Now that’s a “Good cup of coffee” By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTIn her previous career, Phyllis Johnson imported chemicals. Her fascination with Africa intrigued her so much, however, that she and Patrick Johnson began importing coffee from Africa. In 1999 they founded BD Imports. Today the Rockford, IL company serves as the premier US importer and marketer of specialty grade coffees from Africa. “Many people do not realize it, but coffee is the second largest imported commodity to the United States next to oil,” she says. “In fact, Africa—Ethiopia to be exact, is the birthplace of coffee.” It is from Ethiopia that the world obtains some of its richest coffee. “African coffee is distinguished by its full body,” she says. “It is very flavorful and used in many blends.” The company, which does slightly less than $5 million in business a year, imports green un-roasted fine coffees for some of the most discerning coffee roasters in the world. The company creates lasting relationships at origin and practices socio-economic responsibility. “We also market fresh roasted specialty grade coffees directly to consumers, restaurants, grocery stores, institutions, and the foodservice industry under the Evolution brand, which is owned exclusively by BD Imports,” she adds. The Evolution brand is also found in upscale gift boutiques. For the most part, however, BD Imports sells its coffee to both roaster retailers and roaster wholesalers. Among the roaster retailers are companies such as Caribou Coffee and Starbucks. Wholesale retailers include Coffee Bean International, which does the roasting for companies such as the Target brand. “Our customers are found throughout the United States, Canada and Taiwan,” she says. “We are international and would like to become more so.” In order to run its business, the company operates through buyers in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. Recently, BD Imports added Tanzania and Burundi to the countries from which it imports. “Coffee is Africa’s oldest industry, so there are a lot of people there who know a great deal about it,” Johnson says. “Exporters in Africa are very familiar with what needs to take place in order to transport the commodity.” For starters, they supply importers with small samples of the coffee, so companies like BD Imports can determine what lots best fit their needs. These samples are flown to the States on a weekly basis. “Once we make our decision, we buy the coffee at auction houses in Kenya that specialize in specialty coffees,” Johnson says. The coffee is then shipped by full container loads to the United States. “We import the coffee in 132 pound or 60 kilo bags,” she says. “It takes 300 of these bags to fill a 20-foot container.” Prior to shipping the coffee, however, the bags of green beans are stored in warehouses some miles away from the high humidity of the seaports. The reason, Johnson explains, is to keep the coffee in a moderate temperature. When the coffee is ready to be shipped, it is sent to various African seaports depending upon the source. Coffee from Kenya, for example, is shipped from the Port of Mombasa Ethiopia currently uses the ports of Djibouti, connected to Addis Ababa by rail. In Tanzania the port used is Dar Es Saalm. For landlocked Rwanda, coffee is either trucked or railed to Mombasa or Dar Es Saalm. When the ships arrive in the United States, the ports of debarkation are the Ports of Oakland and Tacoma on the West Coast and one of the New Jersey ports that encompass the Port of New York/New Jersey. “When the coffee comes to the United States it is stored in warehouses, which we monitor,” Johnson says. From there the coffee is shipped out in bags via truck to the various retail or wholesale roasters. “If a large shipment is going to a big coffee roasting company, then we ship it via rail because it is cheaper,” she says. Re-building the Rwandan coffee industry BD Imports prides itself on more than just selling specialty green un-roasted coffees. The company was