Neumann Kaffee Gruppe

Neumann Gruppe GmbH is the parent company of a coffee wholesaler based in Hamburg. The company group is owned by the family foundation of David M. Neumann. With more than 60 companies in 27 countries, the group is active in the areas of export and milling, farm management, agencies and branches, as well as import and other services along the coffee supply chain.
==Company history==
According to company information, Hanns R. Neumann began trading in coffee as a broker and agent in Hamburg in 1934. In 1988, Neumann acquired Bernhard Rothfos AG (founded in 1922), another Hamburg-based competitor. The son of the founder, Michael R. Neumann, later took over the company in 1989. The Neumann Kaffee Gruppe was then founded from the two companies and their subsidiaries in the same year. At this point, Hanns R. Neumann GmbH was replaced by the current holding company of the company, Neumann Gruppe GmbH. Bernhard Rothfos AG was renamed Bernhard Rothfos GmbH and incorporated into the group as a trading company. The former subsidiaries of the two companies now form part of the more than 50 companies in the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. In 2004, David M. Neumann succeeded his father Michael R. Neumann as spokesman for the management (today: CEO of NKG), while his father became chairman of the supervisory board. NKG Kala, which owned the world's first green coffee silo inaugurated in 1975 in what was then Hamburg's free port (capital expenditure: DM 600,000), moved to Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg in 2006. In addition, the group expanded its subsidiaries in France, India and the USA in 2008. In the same year, every seventh coffee bean worldwide was traded by Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. In 2016, large-scale mills were commissioned in Brazil and Colombia, followed by significant investments in key growing countries in 2017. In the following years, NKG also developed NKG Bloom (2019), which aims to improve farmers' livelihoods, and NKG Verified (2021), which aims to ensure more accurate traceability of supply chains. Another project, first implemented in the US in 2022, is the NKG Partnership to Advance Coffee Equity (NKG PACE). The programme aims to establish more diversity in the coffee industry in the USA and, in cooperation with the CCRE, to give members of the "black community" a chance to become quality experts in green coffee.
In 2005, Michael Neumann and his family established the independent and non-profit Hanns R. Neumann Foundation (HRNS), for which he is still active today. The HRNS works independently of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe and is committed to "more sustainability in the coffee industry". 
==Business segments==
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe is represented by more than 60 companies in 27 countries worldwide and provides several services in the green coffee value chain. These include export, import, farm management as well as insurance, logistics, storage and statistics. NKG is exclusively focused on coffee: producing, trading, and supplying diverse markets from specialty coffee to instant coffee in the B2B business. In 2020, NKG generated a sales volume of 14 million bags (a 60 kg), which corresponded to approximately 8.5% of global consumption.
==Companies==
Name 	Service 	Location 	Website
Atlas Coffee Importers Inc. 	Speciality trade	Seattle, USA 	www.atlascoffee.com
InterAmerican Coffee 	Speciality trade	Zug, Switzerland
San Diego, Houston, Hoboken, USA	www.interamericancoffee.ch
www.interamericancoffee.com
InterAmerican Coffee Pty Ltd. 	Speciality trade	Sydney, Australia
London, Great Britain
Hamburg, Germany
San Diego, USA Houston, USA	www.interamericancoffee.com.au
www.interamericancoffee.co.uk
www.interamericancoffee.de
www.interamericancoffee.com
Beneficio De Cafe Montecristo S.A. (BECAMO) 	Export 	Dos Caminos Villanueva, Honduras 	www.becamo.hn
CECA S.A. 	Export 	Barrio Dent, Costa Rica 	www.ceca.co.cr
