Posted on 04/12/2025 8:46:56 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Iron ore is a raw material.
Is steel really a raw material?
A car or filing cabinet is a finished product.
Back to coffee.
Coffee beans are a raw material.
Is roasted ground coffee a raw material?
A cuppa Joe is a finished product.
Bkmk
In my opinion... the MOST POWERFUL caffeinated coffee EVER and the MOST EXPENSIVE.
Try it and you'll see DIRECTLY. ONE POUND $69.00
Cafe Blue – 100% Authentic Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee from Clifton Mount Estate, Medium Roast Whole Bean Coffee, Premium Arabica Coffee Beans, Coffee Bag of 16 Ounces (1 Pound, 454 Grams) Whole Bean16 Ounce (Pack of 1) Options: 3 sizes 3 sizes 4.2 out of 5 stars 594 100+ bought in past month Price, product page $69.57 ( $4.35/Ounce) $62.61 with Subscribe & Save discount
“Jamaican Blue Mountain is also outstanding.“
You excel at understatement. JBM blows away all other coffees in my book. Not just better but completely blows away. Period. I saw the price, said “yeah right” and bought it disbelieving it could possibly be worth it.
Give me some what you believe are reasonable parameters.
Oh I have tried it several times
Brought 4 pounds back last time we went to Negril.
Wonderful stuff.
L
Spike is a loaded word. My answer was tongue & cheek.
No one has a crystal ball but in my estimation in 1 year we will be in a much better place in terms of inflation; manufacturing in USA; taxes; and wages. Things don’t change in isolation. If wages go up prices go up. Bessan has said there may be a 1-2% rise in prices from tariffs based on prior experience. That is not a spike IMO. Individual products have increases in price all the time depending on logistics, crop failures, strikes etc. That is why IMO there is not rational way to setup the hypothesis you want to disprove.
Sad fact now is the Chinese machine tooling is very good now.
When I was in Guangdong all the factories were run by white Europeans or Americans. The Chinese also sent untold thousands to work (and spy) in American factories. It’s going to be a while to build up domestic factories. It’s going to be painful for a lot of us.
I’ve done a crazy thing personally. I’ve cut back my coffee consumption. Still get the caffeine and health benefits, just don’t drink as much. It’s crazy but we could all do it.
I am constantly amazed at all the zombies that line up at the coffee huts every day. If they can still do that, things aren’t that bad.
I would have been a bit more likely to want to commIt, but I just read tech is now exempt, aluminum for beer cans and I’m sure there are others. And will be others. Tech for example is huge and a place where we need to onshore.
It’s a very interesting time.
I have hope for a brighter future.
Logical solutions are being explored and advanced but there are no guarantees. I am impressed with many of Trup’s cainet picks and he obviously spent 4 years planning the strategy to overcome the deep state and inertia. Trump plays to win, for America.
Viêt Nam has offered to end all of its own tariffs and should be in or shortly will be in a no tariff either way with Uncle Sam. Việt Nam is a major exporter of coffee. It is the best in the world. It compares with Hawaiian Kona coffee which used to sell for $100 and up per pound and for a time was down as low as $5 a pound. Instant coffee became actually drinkable when the companies that make it began to use the VN coffee because it was the cheapest coffee there was. Waffle House coffee for some years after Vietnamese coffee came onto the market. It got so the pot could stay hot for an hour and the coffee was still good. Try that with Pure Columbian Coffee. Even Folgers became drinkable for a while. Viêt Nam is now, I believe the third largest exporter. Growing conditions is what makes it one of the best. Kona has similar conditions and Ethiopian too. Store brands have generally improved since the advent of Vietnamese. They all use mixes with high percentage of VN beabs.I don’t mind making a plug for Nguyen Coffee and Trung Nguyen coffee and there are other brands available. Cafe Du Monde is an American brand made from Vietnamese beans and is the coffee of most Vietnamese restaurants in the US. It’s good coffee. And Starbucks doesn’t use VNese coffee. That is a recommendation, I think.
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How many miles per gallon does it get?...
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