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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General Overview
Products and Operations. We are an integrated wholesale coffee roaster and dealer in the United States. Our core products can be divided into three categories:
● Wholesale Green Coffee: unroasted raw beans imported from around the world and sold to large and small roasters and coffee shop operators;
● Private Label Coffee: coffee roasted, blended, packaged and sold under the specifications and names of others, including supermarkets that want to have their own brand name on coffee to compete with national brands; and
● Branded Coffee: coffee roasted and blended to our own specifications and packaged and sold under our seven proprietary and licensed brand names in different segments of the market.
Our private label and branded coffee products are sold throughout the United States and Canada to supermarkets, wholesalers, and individually owned and multi-unit retail customers. Our unprocessed green coffee, which includes over 90 specialty coffee offerings, is sold to specialty gourmet roasters.
We conduct our operations in accordance with strict freshness and quality standards. All of our private label and branded coffees are produced from high quality coffee beans that are deep roasted for full flavor using a slow roasting process that has been perfected utilizing our more than thirty years of experience in the coffee industry. In order to ensure freshness, our products are delivered to our customers within 72 hours of roasting. We believe that our long history has enabled us to develop a loyal customer base.
We were founded and incorporated in New York State in 1971 and have been a family operated business for almost 40 years. In 1998, we merged with Transpacific International Group Corp. and became a Nevada corporation. In May 2005, we concluded our initial public offering and our common stock began trading on the American Stock Exchange (“AMEX”) under the symbol “JVA.” On March 15, 2010, we filed a Form 25 delisting our common stock from the AMEX and filed a Form 8-A listing our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “JVA.” Our fiscal year ends on October 31.
Our corporate offices are located at 3475 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314. Our telephone number is (718) 832-0800 and our website address is www.coffeeholding.com.
Our Competitive Strengths
To achieve our growth objectives described below, we intend to leverage the following competitive strengths:
National Distribution with Capacity For Growth. From 1991 to 2004, we expanded our distribution to a national platform while operating from only our Brooklyn, New York location by making capital investments to improve our roasting, packaging and fulfillment infrastructure to support the production and distribution of large quantities of fresh coffee products throughout the United States. In February 2004, we acquired certain assets of Premier Roasters, a roaster-dealer located in La Junta, Colorado, for $825,000. The assets purchased by us included all of the operating equipment located at Premier Roasters’s La Junta and Rocky Ford, Colorado locations, as well as all labels for all of Premier Roasters’s coffee products. In connection with the acquisition of these assets, we reached an agreement with the City of La Junta, Colorado on a 20-year lease for a 50,000 square foot facility in La Junta.
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In April 2006, we entered into a joint venture with Caruso’s Coffee, Inc. of Brecksville, Ohio and formed Generations Coffee Company, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“GCC”), which engages in the roasting, packaging and sale of private label specialty coffee products. We own a 60% equity interest in GCC and are the exclusive supplier of its coffee inventory. We believe that the joint venture with GCC allows us to bid on the private label gourmet whole bean business which we had not been equipped to pursue from an operational standpoint in the past. With this specialty roasting facility in place, in many cases right in the backyard of some of our current wholesale and retail customers, we believe we will be able to successfully combine our canned private label business with high-end private label specialty whole bean business. High-end specialty whole bean coffee sells for as much as three times more per pound than the canned coffees.
In October 2009, we sold our Brooklyn, New York location after ceasing our manufacturing operations there in May. The majority of our processing has been moved to our La Junta, Colorado facility with our GCC facility in Brecksville, Ohio becoming more involved with everyday coffee processing. The closing of our Brooklyn facility reduced our long-term operating expenses, increased efficiencies and ultimately increased the profitability of the Company.
In May 2010, we purchased substantially all of the assets, including fixed assets, inventory, trademarks, customer list and supply chain relationships of Organic Products Trading Company, Inc. (“OPTCO”). A green coffee merchant located on the West Coast who specializes in both the procurement and sales of high end organic and fair trade arabica coffees.
Positioned to Profitably Grow Through Varying Cycles of the Coffee Market. We believe that we are one of the few coffee companies to offer a broad array of branded and private label roasted ground coffees and wholesale green coffee across the spectrum of consumer tastes, preferences and price points. While many of our competitors engage in distinct segments of the coffee business, we sell products in each of the following areas:
● Retail branded coffee;
● Mainstream retail private label coffee;
● Specialty retail coffees both private label and branded;
● Wholesale specialty green and gourmet whole bean coffees;
● Food service;
● Instant coffees; and
● Niche products.
