I've roasted coffee for 25 years. The industry was in denial about Trump's tariffs until they disrupted our imports.

Business Insider via msn ^ | Apr 12, 2025 | Jordan Hart

[where's_the_Outrage?]

TJ Semanchin is the co-owner of Wonderstate Coffee, a Wisconsin-based coffee roaster.

Donald Trump's 10% blanket tariffs mean Semanchin's company will have to make some hard decisions.

Wonderstate typically imports 40,000 pounds of coffee in one transaction.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 51-year-old TJ Semanchin, the co-owner of Wonderstate Coffee. Business Insider has confirmed Semanchin's identity and role at the company. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been in the coffee business for the last 25 years. Before that, I was living in Latin America studying issues around sustainable development in coffee lands.

After moving to a small rural town in Wisconsin in 2005, my wife and I started what was Kickapoo Coffee at the time — we've since rebranded — with our business partner, Caleb Nichols. We're a small company. We employ 85 people here in Wisconsin.

Today, Donald Trump's tariffs are 10% across the board, and we're in a business climate where there's so much uncertainty. You can't produce coffee in the United States. There's no replacement.

[logi_cal869]

Even with tariffs my daily [home] espresso will never approach the $$ of the crap industry which so many ignoramuses support blindly to the detriment of their health.

Try again, blowhards, but I concede that simpletons will rave about this ‘inflation’.

[logi_cal869]

“rage” not rave

[x]

Go coffee roasters!

9 out of 10 coffee grinders agree!

[TexasGator]

“EVEN IF it costs 10% more at the wholesale level, a one-time 10% or so adjustment as our nation’s trade gets an important overhaul is something many buyers will support.”

10% at wholesale results in much less than 10% at retail.

[nopardons]

BTt

[Wayne07]

Hawaii (5m) + Puerto Rico (3m) production of coffee is ~8 million pounds. US consumes about 3.5 billion pounds. So US production is boutique, and there isn’t the land available to expand it.

It makes sense to have policies to protect jobs and industries. It makes sense to have a moderate across the board tariff rate to replace the income tax.

What’s dumb is throwing high tariffs on imports that can’t be replaced domestically.

[Dr. Sivana]

Jamaican Blue Mountain is also outstanding.

Jamaica Blue is a whole level above Kona. Kona is good, but yes, pricey. I do recommend it to people who want good coffee but have doubts on conditions in foreign countries.

There is a whole world of great beans . . . Colombian, Papua New Guinea, Kenyan, Sumatra, Tanzanian Peaberry . . . tariffs would likely make Kona more competitive, encouraging more coffee production, and lowering the price. Counter-intuitive, and still higher than what you would pay for a good Colombian even with a tariff, but less than $40/pound. For now, they just grow enough for the wealthy and coffee snobs who probably rotate among several varieties depending on mood, season, and paitings.

[Ditto]

Coffee is a staple in the American economy,

As long as Starbucks and its overpriced burnt swill they call coffee are still in business, coffee is not too expensive. ;~(.

[Dr. Sivana]

Unfortunately even raw materials can get “dumped” on America at prices below what America can make it. Steel being the prime example.

Steel is not a raw material. Iron is a raw material.

[AppyPappy]

There are roasters everywhere here. I buy local dark roasted recently. I don’t care how much it costs. I didn’t work all my life to drink cheap coffee.

[AppyPappy]

Starbucks sells more milk than coffee.

[Lod881019]

These articles are your atypical sob story we have a 36 trillion dollar deficit would he rather have Trump install a 10 percent tariff or jack up business taxes 25 percent? Of course he’s from a small Wisconsin town making designer coffee the guy practically says I voted for Harris.

[Vaduz]

Wonderstate typically imports 40,000 pounds of coffee in one transaction.

Can’t be to fresh the aroma of fish lingers.

Tired of people trying to blame Trump and not the true cause getting shafted in trade deals.

He on the right track deal with it.

[Ditto]

Starbucks sells more milk than coffee.

LOL. Starbucks is one of those places that gives me the creeps. Bunch of people going in there ordering stuff that I don’t know what the hell it is, paying outrages prices, and pretending that pig slop tastes good. Yuk. Give me Maxwell House. ;~).

[Trinity5]

Read this and tell me what you think:

https://wonderstate.com/pages/we-owe-you-more?srsltid=AfmBOoqVN8YMWiT2C0UKZOPj7_6secmYOlEscQnU3i2hDUvJ7wQ1bqbi

[econjack]

What he's really saying is that he needs to raise his price and he doesn't want to do that. If he imports 40,000 lbs of beans in one order, and the price is $4/lb, he pays $160,000 for beans. Because the demand for beans is elastic, a 10% tariff will increase the price by less than 10%. However, for the sake of argument, let's say he bears the full brunt of the tariff. So now, he pays $176,000 for the beans. They sell roughly 10.5oz for $18. With a bean cost of $2.89 (10.5oz/16oz = .65625 of a pound x $4.40 = $2.89) per bag, that still leaves $15.11 to cover the cost of producing a bag of coffee. I find it hard to believe he can't roast, package, advertise, and sell one bag for under $15/bag. I'm not buying into this boo-hoo story.

[Texas Eagle]

They're growing their coffee in Wisconsin??? What is the growing season there? Like 2 weeks?

Omygosh. What have I done. Now I'm going to have 20 people FReepsplain to me how Wisconsin enjoys 500 days of sunshine a year and how coffee beans are impervious to frozen tundra. And who knows what other gems I'm about to learn.

[When do we get liberated?]

I have been a coffee drinker all my life. Got sick of paying 3 to 9 bucks for a cup. I got amino acids from GNC, put them in a thermos and drink that during the day. Way more energy and its actually cheaper. Does wonders for my physique and workouts which I could never say for coffee.

[AppyPappy]

It’s mostly hot coffee ice cream

[Texas Eagle]

Grow your own damn coffee beans then. It’s not Trump’s fault you picked a poor business model.