Compañia Internacional del Café S.A.C. (COINCA) 	Export 	Lima, Peru 	www.coinca.com.pe
Exportadora De Cafe California 	Export 	Veracruz, Mexico 	www.eccmexico.com
Ibero Ltd. 	Export 	Nairobi, Kenya
Kampala, Uganda 	-
www.ibero.co.ug
Neumann Gruppe GmbH Representative Office Vietnam	Export 	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 	vietnam.nkg.net
New Guinea Highlands Coffee Exports Ltd. 	Export 	Goroka, Papua-Neuguinea 	www.nghce.com.pg
NKG Coffee Mills Kenya 	Export 	Nairobi, Kenya 	www.ethiopia.nkg.net
NKG India Coffee Pvt. Ltd. 	Export 	Bengaluru, India 	-
NKG Representative Office - Ethiopia 	Export 	Addis Ababa, Ethopia 	www.ethiopia.nkg.net
NKG Stockler Ltda. 	Export 	Santos, Brasil 	www.stocklerltda.com.br
Pt. Berindo Jaya 	Export 	Panjang Bandar Lampung, Indonesia	-
SKN Caribecafe Ltda. 	Export 	Bogotá, Columbia 	-
Bernhard Rothfos GmbH 	Import 	Hamburg, Germany 	www.rothfos.de
Bernhard Rothfos Intercafé AG 	Import 	Zug, Switzerland 	www.bric.ch
Bero Coffee Singapore Pte Ltd. 	Import 	Singapur 	www.berocoffee.com.sg
Bero Polska sp. z.o.o 	Import 	Gdynia, Poland 	www.bero.pl
Coprocafe Iberica S.A. 	Import 	Madrid, Spain 	www.coprocafe.com
Maison P. Jobin & Cie S.A.S 	Import 	Le Havre, France 	www.maison-jobin.com
NKG Bero Italia S.p.A. 	Import 	Genova, Italy 	www.nkgbero.it
Rothfos Corporation 	Import 	Hoboken, USA 	www.greencoffeetrading.com
Finca Puebla S.A. de C.V. 	Farm management 	Xicotepec de Juárez, Mexico 	www.fincapuebla.com
Kaweri Coffee Plantation Ltd. 	Farm management 	Mubende, Uganda 	www.kaweri.com
NKG Fazendas Brasileiras Ltda. 	Farm management 	Santo Antônio do Amparo, Brasilia	www.fazendadalagoa.com
NKG Tropical Farm Management GmbH 	Farm management 	Zug, Schweiz; Nairobi, Kenya 	www.nkgtropical.com www.tropicalke.co.ke
NKG Quality Service 	Quality 	Zug, Switzerland 	www.nkgquality.com
NG Insurance-Service GmbH 	Service 	Hamburg, Germany 	-
ICL International Commodity Logistik GmbH 	Service 	Hamburg, Germany 	Icl.nkg.de
Neumann Gruppe GmbH 	Holding 	Hamburg, Germany 	www.nkg.net
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe Statistical Unit Ltd. 	Service 	London, Great Britain 	www.nkgstat.com
NKG Kala Hamburg GmbH 	Service 	Hamburg, Germany 	www.nkg-kala.com
Instant Products International GmbH 	Import 	Hamburg, Germany 	-
NKG Korea 	Export 	Seoul, Korea 	www.nkgkorea.com
==NKG Responsible Business Program==
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe's Responsible Business Program sets out the following four core objectives that define responsible business at NKG:
# To promote responsible behaviour within NKG. This is to be achieved by fostering a learning culture, increasing diversity among employees, and improving health and safety in the workplace.
# To strengthen Neumann Kaffee Gruppe's influence along the supply chain. This will be achieved through the use of technology and collaboration with business partners.
# Improving the living conditions of coffee farmers. This is to be achieved through cooperation within the coffee industry by empowering coffee farmers and bridging the financing gap.
# Protecting the environment. This will be achieved by identifying the ecological footprint and reducing CO2 emissions, as well as promoting environmentally friendly and resilient coffee farming methods.
 
===NKG Bloom===
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe's NKG Bloom initiative aims to enable smallholder farmers to realise their potential as well as empower them to improve their livelihoods. Low profitability, climate change challenges and urban migration make coffee farming an unattractive business option for coffee farmers of current and future generations. Smallholders farming less than 30 hectares are therefore provided with the services and resources they need to operate their farms to their full potential and find a way out of poverty. The goal of the NKG Bloom initiative is to provide a long-term and profitable supply of green coffee.
