Miami’s CLR Roasters Inks 25 Million Pound Supply Deal with Nicaraguan Plantation

Miami-based CLR Roasters, now backed by the publicly traded consumer health product maker Youngevity International (YGYI), has signed a five-year agreement with H&H Export to purchase green coffee from a Nicaraguan plantation.

Inside the CLR Roasters Headquarters. Photo by CLR Roasters.

The deal calls for up to 5 million pounds of high-altitude green arabica coffees per year from the family-owned Siles Plantation, where Youngevity CFO Dave Briskie and CLR Roasters President Ernesto Aguila traveled last October. The coffees will be used Youngevity’s Be the Change Foundation, a charitable wing of the corporation that leads programs that give back to some of the communities where it sources raw materials and commodities.

“In continuity with the charitable giving that is expected to result from Youngevity’s Foundation the agreement also provides a vehicle for CLR Roasters to give back much needed funds to specific plantation owners and those families working the fields,” the company said in an announcement of the supply deal.

As part of the deal, 1 million shares of YGYI stock currently owned by CEO Steve Wallach are being vested over five years to H&H Export. Youngevity International says the transaction involves the “benefit” of Wallach’s personal holdings, as well as the long-term “shareholder value” of the company.

For its part, CLR Roasters roasts and distributes coffee in numerous wholesale segments, maintains a range of private label accounts, and sells coffee under its own brands, including Cafe La Rica, Josie’s Java House and Javalution.