Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Hawaiian Legislators Introduce Bills for Stricter Coffee Labeling

Legislators representing the Kona district of Hawaii have introduced a series of bills that would require more strict labeling requirements for single-origin coffees and blends containing Hawaiian-grown coffees. Some Kona…


10 (More) Minutes With Helena Oliviero

Today we continue our conversation with Helena Oliviero about her coffee career and life on a Colombian finca. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Helena Oliviero Barista Magazine: Let’s talk about living on a Colombian coffee farm, Finca Palma Roja. How do you spend your days? What’s usually happening on a busy coffee […]


10 (More) Minutes With Helena Oliviero

Today we continue our conversation with Helena Oliviero about her coffee career and life on a Colombian finca. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Helena Oliviero Barista Magazine: Let’s talk about living on a Colombian coffee farm, Finca Palma Roja. How do you spend your days? What’s usually happening on a busy coffee […]


Know Your Sweeteners: Agave: Part Two—Environmental Concerns

Agave has become an increasingly popular sweetener in the coffee industry. But is it as environmentally friendly as people claim it to be? BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo sourced via Pixabay In recent years, you may have noticed an increase in demand for “alternative sweeteners” like agave. While today, the nectar serves […]

Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Bypass coffee brewing: How can it improve extraction?

There is a lot of science to brewing coffee. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, we trigger – and try to control – an almost endless number of chemical reactions to achieve the perfect extraction. To do so, we have to tweak different variables – such as grind size, temperature, and coffee-to-water ratio – to get the […]


Florencia y Fortunata: A Café Empowering Women in Peru

The Cusco café, founded by Carolina Peralta Minaya, sells coffee from women producers and features women demonstrating their skills behind the bar. BY JORDAN BUCHANANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Carolina Peralta Minaya Traceability, sustainability, and conscientiousness are key values pervading the specialty-coffee trade. For many consumers and traders, these values inform their decision to […]


Study Shines New Light on the Complex Arabica Coffee Genome

Researchers in Italy say they’ve shed new light on arabica coffee’s large and complex genome, which may ultimately help breeders seeking desirable traits such as high quality and disease resistance….


In Tbilisi, Parsek1 Merges Comic Books with Specialty Coffee

We take a look at how this innovative café has changed the face of comics and coffee in the capital of Georgia. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Parsek1 When it comes to coffee and comic books, Japan is a longtime leader in the field. Manga cafés have been around for decades, combining […]

Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Three Questions with IWCA Executive Director Blanca Castro

When International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) Executive Director began her job years ago at the Guatemalan coffee association Anacafé, she knew next to nothing about coffee.  “I just pretended that…


Congrats to the Top-Ranking Qualifiers at U.S. CoffeeChamps Denver

Dozens of coffee professionals competed at qualifiers this weekend in Colorado for coveted spots at the U.S. Coffee Championships next month. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Cover photo by J. Marie Carlan For competitive coffee professionals in the USA, the U.S. Coffee Championships are the place to be. Over the weekend, the second USCC […]


The Caripe Variety: A Groundbreaking Milestone in Venezuelan Coffee Farming

Today, we unveil the story behind the Caripe variety and its significance for the Venezuelan coffee industry. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Featured photo by Carlos Felipe Ramírez Mesa via Unsplash In the heart of Venezuela, nestled among the picturesque states of Monagas, Anzoátegui, and Sucre, lies a legacy deeply rooted in coffee cultivation. This […]


PRF El Salvador announces speakers and panellists

Following a call for applications in October 2022, Producer & Roaster Forum (PRF) has announced its first speakers and panellists for PRF El Salvador. The two-day forum will be held on 16 and 17 March 2023 at the Salamanca Exhibition Centre in San Salvador. The event is set to return to El Salvador after it […]

Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

minimum dose size?

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Like many other industries, conditions in the coffee supply chain can change quickly, and in turn, have a huge impact on all actors and stakeholders. Price volatility is one of the more pertinent – which is influenced by many factors. These include fluctuations in supply and demand, extreme or unexpected weather events, global economic downturn, and social or political unrest.

Additionally, these factors can also affect shipping coffee from producing countries to export markets. We saw this with Covid-19, which caused the freight industry to collapse and shipping companies to massively reduce their capacities. But with demand for coffee only growing during the pandemic, coffee stockpiles soon started to reach record lows.

Most recently, however, conflict in the Red Sea (a narrow inlet of the Indian Ocean in between Africa and Asia) and escalating political tension in the Middle East could have a huge impact on global trade. 

“Recent attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea have already started to disrupt key shipping routes, eroding slack in supply networks, and increasing the likelihood of inflationary bottlenecks,” the World Bank stated in its latest report.

Ultimately, this means the coffee supply chain is highly likely to be affected – so roasters need to best prepare.

I spoke to Betiel Medhanie, East Africa Logistics Manager at Sucafina, to find out how.

You may also like our article on why it becomes more expensive to ship coffee.

A large cargo ship on the Red Sea.

What’s happening in the Red Sea?

The current conflict in the Red Sea – which separates the coasts of Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea from those of Saudi Arabia and Yemen – is incredibly complex and hard to unpack. 

In a more immediate sense, it largely stems from Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which first started in early October 2023. Since then, over 25,000 Palestinian civilians have tragically been killed. This conflict also has its own long and complicated history dating back to World War One.

In response to Israeli attacks in Gaza, the Houthis – a political and military organisation in Yemen – have started to attack commercial shipping vessels travelling through the Red Sea. Members of the group have also boarded or hijacked cargo ships, although no serious injuries or deaths have been announced so far.

