Coffee in Houston
The Greater Houston Coffee Association is a non-profit trade association whose mission is to promote growth of the coffee industry for the benefit of its members from Houston and throughout the country.
Why Houston? Because it is really the ideal location.
Carlos de Aldecoa Bueno, President, Maximus Coffee Group
The Greater Houston Coffee Association (GHCA) was formed in the fall of 2000 by a group representing a wide range of coffee-related interests and seeking to promote and advance the coffee business in the greater Houston region.
An initial goal of the association was for Houston to be designated as a Coffee Exchange Port by the New York Board Of Trade (NYBOT). One impediment to that goal was the existence of an inventory tax on green coffee, stored in Houston warehouses on Dec. 31 of each year, that was levied by county and school districts in the area. The GHCA worked to have that tax lifted by introducing legislation to alter the State Constitution after approval from Texas voters. Subsequently, Houston was designated as a green coffee port, one of four in the United States.
Today, the GHCA is working to promote the coffee industry by combining with the Port of Houston and the Houston Port Region Economic Alliance to stimulate the coffee trade and highlight Houston as a rising power in world coffee markets.