When the Coffee Supply Chain Loses a Link

A shipping container heading for Baltimore Harbor can carry 42,000 pounds of coffee beans.

Now it needs a detour.

A Coffee Supply Chain

Our story is about a Washington D.C. coffee company. When the CEO of Compass Coffee heard that a bridge collapse closed the Port of Baltimore, he immediately called his Chief Operating Officer. Perceiving a potential catastrophe, they had to figure out a new way to get their coffee beans, tins, and sugar.

It is possible that the imported steel in this Washington Post graphic came from Canada, Mexico, or Brazil. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic and Brazil are two U.S. sugar exporters:

Skyrocketing cost, the rerouting caused by the bridge collapse, took the beans to Newark, New Jersey. Consequently, transport rose to $3500 per container instead of $1,000. In addition, a 30-minute ride to the Washington D.C. warehouse became a whopping 5-day journey from New Jersey.

And this is just the beans:

Similarly disrupted, their sugar, coffee tins (made locally from imported steel) and other foreign goods need a new route.

Our Bottom Line: Supply Chain Disruptions

It is easy to say that a supply chain was disrupted and mean that some good is using a different pathway to reach customers. However, when the abstract description becomes a reality, we can see the true impact.

Simply summarized, a coffee bean’s supply chain begins with the growers that could be in Brazil, Kenya, or Indonesia. Arriving in Baltimore, in 150-pound bags, the beans are trucked to a warehouse that Compass shares with other coffee purveyors. From there, they go to a Compass roastery in Washington D.C. and then to their online and local customers.

At #6, behind Newark, Charleston, New Orleans, Oakland, and Houston, Baltimore Harbor sees more than 8% of our coffee beans. As for Compass, it could be waiting for 6 to 8 containers, each that carry 42,000 pounds of beans. And now, those containers have to head for a new port.

The following container ship could have carried Compass’s beans. As was I, you might be fascinated by the container details:

Eliminating just the Baltimore link destroys the whole coffee supply chain.

My sources and more: Thanks to Cary for recommending this Washington Post article. And, of course, I thank the Post for their wonderful graphics and articles that are always the most interesting. Then finally, you might want to see a Compass visit to the Brazilian link of their coffee supply chain.