Page 17 - Hafen Hamburg Magazin

PORT OF TASTE ■
beans come from Brazil, while Vietnam supplies Robus- ta. Vessels from the Hamburg-based group call in Brazil twice a week, and in Vietnam weekly. While Europe- ans have so far been the heaviest consumers of cof- fee, Hapag-Lloyd is increasingly bringing the green coffee to China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea, where de- mand is rising significantly.
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
For Hapag-Lloyd’s staff, coffee is a pre-
mium product. They possess a high de-
gree of expertise, being as familiar with coffee-growing countries and methods,
also individual customers and their specif-
ic transport requirements, as with their
own backyards. A specially introduced
Customer Service Import Coffee Desk,
attends to all transport questions. “Along
the whole length of the transport chain, we pay
special attention to coffee, which should never be miss- ing on any ships sailing from the exporting countries. We make sure of this through our experts’ close contact with clients, traders and shippers all over the world,” says Daniel Levenhagen, a sales executive in HL’s Ger- many & Central Europe Area.
The company keeps reliable equipment and ship ca- pacity in reserve to bring harvests rapidly and professionally to their destination. These can
vary, depending on the weather. All the con- tainers used have steel floors. Being easily cleaned, these guarantee clean and odour- less transport. Cardboard and jute mats are laid out in the coffee container to protect the precious produce from damage from damp. “Coffee is a natural product. Damp and strange smells must at all costs be avoided in the con- tainer,” stresses Frank Nachbar, Director Container Engineering
& Maintenance.
ONWARD TRANSPORT TO SCAN- DINAVIA AND EASTERN EUROPE
Once the coffee has arrived in the Port of Hamburg after its long sea voyage, it is either stored or transported directly to roasting plants to reach the retail food or catering trades. A large quantity leaves Hamburg for Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. So it seems that it is not only for Germans that coffee is their favourite drink. ■
HAPAG-LLOYD WEEKLY TRANSPORTS 1,500 CON- TAINERS OF COFFEE TO HAMBURG
Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2020 | 17
© Hapag Lloyd