Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/641418
26 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 1, 2016 (February/March) Portland remains a viable market for green coffee storage, Costa Oro founder and c.e.o Arianna Hartstrom says. "We were not getting much coffee (during the labor problems)," he said. "We run a buffer inventory that gave us some breathing room but when the strikes were really going on you couldn't get coffee in from the port." Fortunately, he said, coffee is a prod- uct that suffers minimal damage during long delays. "Perishable goods suffered." Inspections slow shipments Gavina cites a second concern affecting coffee imports. "Los Angeles falls victims to two issues," he said. "In addition to the la- bor problems, we seem to have a high instance of customs exams. We don't do any importation ourselves. That's handled by our suppliers. But these in- spections slow things down for us. We have to compete with the delays in get- ting the coffee. That can be a significant problem." U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is charged with protecting American crops from dangerous patho- gens, any disease-producing agent. And, while Gavina doesn't consider green cof- fee a likely carrier, the USDA is keeping a close eye on shipments. "I understand that this is to protect domestic agriculture but it doesn't always make sense. There could be a certain lev- el of misunderstanding by officials on the likelihood of problems," said Gavina. He said suppliers and trade organiza- tions are working with government of- ficials to reduce the frequency of these 2014 2015 % change Port US Oakland 2,885,592 3,055,834 5.90% Los Angeles 1,014,093 525,137 -48.22% Tacoma 587,625 860,634 46.46% Seattle 580,673 449,892 -22.52% Long Beach 219,276 462,679 111.00% Portland 214,559 21,662 -89.90% San Diego - 1 Comparing Green Coffee Imports Landed at West Coast Ports 2014-2015 (US Maritime Bills of Lading in 60 kg bags) Source: Datamyne Inc. Comparing Green Coffee Imports Landed at West Coast Ports 2014-15 (US Maritime Bills of Lading in 60 kg bags) Port US Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 Jul-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 2015 Totals Oakland 80,281 125,493 335,375 251,978 325,931 328,550 349,032 286,558 287,918 212,308 311,595 160,815 3,055,834 Los Angeles 36,022 39,976 66,061 52,690 46,692 37,458 67,695 32,600 38,187 37,057 36,538 34,161 525,137 Tacoma 47,656 34,267 82,714 90,766 56,856 83,241 132,823 72,559 89,994 68,025 57,984 43,749 860,634 Seattle 25,772 17,403 36,587 38,115 73,880 48,169 21,934 33,844 58,544 27,753 30,773 37,118 449,892 Long Beach 24,445 22,025 31,604 63,201 50,627 57,710 40,108 30,425 49,027 41,476 32,085 19,946 462,679 Portland 5,419 2,867 12,729 323 324 21,662 San Diego 1 1 Port US Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 2014 Totals Oakland 166,901 215,423 232,377 302,435 369,619 340,724 316,718 221,160 218,383 210,652 120,968 170,232 2,885,592 Los Angeles 80,326 62,641 92,712 123,187 104,163 91,268 87,835 63,453 95,442 91,065 58,334 63,667 1,014,093 Tacoma 33,546 40,406 28,860 44,813 41,724 53,741 86,115 76,535 52,538 54,166 26,477 48,704 587,625 Seattle 45,679 46,363 43,158 83,204 90,837 47,377 46,197 43,196 33,262 44,000 22,944 34,456 580,673 Long Beach 13,136 9,523 15,703 17,485 24,223 26,309 21,448 19,301 32,706 12,339 9,131 17,972 219,276 Portland 12,323 10,850 24,083 14,091 24,735 17,034 17,738 27,150 18,426 12,613 20,946 14,570 214,559 San Diego 0 Source: Datamyne Inc.