Blueprint Coffee Returns Green Coffee Tariff Refunds To Wholesale Partners & Customers

ST. LOUIS, MO, OCTOBER 20 — Today, St. Louis specialty coffee roaster Blueprint Coffee announces their commitment to return the green coffee tariff refunds they’ve received to those who, ultimately, paid those tariffs: Blueprint’s wholesale partners and retail customers.

In August of last year, President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs went into full effect. From then until last November, when green coffee imports were exempted, every bag of green coffee bought by a U.S. roaster came with new — and nearly constantly-changing — import tariffs. Finally, this February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled those tariffs unconstitutional; soon after, the federal government was ordered to refund the illegal duties.

“When we first learned of the federal government’s obligation to initiate these widespread refunds,” shares Director of the Roastery Nora Brady, “we were one, skeptical; two, cautious; and three, already considering how to make it right by our customers.”

The announcement of these new blanket and retaliatory tariffs in April 2025 began impacting the coffee industry immediately, causing green coffee prices to skyrocket. Though the tariffs were lifted by the Supreme Court’s ruling this February, refund checks took many months longer to arrive — first to importers, and then to roasters like Blueprint. In the meantime, Blueprint’s customers have been forced to foot the bill for the unconstitutional tariffs in the form of higher menu prices.

Everyday consumers paid the price of these illegal tariffs. As refund checks arrive, mega-corporations have raked in billions of dollars in refunds — money that will never be returned to customers’ pockets. Small businesses throughout the country have been put through the wringer; far too many have been unable to survive these impacts and have shuttered their doors for good.

“Could we hold on to the money? Yes. Could we reinvest it into inventory, maintenance, special projects, or padding our bank accounts with operating capital? Yes. But could we, in good conscience, move forward and operate business as usual if we kept this money?” adds Brady. “For us, the only answer is no.”

Over the last few months, Blueprint has been receiving tariff refunds, one by one, from their green coffee importer partners. Now, Blueprint’s refunds are complete, and the roaster is ready to begin returning this money to their customers.

“We don’t resell green coffee, but it’s a major component of the roasted beans and coffee drinks that we sell,” explains CFO Mike Marquard. “So we wanted to be thoughtful and intelligent about how we returned the value of these refunds, just like we were thoughtful and intentional in our decisions to raise prices over the last year.”

Wholesale partners, website customers, and retail customers were all uniquely affected by the tariffs; each group will receive coupons tailored to their method of purchase and tariff impact. These discounts will be available until Blueprint’s pool of tariff repayment funds is exhausted.

This press release was provided to Sprudge for Sprudge Press Releases. Interested in submitting a press release? Get in touch!