Coffee Business

Two hot retailing trends are converging in New Orleans during the month of March. Pop Up stores are temporary shops that come and go. Third Wave coffee is a mantra in the gourmet  coffee community. Third Wave represents the search for the perfect cup and often manifests in hand crafted  cups and shots from beans that have been sourced and roasted with this quest in mind.

The Times-Picayune reports that the Orleans Coffee Exchange will be setting up a pop-up coffee bar in Stein’s Market and Deli every Thursday and Friday morning during the month of March.

(Coffee Exchange co-owner Tom) Oliver will serve single-origin coffees and espressos, answer questions about the coffee trade in New Orleans and preach the gospel of “third wave coffee.”

Orleans Coffee Exchange provides beans for many of the city’s most interesting coffee shops. Here’s a chance to learn a little more about what goes into your favorite cappucino.

Starbucks will be closing two Baton Rouge stores in the first round of closures but will not close any in our city. Today’s New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that all 28 stores in the metro area will stay open. (28 stores? Where are they all? In hotels? I guess the Magazine Street store that closed after Katrina was written off a long time ago.)

Jam maker J. M. Smucker has purchased the Folgers company, the number one coffee brand in the U. S. Folgers has a big presence in New Orleans.

According to the Associated Press, the Folgers roasting plant in New Orleans East brings an annual 250,000 – 300,000 tons of coffee beans through the Port of New Orleans. The plant is the port’s largest customer. Approximately 440 people are employed in the facility.

Folgers had net sales of about $160 billion in 2007. There are qlso Folgers roasting plants in Kansas City, Missouri and Sherman, Texas.

Folgers previous owner, Proctor and Gamble, cites their intention to get away from manufacturing in order to focus on marketing finished products. Increased competition from Starbucks and other brands might also have been a factor in the decision to sell the brand.

New Orleans is certainly a coffee leader if you go by volume.