New Orleans Coffee Industry Grinding Back After Storms
By Jeff Coelho
NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The coffee market in New Orleans is grinding its way back to life, but it could take weeks before inspectors and insurers determine the extent of the damage to the beans stored in this hurricane-ravaged city, market sources say.
Katrina and Rita -- two powerful hurricanes -- slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast less than a month apart, leaving death and destruction in their wakes. Katrina struck on Aug. 29 and the smaller Rita plowed into the region on Sept. 24.
Procter & Gamble Co.'s Folgers coffee facility, believed to be the largest in the world, was twice evacuated. Production had been halted ahead of both storms.
Employees are now back at the plant and production has restarted, said a P&G spokeswoman. "The plant restarted operations Saturday evening," Susanne Dusing told Reuters.
Fortunately, the bulk of P&G's unroasted coffee for its Folgers and Millstone brands is stored in giant silos which were unharmed by the storms.
Dusing could not say exactly when the plant would return to full production capacity. The Folgers plant generally churns out more than half of P&G's coffee and garners almost a third of the U.S. coffee market.
But the normal flow of coffee shipments to roasters -- large or small -- can take time as the once bustling port in the Crescent City struggles to get back to normal.
Before the storms hit, warehouses in the port of New Orleans held about 1.6 million 60-kg bags of unroasted beans, or about 26 percent of supply for the United States, which is the world's biggest coffee consumer.
Coffee traders reckon damage from the storms amounted to anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 bags of coffee -- based on preliminary reports from warehouse operators.
"Maybe the damage could be 200,000 bags or 300,000 bags," said one Florida-based coffee buyer. "But nobody knows exactly," he said, adding "it's going to take a while" to find out.
Coffee inspectors must first get into the warehouses before they can inspect and sample the quality of the beans. The longer the coffee sits, the more vulnerable the beans are to moisture, humidity and odor, Judy Ganes of J Ganes Consulting told Reuters.
"Humidity and moisture is probably the worst thing that could happen for coffee," she said, pointing out that the beans have a tendency to swell as they absorb moisture.
The New York Board of Trade has about 734,000 bags of certified coffee in warehouses in New Orleans which are deliverable against the exchange's futures contracts.
Right after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, NYBOT declared force majeure for its coffee there. It also prohibited the certification of new stocks at the port until further notice. Officials have yet to release any statement about the state of the coffee.
"People are looking for answers that aren't easy to come by," said Ganes. "The exchange does not want to do anything rash."
At least one coffee company in devastated New Orleans is determined to show its thanks, despite the prospect of a short-term supply squeeze.
Community Coffee Co. of southern Louisiana, has been pouring free cups of coffee for police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and utility workers involved in the hurricane relief effort.
"There are thousands of men and women working tirelessly to bring relief to hurricane victims," Matthew Saurage, president of Community Coffee, said in a statement.
"Providing a hot cup of coffee is one of the many ways we are saying thank you to those who are helping rebuild our communities affected by the storm," he said.
The fourth-generation family-owned business has vowed to provide more than 5 million cups of coffee to the relief workers.
AlertNet news is provided by Reuters
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NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The coffee market in New Orleans is grinding its way back to life, but it could take weeks before inspectors and insurers determine the extent of the damage to the beans stored in this hurricane-ravaged city, market sources say.
Katrina and Rita -- two powerful hurricanes -- slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast less than a month apart, leaving death and destruction in their wakes. Katrina struck on Aug. 29 and the smaller Rita plowed into the region on Sept. 24.
Procter & Gamble Co.'s
Employees are now back at the plant and production has restarted, said a P&G spokeswoman. "The plant restarted operations Saturday evening," Susanne Dusing told Reuters.
Fortunately, the bulk of P&G's unroasted coffee for its Folgers and Millstone brands is stored in giant silos which were unharmed by the storms.
Dusing could not say exactly when the plant would return to full production capacity. The Folgers plant generally churns out more than half of P&G's coffee and garners almost a third of the U.S. coffee market.
But the normal flow of coffee shipments to roasters -- large or small -- can take time as the once bustling port in the Crescent City struggles to get back to normal.
Before the storms hit, warehouses in the port of New Orleans held about 1.6 million 60-kg bags of unroasted beans, or about 26 percent of supply for the United States, which is the world's biggest coffee consumer.
Coffee traders reckon damage from the storms amounted to anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 bags of coffee -- based on preliminary reports from warehouse operators.
"Maybe the damage could be 200,000 bags or 300,000 bags," said one Florida-based coffee buyer. "But nobody knows exactly," he said, adding "it's going to take a while" to find out.
Coffee inspectors must first get into the warehouses before they can inspect and sample the quality of the beans. The longer the coffee sits, the more vulnerable the beans are to moisture, humidity and odor, Judy Ganes of J Ganes Consulting told Reuters.
"Humidity and moisture is probably the worst thing that could happen for coffee," she said, pointing out that the beans have a tendency to swell as they absorb moisture.
The New York Board of Trade has about 734,000 bags of certified coffee in warehouses in New Orleans which are deliverable against the exchange's futures contracts.
Right after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, NYBOT declared force majeure for its coffee there. It also prohibited the certification of new stocks at the port until further notice. Officials have yet to release any statement about the state of the coffee.
"People are looking for answers that aren't easy to come by," said Ganes. "The exchange does not want to do anything rash."
At least one coffee company in devastated New Orleans is determined to show its thanks, despite the prospect of a short-term supply squeeze.
Community Coffee Co. of southern Louisiana, has been pouring free cups of coffee for police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and utility workers involved in the hurricane relief effort.
"There are thousands of men and women working tirelessly to bring relief to hurricane victims," Matthew Saurage, president of Community Coffee, said in a statement.
"Providing a hot cup of coffee is one of the many ways we are saying thank you to those who are helping rebuild our communities affected by the storm," he said.
The fourth-generation family-owned business has vowed to provide more than 5 million cups of coffee to the relief workers.
AlertNet news is provided by Reuters
Make Sure That You Are Paying For Premium Coffee Freshly Roasted And Delivered To Your Door! Visit Java Queen International To See Our Vast Variety Of Premium Coffee
posted by Colin & Donna-Lee | 8:50 PM
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