A sharpening of consumers' tastes in coffee is creating a capital investment in Northwest Jacksonville.
Dupuy Silo Facility LLC is investing at least $2.1 million to install processing equipment to blend higher-quality, specialty raw coffee beans.
Dupuy (pronounced "du-pwee") has been blending raw, green coffee beans in Jacksonville since 2005 for its major customer, Maxwell House Coffee Co., and other roasters and companies who want Dupuy to blend the beans or store them.
The customers import the beans, which are brought to Dupuy at 1520 Edgewood Ave. N.
The beans are imported from Vietnam, China, Africa, South and Central America and other areas.
Dupuy blends the beans to the customers' specifications and the beans are delivered to the customers for roasting.
The specialty beans reflect consumer preferences, said Dupuy Vice President Caryn Sawyer and Strategic Business Development Senior Director Eduardo Montero.
Montero knows the science and chemistry of the beans and how location, weather conditions and other factors affect taste and cost.
He said Europe has been the best market for coffee, but U.S. consumers have sharpened their preferences.
"Customers are more strict about what they want," he said. "That's why we would like to be equipped for what customers like and need."
The processing equipment alone costs about $1.4 million, according to information about the "Dupuy Coffee Cleaning Line" filed with the project building permit application.
The City approved the permit in late October. The Ken Bratney Co. is the contractor.
Sawyer said the equipment should be up and running by mid-to late January.
She said the equipment will help Dupuy fine-tune its process, such as sorting beans by color.
The plant will continue to serve its existing clients while adding the ability to handle the specialty beans for those clients and new ones.
The plant has almost 40 full-time employees and hires temporary workers as needed, she said.
Sawyer said employees operate as "a great team" and she also wanted to say that City incentives issued in 2003 made the plant and workforce possible.
She said the plant expects to hire two or three more employees because of the additional business.
Dupuy is based in New Orleans and has operations there and in Jacksonville, Houston and Miami, Sawyer said. It was founded in 1936 in New Orleans by John Dupuy, the grandfather of current President Allan Colley.
Dupuy also has a sugar repackaging and storage facility in Jacksonville along 12th Street, about a mile from the silo facility.
The Edgewood operation consists of about 144,000 square feet on almost 27 acres.
Dupuy bought the Kraft Foods North America Inc. warehouse in late 2003 because of its contract to process raw coffee beans for shipment to Maxwell House plants in Downtown Jacksonville and Houston. Maxwell House roasts and packs the coffee.
Dupuy then added a bagging area, receiving and shipping, an equipment tower, more warehouse space and parking as well as the silo complex. The silo is used for storage and blending.
The property is valued at $4.1 million, according to Duval County property records.
Sawyer said Maxwell House remains the facility's primary customer. In addition, Dupuy has 15 to 20 other customers in the Southeast, most of which are importers and ask Dupuy to store the beans.
"It's a neat business," she said. "It's interesting to achieve what the customer wants."
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