A mixed farm-to-table coffee container for Europe – Part III
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
It's been a good four months since the container arrived in Germany, and the new coffees and coffee cherries (cascara) are already included in our products. We've also implemented a new product catalog for business customers.
However, even on the final leg, certain challenges had to be overcome first:
Our new structure in Germany, with a customs warehouse in Bremerhaven, required the establishment of new processes to import goods into the EU and/or forward them to Switzerland.
The conflicts in the Middle East led to increased transport costs and, in some cases, delays.
A pallet fell over in an intermediate storage area, which meant we could no longer use parts of the load and had to accept further delays.
This shows what a bag of coffee goes through before we can drink it, and what improvements we still have in the future. Farm-to-table is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
With the necessary persistence, however, the following results could be achieved:
We are officially registered with customs and the tax office in Germany, which allows us to supply not only Switzerland but also the entire EU. Currently, this is limited to whole sacks of green coffee and coffee cherries, and the first deliveries have already been made (more on this soon in the section on new partnerships). Product samples are available now (see below).
Supplies from Brazil and inventory in Europe are secured, giving us great flexibility.
We were able to maintain almost all of our existing product prices, as logistical efficiencies and positive exchange rate developments largely offset the drastic increase in raw coffee prices. However, we are implementing a slight price increase for our house blend "Fine Brazil," from CHF 25 per kg to CHF 28 per kg.
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