Broker, Importer, ...?

[Keith]

thank you instant coffee drinkers of the world, you make my cup possible.

[Marshall]

It goes in the electronic sorters and screeners or on the belt before the hand-sorters on the masthead and the defects that are naturally there are taken out; ... If the coffee is naturally clean than they may in fact add some of the defects back in; it's a completely different situation from adding non-coffee items to it. If someone was adding mouse droppings or corn to my coffee, yeah I'd be ticked. But adding back in coffee they had cleaned out? No problem.

From a purely mechanical standpoint, this sounds like what large dairies do, completely separating cream from the milk, then adding it back in varying % according to spec and using the rest for butter, ice cream, etc.

The difference is there is no direct benefit to the end user in receiving the defective beans, which makes it seem awfully inefficient to put them back in after going to the expense of removing them. Too bad the growers can't be compensated at all grade levels for having removed the defects.

[Sean Starke]

Your milk analogy is spot on, I think.

The difference is there is no direct benefit to the end user in receiving the defective beans, which makes it seem awfully inefficient to put them back in after going to the expense of removing them. Too bad the growers can't be compensated at all grade levels for having removed the defects.

It's very efficient for the producer, as he sells the defects at a much higher per pound price than he would get internally.

And the buyer gets coffee that meets his specification, so it's not to his detriment.

[Ryan Mason]

Another question for ya' all...

How many containers does a large SPECIALTY importer import? Same question for a medium and small importer. I figure if you're doing 300 containers/year, that's pretty big. 100 containers for a medium importer and 50 for a small.

Who can give a more accurate answer?

[Sean Starke]

Frankly, 300 containers per year of true specialty seems to me ginormously huge, considering that most of the business is done in 5-10 bag contracts.

[Aaron Ultimo]

Fascinating post. Thanks so much to all the contributors. I've learned some really great stuff here.

[Ryan Mason]

Frankly, 300 containers per year of true specialty seems to me ginormously huge, considering that most of the business is done in 5-10 bag contracts.

I think you're right...that probably is a lot. So are we talking in the neighborhood of 100 for a large specialty importer? That would be about a container every 3 weeks or so. The problem is that we're dealing with a niche market and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there.

What about insurance and freight? that seems to be a huge cost associated with coffee.

[Brent]

From memory, 10 sacks to a pallet, 10 pallets to a container from origin.

I am sure there are other formulas. I was enquiring as to the output of one co-op, and was told 4 - 6 containers per season = 400 - 600 sacks. Personally if it were me loading it, I would stuff 20 to a pallet, but I think they were shipping to 4 - 6 locations in all reality

I think you're right...that probably is a lot. So are we talking in the neighborhood of 100 for a large specialty importer? That would be about a container every 3 weeks or so. The problem is that we're dealing with a niche market and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there.

What about insurance and freight? that seems to be a huge cost associated with coffee.

Maths Ryan, thats more like 2 containers / week or 8 - 10 month...

I know I bring in pallets, and it doesn't seem to matter if it's 5, 10 or 20 sacks on that pallet, I pay more to the guy who picks his nose watching the container get loaded on the ship than I do the shipping co.

And I pay more to the customs, tax and quarantine authorities in NZ than just about anyone else...

But I also know that I don't have the space to store a container load of coffee...

[David Kastle]

containers from origin are done as floor load, not palletized. the idea is to put as much as you can in the box to minimize overall freight cost. typically, 300-320 bags @ 60kg each, 250-275 bags @ 69 or 70Kg each. this can be a single mark or a dozen marks. the more lots you put in the container, the more work on the other end, sorting, plus there is more paperwork....

[Ryan Mason]

Maths Ryan, thats more like 2 containers / week or 8 - 10 month...

I'm not sure what 'maths' are, but you're right, it should have been days, not weeks...

[Brent]

I'm not sure what 'maths' are

I could tell