Coffee Next

Coffee, as typical of U.S. life as gasoline, will soon be rationed. Leon Henderson promised as much last week; U.S. housewives have long guessed it from the state of their grocers' shelves. Even No. 1 U.S. coffee merchant A. & P. had to turn away customers from many stores, finally borrowed some Colombian coffee stored on Staten Island. The stuff got so scarce that huge General Foods slapped a temporary embargo on Maxwell House last month, had to refuse to make any deliveries until a few days ago. Like sugar and gasoline, the coffee shortage is really a transportation shortage. The U.S. normally uses 12-15,000,000 bags* of coffee a year--all of it imported. At least half comes from Brazil's vast plantations, another 25% from Colombia, the rest in piddling amounts from other South and Central American countries, Africa, the East Indies.

Partly because Nazi subs got four Brazilian freighters, which caused Brazil temporarily to withdraw all her shipping, U.S. coffee imports have been dwindling. In April only 1,000,000 bags were unloaded on U.S. docks, 40% less than three months before. Furthermore, U.S. stocks of coffee last December were about 4,000,000 bags, enough for three months; by May 1, according to Commodity Research Bureau figures, they were down to 3,140,000 bags. But more supplies are in prospect and U.S. coffee-fiends need not fear any immediate shortage. Meanwhile the Army is boosting U.S. coffee consumption to all-time records. A soldier drinks 45 lb. of coffee a. year, twice as much as the average citizen; to fill his mug at least five times a day the Quartermaster Corps has already bought over 600,000 bags, is in the market for at least that much more. Anticipating this off-balance supply & demand situation, coffee prices started rising a year ago, were about to run away when Henderson slapped on a price ceiling last December. Since then coffee prices have given Leon nightmares. A tough, politically smart, internationally minded lot, the coffee boys set up a clamor for a higher ceiling. OPA boosted it 1/4-c- to 13 3/8-c- per lb.

(Santos green). Then the boys put on more heat through the South America-conscious State Department, got OPA to okay a blanket coverage of higher freight, insurance and other wartime costs. Meanwhile, retail coffee prices have jumped 20-30% since OPA's first coffee ceiling. But this week U.S.

supplies, not prices, were the important thing. WPB has al ready ordered roasters to cut their sales to 75% of 1941.

Now the talk is of a cut to 50%. Some alarmists said the Govern-ment would take over the whole business--buying, selling and distributing. OPA big shots wondered how to ration coffee, tentatively planned to use the sugar cards, already distributed. But U.S. citizens were worried most of all--with gin, Coca-Cola, tea and coffee all scarce or near-scarce, the future had a milk & water look.

*A coffee bag holds 132 lb.

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