Article Excerpt:
TWST: Ian, we'd like to begin with a brief historical sketch of the company and a picture of the things you are doing at the present time.Mr. Lamphere: Last June, Port City Coffee Roasters became the first wholly owned subsidiary of Synesi, Inc., which is traded on the Pink Sheets. Port City Coffee is a coffee roaster and wholesaler of both green and special roasted premium coffees with about 15 years of operating history in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We are currently looking to expand into other sectors of the beverage market, but now we are mostly still focusing on premium coffees, espresso-based beverages, and teas, looking at the Starbucks model which has expanded people's exposure to premium coffee and specialty beverages in a way that continues to fuel demand for the beverages.
TWST: You feel that even with Starbucks out there and in such a
dominating position that there is still a place for you.
Mr. Lamphere: That's correct. The espresso-based beverage market alone
is $16 billion and growing at roughly about 16% a year. Basically that's
because the Starbucks model has increased people's exposure to the
beverages that otherwise they wouldn't know of. People drink coffee.
It's one of the greatest traded commodities; it's fourth or fifth in the
world. But basically, people didn't really know that much about
espresso-based beverages and premium coffees, and Starbucks fueled the
exposure and the demand.
Tickers included in this excerpt: SYNS.PK
TWST Newsletter
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.