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Coffee Supply on Track After Katrina

Procter & Gamble Co.'s Folgers coffee plant is running at full capacity, having recovered from Katrina's impact. The hurricane, in August, left the company running at reduced capacity and suffering supply disruptions. The company announced its intention to be operating at full capacity by early December. The Cincinnati-based company also predicted that its Folgers coffee deliveries to retailers will have returned to normal by early December. Folgers is the top-selling U.S. retail coffee brand by volume, and it has about a 40% share of the U.S. market for coffee sold at supermarkets and chains including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company closed all four of its coffee facilities in the New Orleans area on August 27, including a storage plant for green coffee. P&G gets US$1.6 billion, or about 3% of sales, from coffee. Source: Canadian Grocer E-Newsletter, November 17, 2005.