Coffee import/export

[chanson]

Im looking for info on the coffee industry. if anyone has anything such as experience(preferably! lol), mock business plans, or useful links etc send me a msg! Thanks guys!

[SteveG]

What aspect are you looking at? Buying green coffee beans? Roasting your own? This is a particularly tough business where a lot of knowedge about coffee is needed. Steve

[chanson]

Well that is one of the problems, my lack of knowledge on the particular topic(which i am confident enough to admit to!). Is coffee exported as a raw product or is it roasted prior to being imported to north america? Larger companies such as Kraft, Folgers, etc import the raw product correct?

[SteveG]

I worked at a coffee company for about 15 years. The coffee would come into ports and then sold at auctions. These guys really know coffee. Each company will buy the green coffee and then blend it and roast it. The very successful buyers know how to blend the cheaper varieties with the more expensive varieties and still get the same flavor. My company would often buy several million pounds at a time and if they bought it right might sell some of it back off if prices started rising. Coffee is a huge industy and some of the most knowedeable buyers will be found here. The ones that don't have the knowledge can't survive. Steve

[Will]

I would advise you to do a huge amount of research before going any further, as SteveG says, coffee is a huge and very complicated industry to get right. Anyone can sell you coffee beans but that does not mean they will be good or anyone will want to buy them.

How do you know there is room for you to make a profit? Do you know the minimum order amounts? Do you know how to properly store the coffee?

These are all things you have to know before you will know if it is a possible business idea for you, and I suggest it is something which would be a very hard business venture to start out with, due to very little prior knowledge. Buy hey, anything is possible.

[SteveG]

You could possibly make some money with a private label. There are quite a few small roasters that make excellent coffee and specialize in private labels. I would imagine about 1.25 per pound profit or something close to that is about what you could expect selling to places like service stations or restaurants. Once you establishd a clientele it could become lucrative.

[chanson]

Thanks for the feedback gents!

[ms arif]

Im looking for info on the coffee industry. if anyone has anything such as experience(preferably! lol), mock business plans, or useful links etc send me a msg! Thanks guys!

hy i'm from lampung Indonesia my family have business in coffe.lampung is the biggest province in Indonesia that produce coffee. the harvest season is in march up to november.

check your pm

[insidetradellc]

what prices are you looking for and what grade?

[toddr]

You should find lots of information at the Specialty Coffee Association of Americas web site (SCAA.org)

[freakwipe]

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