Coffee importer tries new brew in Costa Rica

Coffee importer tries new brew in Costa Rica
By Allison Wollam
Houston Business Journal

Mills Duncan is grinding out plans to import his own coffee by pouring an investment into Costa Rica.

The president of Houston-based Duncan Coffee Co. has three farms under contract in the Central American republic. If the deals go through, the 83-year-old business will import company-owned coffee for the first time.

Duncan sees similarities between growing coffee and raising cattle.

"I like the idea of being able to go out to the farm and oversee the growth and quality control of the coffee, just like I'm able to do at my cattle ranch," says Duncan, who seven years ago revived the business founded by his great-grandfather Herschel Mills Duncan.

The cream of the company's coffee crop holdings will be a 200-acre field in one of Costa Rica's top producing regions.

Duncan estimates it will take three to five years to produce top-quality coffee for import and sale in the local market.

More...