In a concerning development, transportation companies across the United States are grappling with a sharp increase in the theft of truckloads filled with green coffee beans. This uptick in theft coincides with the commodity reaching all – time high prices, as revealed in a Reuters report.
The matter was a hot topic of discussion among market participants during the weekend in Houston. The occasion was the annual conference of the US National Coffee Association, where industry stakeholders gathered to deliberate on various issues.
The US holds the distinction of being the world’s largest importer of coffee. It imports nearly all of the coffee it consumes, with trucks being the primary mode of transportation, shuttling coffee bags from ports to roasting plants.
Todd Costley, the Logistic Sales Coordinator at Hartley Transportation, a freight broker based in Pembroke, New Hampshire, shed light on the situation. “There were dozens of thefts in the last year, something that would happen only rarely in the past,” he remarked.
Coffee thefts are not exclusive to the US. In origin countries like Brazil and Vietnam, such incidents have also been reported. Typically, these occur on farms where the freshly harvested beans are stored temporarily. Reuters pointed out that these isolated locations are more susceptible to theft. For instance, in January 2025, armed individuals made off with 500 bags of coffee, valued at approximately US$230,000, from a farm in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.
According to the Reuters report, the thefts in the US are being perpetrated by organized gangs. These gangs operate by masquerading as legitimate transportation companies. Costley explained that these fake companies entice importers with offers of better prices or the immediate availability of trucks to secure small contracts. “Importers should be careful about who they hire,” he warned. “Once they get the coffee, they disappear.”
Each truckload typically contains around 44,000 pounds (19,958 kilograms) of green beans. Given the current market value, this amounts to an estimated US$180,000. Some in the market believe that these organized gangs then attempt to offload the stolen beans to smaller roasters, who are already reeling from the impact of record – high prices.
In response to this growing threat, some importers have taken proactive measures. They have started affixing tracking devices to coffee bags in a bid to safeguard their shipments during transit.
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