looking to import Arabica and Robusta coffee from Cameroon (Central Africa)

[Alain]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advises to start importing coffee (Arabica and Robusta) from Cameroon (Central Africa) to the USA.
My main concern is the length of the trip since i'll be doing it by sea and the journey will take 2 months. The coffee will be already roasted, will that impact the quality of it? the customer i'll be dealing with wants the beans already roasted and done in Cameroon. from what i read from many sources it's better to import the green coffee for this kind of long distance trip.

Any advise will be appreciated.

 

[ensoluna]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advises to start importing coffee (Arabica and Robusta) from Cameroon (Central Africa) to the USA.
My main concern is the length of the trip since i'll be doing it by sea and the journey will take 2 months. The coffee will be already roasted, will that impact the quality of it? the customer i'll be dealing with wants the beans already roasted and done in Cameroon. from what i read from many sources it's better to import the green coffee for this kind of long distance trip.

Any advise will be appreciated.

forget about importing roasted coffees, it won't work for your sales.

Just remember RULE OF 15

Green coffee is fresh for 15 month (when stored in a cool / dark place with good ventilation)
Roasted coffee is fresh and good for 15 days (when stored in a cool & dark place. Never store in a freezer nor in a refrigirator)
Ground coffee is fresh for 15 MINUTES! (if you do not believe me, i want you to grind a "fresh roasted coffee" and put it in a container and wait over night. then, again grind fresh roasted coffee next morning and smell the two batches. you will be able to tell the difference right away)

FYI, even though green coffee is "okay" for 15 month, as a green coffee exporter, like me, we can not sell any green coffee from previous harvest (at least 6 month or more old). the flavor changes drastically and buyers will be able to tell immediately by cupping.

good luck in your business.
Alex from Ensoluna S.A.

 

[topher]

Spot on Alex. How much are they buying? I would suggest to them to have it toll roasted state side or they will be screwed. I have a buddy that has "commercial grade" coffee toll roasted for him. It is done on a huge roaster and cost him under $.35 a lb. If you want shoot me your contact info and I can see if I can get the number out of him.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

My main concern is the length of the trip since i'll be doing it by sea and the journey will take 2 months. The coffee will be already roasted, will that impact the quality of it?

Hi Alain,

I'm not trying to be a buzz kill, but if you don't already know the answer to this question, my assumption is that you very new to coffee and what you are attempting to do is very much like jumping into the deep end of the pool before learning how to swim.

Having said that, if you have a customer who is buying roasted robusta from overseas in volume, then maybe you are dealing with a commodity buyer who's end customer is purchasing commercial grade R&G coffee, and stale coffee is all they know. This is not a bad thing...just not going to end well if the end consumer were savvy about coffee quality.

Best of luck, and you've found a great place to get an education on coffee...especially the previous two members who replied to your post...they are gold.

Cheers,

Peaberry