Poor Farmer

By Leslie Patton Bloomberg November 17, 2011   Sept. 16, 2012, is D Day -- or at least K Day -- for  Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) That’s when it will lose the main patents on K-Cups, the coffee pods that helped make Green Mountain the largest player in the $1 billion-plus U.S. single-serve coffee market. Once the patents expire, competitors can make their own version of K-cups and threaten the prospects of a company already battling criticism from hedge fund manager  David Einhorn  that its market-share gains have peaked. Einhorn, president of Greenlight Capital Inc., declined to comment for this story and won’t say if his firm is shorting the stock. “New entrants into private label could hurt their volume,” said Bea Chiem, a San Francisco-based analyst at  Standard & Poor’s , who gives the company a B+ credit rating, four levels below investment grade. When the patents run out, it could also “open up the door for other ...

Interior Minister Mayard-Paul Launches First International Summit of Haitian Coffee by The Ministry of the Interior, Local Authorities and National Defense defend.ht November 17 201 Min. Therry Mayard Paul and VIPs at the Coffee Summit FURCY, Haiti (defend.ht) - November 16, 2011. The Minister of the Interior, Mr. Thierry Mayard Paul opened in the mountains of Furcy the first International Summit of Haitian Coffee at "The Lodge" restaurant. The Minister gave his full support to local producers and extensively discussed ways to promote and develop the coffee industry abroad. This event, organized by the Clinton Foundation, included the National Coffee Association of Haiti and other Haitian cooperative associations of producers and coffee companies. International actors, whose roles are essential in the development of this sector were also invited to share their expertise and offer their cooperation to facilitate access to new markets and pro...

By Marvin G. Perez Bloomberg November 17, 2011 Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee exports from El Salvador soared to 23,081 bags in October from 1,101 bags a year earlier, the country’s coffee council said in a report. “Exports rose because the changes in climate ripened beans sooner than normal,” spurring growers to accelerate the harvest, Ana Elena Escalante, the council’s executive director, said today in a telephone interview from San Salvador, the capital. Heavy rain in October will cut El Salvador’s crop by almost 90,000 bags in the year ending in September, Procafe, an industry group, has said. “The crop will still be reduced by the rains, but the quality will not be affected,” Escalante said. Losses may climb as high as 239,000 bags, or 17 percent of the expected output of 1.42 million bags, because of high winds and road damage, Procafe said on Oct. 26. A bag weighs 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds. Arabica coffee for March delivery fell 0.5 percent to $2...

Reuters November 17, 2011 NAIROBI   (Reuters) - Kenya expects its coffee export earnings to rise by 7 percent in the 2011/12 (Oct-Sep) season, buoyed by high international prices and increased volumes, the ministry of agriculture's top official said on Thursday. Statistics from industry regulator Coffee Board of Kenya showed east Africa's biggest economy earned around 26 billion Kenyan shillings from exports of the commodity in 2010/11, up from 16 billion shillings a year earlier. "We expected the current high prices to persist for some time and pull the overall earning this season," Agriculture Ministry Permanent Secretary Romano Kiome told reporters. "We are looking at an earning of 28 billion (shillings) for this year because we have conducted major reforms to boost production and this has been iced by very good prices." Kenya is a relatively small producer but its specialty beans are famous for their high quality and are much ...