NKG Bloom's goal is to reach 300,000 coffee farming families in 10 countries by 2030. By 2022, NKG Bloom is already present in Uganda, Honduras, Kenya, and Mexico. 
===NKG Verified===
NKG Verified is a programme that provides NKG customers with a transparent insight into the economic, social and environmental indicators along the supply chain. With each delivery of NKG Verified certified coffee, the customer receives an easy-to-read sustainability report that lists the individual indicators and their rating, as well as the overall rating of the coffee. The programme complies with industry sustainability standards and is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, NKG Verified is subject to both internal and external audits from farm level to exporter level, which enables assurance of compliance with key sustainability criteria. 
The programme involves coffee farms of all sizes and all actors along the value chain who meet the requirements that NKG Verified demands. For example, participants must avoid forced labour, deforestation, and the worst forms of child labour. 
Suppliers of NKG Verified coffees are the following NKG exporters:
* NKG Stockler – seven existing supply chains (new supply chains in Q4 2022).
* Exportadora de Café California
* NKG India
* NKG Vietnam
* Berindo
* SKN Caribecafé
==Plantations==
* Finca La Puebla bei Xicotepec de Juárez (Puebla, Mexiko),has belonged to the NKG since 1991. It covers about 2,512 hectares, of which 1,626 hectares are cultivated land. The farm produces about 10,000 bags per year and is both Rainforest Alliance and 4c certified.
* Kaweri-Plantage im Distrikt Mubende (Uganda), has belonged to the NKG since 2001. It covers about 2,521 hectares of cultivated land, of which about 1,626 hectares are under cultivation. The plantation produces about 35,000 bags a year.
* Fazenda Da Lagoa in Santo Antônio do Amparo (Minas Gerais, Brasilien), has belonged to the NKG since 2003. It covers about 3,713 hectares, of which 1,857 hectares are cultivated land. The fazenda produces about 60,000 bags a year and is both Rainforest Alliance and 4c certified.
==Criticism==
The Neumann Coffee Group has been criticised for several years for the establishment of the Kaweri plantation in Mubende. According to the NKG, the land was sold by a private owner to the state of Uganda. In August 2001, according to media reports, residents who refused to accept compensation payments were evicted from their homes by the Ugandan military in a serious violation of human rights. Shortly afterwards, work on the plantation had begun. According to the human rights activists of FIAN, a total of 2000 people had been evicted. According to the NKG, this involved 25 small farmers who had refused to leave the land they had claimed. According to the NKG, these people had been evicted by the military.
In an official complaint in 2009, FIAN, together with a group from Mubene, accused the NKG of violating the voluntary OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. OECD member governments are required to promote the application of the Guidelines through national "contact points" and seek solutions in confidence. In 2011, after discussions with all parties, the National Contact Point determined that there was no evidence that NKG had not "acquired the land in good faith". The parties were encouraged to reach an out-of-court settlement.Nationale Kontaktstelle (2011) Abschließende Erklärung der deutschen Nationalen Kontaktstelle für die OECD-Leitsätze für multinationale Unternehmen zu einer Beschwerde von Wake up and Fight for Your Rights Madudu Group und FIAN gegen die Neumann Gruppe GmbH. MR J. Steffens, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, 30. März 2011 
A 2002 lawsuit did not result in a final judgment until 2018. Since the beginning of 2018, the Kaweri plantation is no longer UTZ-certified. UTZ did not provide a justification for this.
On 16 December 2019, at the hearing in Kampala, the prosecution offered financial compensation for destroyed property totalling 3.8 billion Ugandan shillings (about €950,000). In addition, it wants to reimburse 150 million shillings in procedural costs, equivalent to about €37,000. The condition for this compensation is that the case is thus comprehensively and finally settled. Neumann Kaffee Gruppe has not yet submitted an offer of compensation. 325 of the 401 plaintiffs declared in writing that they would accept the prosecution's offer of compensation. For the 76 plaintiffs whose position was not before the court, the High Court in Mubende is to explain the compensation offer to enable a decision to be made after this information has been provided.
Category:Coffee companies
Category:Companies based in Hamburg
Category:Companies established in 1922