Our branded and private label roasted ground coffees are sold at competitive and value price levels while some of our other branded and specialty coffees are sold predominantly at premium price levels. Premium price level coffee is high-quality gourmet coffee, such as AA Arabica coffee, which sells at a substantial premium over traditional retail canned coffee, while competitive and value price level coffee is mainstream or traditional canned coffee. Because of this diversification, we believe that our profitability is not dependent on any one area of the coffee industry and, therefore, is less sensitive than our competition to potential coffee commodity price and overall economic volatility.
Wholesale Green Coffee Market Presence. As a large roaster-dealer of green coffee, we believe that we are favorably positioned to increase our specialty coffee sales. Since 1998, we have increased the number of our wholesale green coffee customers, including coffee houses, single store operators, mall coffee stores and mail order sellers, by 70% from 150 to 255. We are a charter member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and one of the largest distributors of Swiss Water Processed Decaffeinated Coffees along the East Coast. In addition, although we do not have any formalized, material agreements or long-term contracts with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (“GMCR”), we have a 19-year relationship with GMCR, our largest wholesale green coffee customer. Our almost 40 years of experience as a roaster and a dealer of green coffee allows us to provide our roasting experience as a value added service to our gourmet roaster customers. The assistance we provide to our customers includes training, coffee blending and market identification. We believe that our relationships with wholesale green coffee customers and our focus on selling green coffee as a wholesaler has enabled us to participate in the growth of the specialty coffee market while mitigating the risks associated with the competitive retail specialty coffee environment.
Diverse Portfolio of Differentiated Branded Coffees. We have amassed a portfolio of five proprietary name brands sold to supermarkets, wholesalers and individually owned stores in the United States, including brands for specialty espresso, Latin espresso, Italian espresso, 100% Colombian coffee and blended coffee. In addition, we have entered into a licensing agreement with Del Monte Corporation for the exclusive right to use the S&W and IL CLASSICO trademarks in the United States and other countries approved by Del Monte Corporation in connection with the production, manufacture and sale of roasted whole bean and ground coffee for distribution to retail customers. We plan to broaden our customer base and increase penetration with existing customers by expanding the S&W label from a well-known brand on the West Coast to a well-known brand throughout the United States. Our existing portfolio of differentiated brands combined with our management expertise serve as a platform to add additional name brands through acquisition or licensing agreements which target product niches and segments that do not compete with our existing brands.
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Management Has Extensive Experience in the Coffee Industry. We have been a family-operated business for three generations. Throughout this time, we have remained profitable through varying cycles in the coffee industry and the economy. Andrew Gordon, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and David Gordon, our Executive Vice President – Operations, have worked with Coffee Holding for 29 and 31 years, respectively. David Gordon is an original member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. We believe that our employees and management are dedicated to our vision and mission, which is to produce high quality products, as well as to provide quality and responsive service to our customers.
Our Growth Strategy
We believe that significant growth opportunities exist by selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions and alliances, targeting the rapidly growing Hispanic market in the United States, increasing penetration with existing customers by adding new products, and developing our food service business. By capitalizing on this strategy, we hope to continue to grow our business with our commitment to quality and personalized service to our customers. We do not intend to compete on price alone nor do we intend to expand sales at the expense of profitability.
Selectively Pursue Strategic Acquisitions and Alliances. We intend to expand our operations by acquiring coffee companies, seeking strategic alliances and acquiring or licensing brands, which complement our business objectives. Consistent with this strategy, in February 2004, we acquired certain assets of Premier Roasters and entered into a licensing agreement with Del Monte Corporation for the exclusive right to use the S&W and IL CLASSICO trademarks, including Premium, Premium Decaf, French Roast, Colombian, Colombian Decaf, Swiss Water Decaf, Kona, and Mellow’d Roast lines, in the United States and other countries approved by Del Monte Corporation in connection with the production, manufacture and sale of roasted whole bean and ground coffee for distribution at the retail level.
In April 2006, we entered into a joint venture with Caruso’s Coffee, Inc. of Brecksville, Ohio and formed GCC which engages in the roasting, packaging and sale of private label specialty coffee products. We believe this joint venture allows us to successfully bid on and compete for specialty private label coffee opportunities which we were not operationally set up to compete for in the past.