Interested in importing coffee from El Salvador

[andrewj1398]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum!! So far everyone seems very helpful. I live n the East coast and I am interested in importing coffee from El Salvador because my friend has family down there. I have read other post about everyone's opinion about how to import but how much should I expect to pay for a burlap sack from the farm? I am looking at flying down there and finding the right farm. I really just want to import and sale to roasters. I am sure it is a very competitive industry to get into. Does anyone have any pointers or expert input? Does anyone have experience with El Salvador? Or better yet is there anyone who does this on the East coast who would be willing to teach me a thing or too. I am in NC.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[andrewj1398]

No input yet...

 

[eldub]

I see this as an exercise in biting off more than you can chew, so I never bothered to post until now.

What do you know about evaluating the quality of coffee?

What do you know about the buying/growing cycle?

What do you know about importing beans?

What do you know about selling beans?

I know a fellow who is an importer who might have some pointers. I'll pm you his email addy.

 

[birchstick]

@andrewj1398 - PM sent.

 

[CostaRicaConnection]

Don't worry about buying burlap sacks from the farm. It's all included. Your biggest expense is gonna be the purchase of a container of coffee; anything less than a container, and shipping costs are gonna kill ya. Even then, you will be hard pressed to make a profit.
The farmers or the co-ops are responsible for all costs incurred in getting the coffee to the port. The price you negotiate will have all these costs built in and they're gonna want anywhere from 20-50% the cost of the coffee up front. You will be responsible for all costs (international shipping, import taxes, trucking and warehousing, to name a few) getting the coffee to wherever it is you want it to go.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I don't think buying coffee from anywhere in the world is going to be any problem if you have enough funding but the biggest problem with this will be how you are going to sell these. Just because you have the best price, people are not going to line out the door to buy your beans. You need to promote, advertise, let out your product and.. even with that, you might be able to sell few bags unless you are a marketing genius. My advise? Try and see if you can sell first before even trying to buy direct......