customer Prices and Net Terms
Reorder Page for Repeat Wholesale Buyers
Give logged-in restaurants and retailers a Reorder page where they repeat a past order from their history, edit quantities in a review window and place it as a draft order, with BSS B2B Quote.
Explore use case: Reorder Page for Repeat Wholesale Buyers
Bulk Order by CSV Upload
Let repeat buyers upload a CSV, XLS or XLSX file of SKUs and quantities on the Quick Order page and add the whole list to the cart, instead of retyping spreadsheet orders, with BSS B2B Quote.
Explore use case: Bulk Order by CSV Upload
Sell in Case Packs and Multiples
Sell wholesale products in fixed multiples such as cases of 6 or 12, with a clear step on product and cart pages, using Quantity Increments in BSS B2B Solution for Shopify.
Explore use case: Sell in Case Packs and MultiplesMore use cases food and beverage brands use
Set up coffee, tea and food wholesale on your own Shopify store
BSS B2B Solution handles pricing, applications, order rules and payment terms. Add BSS B2B Lock to keep wholesale private and BSS B2B Quote for quick order and reorders.
Also: BSS B2B Lock for a private wholesale section and BSS B2B Quote for quick order, reorders and quotes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell wholesale coffee or tea and keep my consumer store?
Yes. Tag trade buyers after you approve them, and let the tag decide their prices and what they see. GreenTeaEveryday uses one store for retail and wholesale.
How do I keep wholesale prices from consumers?
Add a BSS B2B Lock rule that asks visitors to log in or hides prices, and show prices only to customers with the wholesale tag. Koppi Roasters uses a forced login. Lock is not a licence check, so review each application.
How do I sell in cases and set minimum orders?
Use Quantity Increments for case packs such as 6 or 12 and Order Limits for minimums, both by tag on the Advanced plan or higher. They run on storefront scripts, so a direct checkout link can bypass them.
Can cafés and restaurants reorder quickly?
Yes. BSS B2B Quote adds Quick Order, CSV or XLSX upload and Reorder for logged-in buyers (Growth plan and up). Keep each page to about 100 products, as BSS advised GreenTeaEveryday.
Can I offer Net 30 to wholesale accounts?
Yes. Net Terms lets selected customers pay later, on the Advanced plan and up. It creates a draft order, so a direct checkout link bypasses it, and it has no credit limits.
How do I handle VAT for EU wholesale buyers?
Tax Exempt lets a buyer enter a tax ID in the cart and creates a tax-exempt draft order (Advanced or Platinum plan). This is not tax advice, so confirm with your accountant who qualifies.
How much do the BSS apps cost?
BSS B2B Solution is free on development stores and starts at $29 per month on paid plans, with a 14-day free trial on paid plans. BSS B2B Lock has a free plan and paid plans from $9.99 per month, with plan tiers that follow your Shopify plan. BSS B2B Quote is free on development stores and starts at $19 per month. Prices are from the Shopify App Store listings as of 2026-10-04 and can change, so check the listing before you install.
Guides, hubs and glossary
Wholesale pricing
Show business buyers their own prices with price lists, custom pricing and quantity breaks.
Customer onboarding
Turn applicants into approved wholesale buyers with registration forms, approval and customer tags.
Tax and compliance
Verify tax IDs, handle tax exemption and show prices with or without tax to the right buyers.
Access control
Hide prices from guests, gate wholesale catalogs and protect pages with passcodes.
Order rules and terms
Set minimum orders, case packs and net payment terms for wholesale buyers.
Quick order and RFQ
Give buyers quick order pages, CSV upload, reorder and request for quote.
Shopify B2B: the complete guide
Native B2B vs apps, and how the six hubs fit together.
Native B2B vs BSS B2B Solution
A sourced, feature-by-feature comparison, including where BSS trails.
Glossary
Price listTiered pricingCustomer tagGated catalogHide priceCase packMOQNet 30Quick order formReorderTax exemptionTax IDWholesale applicationERP integration
Sources, method and update log
Case study facts come from the customer stories on this site, as published. Patek Packaging is a foodservice packaging supplier, included because it sells to restaurants and hotels. Feature behavior follows our review of the BSS app code on October 3, 2026. We make the BSS apps. This page is not tax, legal or food safety advice, and the example numbers are illustrative.
Sources
- Alpha Coffee case study, read . Tags with prices, onboarding emails, buyer portal, Lock rules, API access.
- Koppi Roasters case study, read . Force Login, price hiding, registration form, VAT exemptions.
- GreenTeaEveryday case study, read . One store, manual approval, Quick Order limit, Net Terms, 35% turnover.
- Patek Packaging case study, read . Net 30, price lists, Manual Orders, personalized Quick Order.
- Use case: coffee roaster self-service wholesale portal, read . Registration, tag pricing, Quick Order, Lock, Platinum API.
- Shopify native B2B vs BSS B2B Solution, read . Every native Shopify B2B statement, with its sources.
Update log
- : First version, with four case studies and eleven use case links.