International Coffee Merchant Sucafina to Grow with $300 Million Loan

Commodity coffee merchant Sucafina is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Geneva, Switzerland, this year, although the company’s family roots extend back to 1905.

Green coffee merchant Sucafina has secured an approximately $300 million syndicated loan from several major banks with hopes to expand the business amid increased consolidation in the coffee industry, according to a Bloomberg Markets report today.

The family-owned company, which was established in Switzerland 40 years ago and focused exclusively on coffee after initially launching in Palestine in 1905, currently owns approximately two dozen affiliated companies split throughout traditional producing and consuming countries, with a strong position in East Africa, particularly in Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia.

The company says it currently employs approximately 750 people throughout 26 countries, while overseeing 27 coffee washing stations. In late 2015, the company opened a wing of its Antwerp, Belgium-based specialty coffee import company 32Cup Specialty Coffee Merchants in Fairfax, Virginia.

Bloomberg reports that the $300 million loan comes from banks including BNP Paribas SA, ABN Amro Group NV and UBS Group AG. Sources within the report represeting Sucafina suggested the money would be used to continue develop operations in East Africa, where margins tend to be higher in the coffee commodities market, while also expanding trade volumes in Colombia and Brazil.

Sucafina has also been seeking additional vertical integration through acquisitions of existing coffee operations at origin, earlier this year entering into a joint partnership with longtime Brazilian producer group Cia Agropecuaria Monte Alegre in Minas Gerais.