Sunday, June 12, 2005

Summer sales perk up

By Susan Buchanan

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Summer is no longer a string of dog days for U.S. coffee roasters, who have abandoned the phrase "see you in September" as demand starts to even out year-round.

An old rule of thumb among commodity traders was that coffee drinking declines during summer's warmth, while gasoline demand rises during the vacation season. But that doesn't apply much to coffee these days.

"Our business is down about 10 percent in July and August compared with the winter, but back in the 1960s it was down as much as 40 percent," said Donald Schoenholt, president of Gillies Coffee Co., roasters in Brooklyn, New York. "After air conditioning spread from movie theaters to office buildings and then to homes, people for the first time could sit cool at home and drink a hot cup of coffee."

Americans aren't like the British "who like a hot drink, mainly tea, on a hot day," he said.

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