Our story
Sunex Commodities was founded in 2018 with a simple premise: that the trade in cocoa and coffee should be built on quality held to a specification, traceability that withstands scrutiny, and relationships that survive the season.
We started in Cameroon, close to the farms and the cooperatives that grow the crops. The origin was, and remains, the hardest part of the chain to get right, and the part that matters most. From there we opened a trading and compliance desk in Madrid, giving our buyers a European counterpart for contracting, finance and regulatory due diligence.
Between the two offices we now cover the full arc of a trade: origination, quality control, logistics, contract structure, payment instruments, documentation and destination delivery. We buy and sell cocoa and coffee across Africa, Europe and South America, and we do it on standard, transparent terms.
We are an independent, privately held house. We are not the largest, and we do not try to be. We aim to be the counterpart that buyers and suppliers return to because the cargo arrived, the numbers matched, and the paperwork cleared.
Mission
To connect cocoa and coffee producers with industrial buyers through a supply chain that is transparent on quality, rigorous on compliance, and fair to the people who grow the crop.
Vision
A soft-commodities trade in which origin is respected, not extracted, where traceability and fair pricing are the norm, and where a buyer in Europe can source from Africa and South America with complete confidence in the cargo and the chain behind it.
Our values
Integrity over volume. We would rather turn down a lot than ship one that does not meet its specification or its compliance obligations.
Origin first. Decisions about quality and traceability belong at the source, close to the farms, not only in a distant trading office.
Specification, not assurance. We trade against written specifications, graded lots and third-party certificates, never against goodwill alone.
Fairness through the chain. A supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We pay producers fairly and on time, and we hold ourselves to the same standard we demand of buyers.
Discipline in risk. We manage price, quality, logistics and counterparty risk deliberately and continuously, not reactively.
How we are structured
Sunex operates across five working desks. They are not separate departments; they are the links a single cargo passes through.
- Origination: based in Cameroon. Identifies and secures lots, builds relationships with cooperatives and farmers, agrees quality and price at source.
- Quality control: samples, grades and documents every lot against specification, with third-party survey where required.
- Trading & contracts: based in Madrid. Structures the contract, Incoterm, pricing and payment instrument.
- Compliance & traceability: manages EUDR due diligence, geolocation data, deforestation-free sourcing and documentary integrity.
- Logistics & finance: arranges shipping, documentation, payment execution and destination handover.
Governance and risk
Sunex is governed as an independent trading house with clear separation between front-office trading and back-office control. We maintain written policies for counterparty vetting, quality acceptance and claims handling, and we review them against the markets we trade in.
Counterparty and KYC
We carry out know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks on buyers and suppliers before we trade. This protects both us and our counterparties, and it is a condition of doing business with us. We will ask for registration documents, beneficial-ownership information and, where relevant, licences.
Risk management
We manage four categories of risk across every trade:
- Price risk: through contracting discipline and, where appropriate, exchange-referenced pricing and hedging.
- Quality risk: through specification, sampling and pre-shipment approval.
- Logistics risk: through vetted carriers, insured freight and documentary control.
- Counterparty risk: through KYC, payment instruments and credit limits.
Our team
Sunex is run by a small, hands-on team across both offices, covering the full arc of a trade: origination and quality control in Douala, and trading, finance and EU compliance in Madrid.