To avoid the conflict as much as possible, shipping companies like Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and MSC have halted or rerouted their vessels. According to the Atlantic Council, seven of the ten largest shipping companies have now suspended operations in the Red Sea.

How will the conflict affect global trade?

Simply put, the Red Sea is one the most important trade routes in the world. In a recent article, the Guardian stated about 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, including 30% of global container traffic. This equates to billions of dollars of goods passing through this route every year.

So with many freight companies avoiding the Red Sea and rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope (on the southern tip of Africa), total shipping times will increase by a few weeks. Moreover, shipping companies who choose to travel through the conflict zone are also facing higher insurance risk premiums. Either option comes with its own unique challenges and uncertainties.

There have been efforts to stop the attacks on and hijacking of cargo ships, including the formation of the Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition. But as of now, the conflict is still ongoing.

Workers in a green coffee warehouse in Aquires, Costa Rica.

Impact on the coffee supply chain

The vast majority of the world’s coffee supply is transported from producing countries to export markets by cargo ships. This means many green coffee buyers and roasters are sure to be affected by the conflict in the Red Sea – mainly as a result of ensuing delays and higher shipping prices.

“Most carriers have paused service or rerouted vessels from the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait because of the continuing attacks on vessels there,” Betiel says. “Those who have continued service have introduced a war risk surcharge and declared force majeure.”

This is a common clause in contracts which essentially ensures both parties are not liable to fulfil their obligations when an extraordinary event or circumstance occurs beyond their control, including conflict.

“The diversion is causing more traffic in the Suez Canal and in general, we’re seeing transit delays of two to three weeks and slow container turnover,” Betiel explains. “If this continues, we anticipate that reduced capacity could trigger increased rates on top of the already implemented surcharges.”

Drawing comparisons with the pandemic

Shipping delays aren’t an uncommon occurrence in any industry. The last time we saw disruptions this significant, however, was during Covid-19.

With so many businesses forced to close, out-of-home coffee consumption took a huge hit. But this was offset with a simultaneous rise in at-home consumption. In the months following the pandemic as the global economy bounced back, demand for coffee and other consumer goods skyrocketed.

Resultantly, so that businesses could replenish their stocks to normal levels, there was a historic increase in the number of cargo ships coming into ports. What’s more, with social distancing measures in place at the time, port staff had to unload freight at a much slower rate – delaying shipments by weeks.

This led to unprecedented bottlenecks and disruptions across many supply chains, including in the coffee sector.

The problem was exacerbated even further in late March 2021 when the 400 metre-long Ever Given cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week. At the time, it was carrying some 18,300 containers. The unintentional blockade also delayed the movement of 369 other ships which were unable to pass through the canal – resulting in an estimated loss of US $15 million per day for affected businesses.

Effectively, container space then became more competitive, which caused shipping prices to rise dramatically. In July 2021, a Bloomberg article stated the price of a single shipping container travelling from Brazil to the US had reached around US $4,000 – double the normal rate. Other reports at the time suggested containers travelling from Shanghai to the Netherlands sold for US $10,000, which is more than a 540% increase.

Roasters (especially smaller ones with less inventory on hand) then had to absorb the costs themselves, or raise their prices and pass them onto the end consumer.

Roasters inspect roasted coffee beans.

How can coffee roasters best prepare for shipping delays?

In the years since the pandemic, we have seen how the coffee industry has remained resilient and managed to adapt to the ensuing challenges. So given that the scale of the conflict in the Red Sea isn’t as comparable to that of a global pandemic, there’s hope that recent disruptions will be more manageable for roasters and green buyers.

That doesn’t mean, however, that roasters shouldn’t prepare for shipping delays and increased costs as much as they can.

“We suggest that roasters contact their suppliers to review new arrival dates,” Betiel says. “Roasters should expect at least an additional two to three weeks for most shipments to arrive. It’s helpful to subscribe to weekly arrival updates on your importer’s website or with your trader.”

Maintaining green coffee quality will be one of the biggest priorities. The longer it takes coffee to reach its import destination, the more likely it is that quality will drop. Green coffee, however, technically stays fresh for up to a year – so delays of two to three weeks shouldn’t cause too many serious issues.

“Check your inventory levels regularly and estimate your consumption far in advance to account for slower arrival times,” Betiel tells me. “Additionally, check out spot offerings if you need last minute coffee and subscribe to newsletters to receive important information, such as monthly logistics reports.”

Dealing with increased costs

Undoubtedly, there will be financial repercussions of the conflict in the Red Sea and its impact on global trade. And with many coffee businesses still facing higher energy and food costs – tightening already slim profit margins – it’s likely that end consumers will also have to pay more.

It’s a difficult balancing act for roasters. They need to make sure they pay producers fairly for their coffee, while also not passing down too many extra costs to consumers. 

Ultimately, communication and transparency are key. Although it’s more difficult than ever to provide customers with accurate timescales and updates, they will only help to strengthen partnerships and relationships.

Workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia stack bags of coffee in a warehouse.

Logistical issues are certainly a concern, but industry can still be manage them effectively with plenty of preparation.

While it seems that shipping delays will be persistent for another few months at least, roasters and green buyers should strive to remain resilient and adaptable.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on logistical challenges in the coffee sector.

Perfect Daily Grind

Want to read more articles like this? Sign up for our newsletter!

The post Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0