I was speaking to one of my suppliers...
... an American company which produces excellent coffee roasting equipment. I'd been wanting a little more detail on a coffee destoner I'd recently purchased from them and I wasn't getting replies to my email queries. So I called.
I spoke to Harold (name changed to protect the innocent) and he let me know that their business had been significantly impacted by the introduction of US tariffs on all imports. Their business designs coffee equipment (mainly roasting machines) which are manufactured in Shenzhen, China and exported to many countries. A lot of their sales are made in America. One day all was going well, and the next day all of the product that they sell in their home country is hit by triple figure percentage tariffs with the level of the tariff changing on a daily basis. Talk about instability!
I hope that global trade settles down soon. You'll no doubt have seen that green coffee prices have surged on the back of climatic events in both Brazil and Vietnam. Tariffs won't help matters. I've spent so much more time in recent months sourcing green beans. I'm trying my best to hold down roasted coffee prices, but if green coffee prices continue to increase I'll have no choice but to shift price levels.
I hope that you enjoy an excellent long weekend break. I will be roasting today and then the next roast will be on Wednesday April 23 as I take a few days away from the rotating drum.
To read about Terry's Chocolate Orange click here
To hear about pricing updates click here