Coffee Association

A high-level delegation from the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) delivered Houston's application to become a Coffee Exchange Port on Wednesday, June 26th. 2002 to the New York Board of Trade. The application will now go before a committee for review. Houston would like to join the ports of New York, Miami, and New Orleans in being designated as a delivery port under the Coffee "C" Rules.

The PHA is the sponsor agency for the application which will encompass all of Harris County where for over 25 years, Houston and Harris County have been the home to major consumers, processors and distributors of coffee in the greater Southwest Region. Recent annual statistics show that the Port of Houston has regularly imported between 80,000 and 120,000 tons of coffee and is already the fourth largest coffee port in the USA with only New Orleans, New York and Miami/Port Everglades importing more coffee. Houston would, in fact, be considered the third largest coffee port if Miami and Port Everglades were counted separately.

The Port of Houston's ranking as the largest port in foreign tonnage in the United States as well as the location of the largest container terminal in the Gulf of Mexico and the nation's fourth largest city, all come together as a natural focal point for coffee imports. The regional presence of major coffee roasters: Sara Lee, Maxwell House, Folgers and Mother Parkers, and such ancillary services as warehousing, trucking and ocean shipping, already make Houston a "coffee port" in all but official designation.

The PHA delegation to New York was lead by the Port Commission's Chairman James Edmonds who was accompanied by Commissioners Kase Lawal and James Fonteno, and the Port's Executive Director, Tom Kornegay.

Pending official designation, however, members and associates of the Greater Houston Coffee Association are continuously developing new coffee contacts with producers whose business is not connected with the Coffee Exchange. Useful new coffee imports are already moving into Houston and Harris County from Guatemala and Peru with new sources being actively pursued for direct shipments from Viet Nam, Indonesia and Brazil. The Coffee Association's strategy of seeking out producers of premium coffee beans is supported by Houston's existing coffee-handling infrastructure and the 20 million consumers located within a one-day's truck haul from the Port of Houston and warehouses in Harris County.

For more information on the Greater Houston Coffee Association, call Michel Benoit on 713.671.0947.

MEMBERSHIP Has Its Rewards!  

Did you know ... Houston is the 4th Largest "Coffee Port" in the U.S.?
Houston has Provided Services for 119,000 Tons of Import Coffee in 1999? 
So find out what the Greater Houston Coffee Association Can Do For You!

• ADVOCACY
  —The Inventory Tax Issue
  —Coffee Exchange Status For Houston
  —Duty Free Warehousing
  

• PUBLICITY
  —Association Advertising in the "Tea & Coffee Trade Journal"
  —Individual Entries in UKERS'
  —A Greater Houston Coffee Association, Directory for Services & Facilities

• LOGISTICS SERVICES
  —Ocean Carriers, Domestic, Truckers, and
  Railroads
  —Intermodal Transportation
  —Supply-Chain Models
  —Cost-Effective Logistics

• NETWORKING
  —Member-to-Member
  —Business Introductions
  —Guest Speakers
  —Social Functions
  

• BUYERS & SELLERS
  —Access to Overseas Coffee Producers
  —New Sources; New Opportunities
  —Exotic Varieties
  

• FINANCIAL & INSURANCE
  —Introductions to Service Providers
  —Special Business Rates for Members
  —Agencies Representing World-Class Institutions
  

• Functions

• Newsletter

• Record Keeping

• Accounting

• Correspondence

• Meetings

• International Liaison

• Port of Houston

• Customhouse Brokers

• Freight Forwarders

NON-VOTING ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR ONLY
$275.00 A YEAR