The History of The Green Coffee Association
page 1 -
page 2 -
page 3 -
page 4 -
page 5
In addition, the Association brought together disparate and often fierce competitors in social activities, such as the annual GCA Outing, where baseball and beer were the featured activities.
The decade of the 1930's was one of low prices, larger crops, and the emergence of new countries such as Kenya, Uganda and Angola as important producers. (Coffee was FIVE cents a cup until
after the end of World War II). New York was by far the largest port for the entry of coffee, and supplied not only the East Coast, but a major part of the Mid-West Trade.
The outbreak of the war in Europe in 1939 brought about closer contacts with the steamship lines. The Association had set up an "Associate Members" category, in which Customs Brokers, Samplers, transportation companies and others related to the coffee trade could join.
|
 |
| The Solders and Sailors Welfare Society of the Green Coffee Trade at the Liberty Loan Parade
October 25, 1917
|
After the US entered the combat in 1941, members of the GCA were called to serve in Washington with the Office of Price Administration (OPA), and many members joined the Armed Forces. Allocation of cargo space for coffee had to be distributed among the importers, and required close communication between the individual firms, the Association and the Government. O'Connor of Jewel Tea and Fred Silence of Ruffner, McDowell & Burch headed the GCA during the difficult years of 1940 through 1945.
After the end of the war in 1945, the price of coffee, as well as other food items, continued to be regulated by the OPA for the next few years. The average retail price for a pound of coffee in a bag in 1946 was 34.4 cents under price regulation, advancing to 46.9 cents in 1948. The GCA worked closely with the other coffee associations to have price controls on coffee lifted. W.H. Lee of Lee, Simmonds, Walker of Bryne, Delay and Arthur Ransohoff of Ransohoff effectively argued the point that the price producers asked were not controlled, whereas the price charged to the USA consumer was. This put the USA Importer at a disadvantage in an open world market, with the full freedom of the shipping lanes.
|
|