CLR Roasters Inks Five-Year Green Supply Deal Estimated at $250 Million

At a CLR-owned coffee plantation near Matagalpa, Nicaragua. CLR Roasters photo.

Miami-based vertically integrated coffee company CLR Roasters has inked a green coffee supply deal estimated to generate more than $250 million over the next five years, according to CLR parent company Youngevity International.

While the publicly traded Youngevity International holds brands in numerous product categories such as health, cosmetics, packaged food and drinks, CLR has been the focus of much of the company’s growth since it purchased multiple coffee plantations near Matagalpa, Nicaragua, four years ago in cooperation with the Siles Family Plantation Group (now another Youngevity subsidiary).

CLR says it currently has the capacity to grow and process approximately 30 million pounds of strictly high grown (SHG) Nicaraguan coffee per year, while the new five-year contract calls for 41 million pounds of greens per year. Based on current and futures prices for the coffee, Youngevity estimates that the deal will generate at least $50 million each year (which breaks down to $1.219 per pound). To fulfill the contract, Youngevity estimates that CLR will be hiring approximately 1,000 workers to begin processing the coffee, with the first shipments scheduled for January 2019.

The companies did not name the contractee, other than saying that “the purchaser of the coffee is a major coffee importer and exporter with over seven decades of industry experience and supply to many of the largest brands in the industry.”

Yongevity has not yet replied to a Daily Coffee News request to identify the buyer.

Youngevity said the contract is “predominantly” for SHG washed Nicaraguan, yet it provides that a “significant portion” may come from various certified coffees, including Organic, Direct trade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, Bird Friendly. One other certification that may be involved is Starbucks CAFE Practices, which was recently obtained by the Siles Family Plantation Group.

Additionally with help from Nicaraguan Export company H&H, the coffees will be shipped to the “various USA, Canadian, and European ports,” according to Youngevity.

“We have worked tirelessly over the last several years to build a dependable and long-term supply relationship with our local producer partners,” Siles Family Plantation Group President Marisol Siles said in a press release from Youngevity yesterday. “It is gratifying to now be positioned to provide and deliver on a contract of this size over the next 5 years that we expect will not only provide value to shareholders, but provide significant employment opportunities for the region of Matagalpa, Nicaragua.”