PORT CHESTER, NY (October 11, 2025) — Coffee Holding Co., Inc., is shifting all East Coast coffee production to its newly acquired Second Empire facility in Port Chester, N.Y., as it closes its Comfort Foods Inc. roastery in Andover. MA at month’s end to boost profitability and operational efficiencies.
The Staten Island, N.Y.-based company bought Comfort Foods, a medium-size regional roaster of branded and private label coffee for retail and foodservice, for $2.3 million in February 2017. The deal encompassed the North Andover plant and the Harmony Bay brand.
“The Comfort Foods acquisition was initially viewed by us as a long-term strategic need for our company,” said Andrew Gordon, president and chief executive officer of Coffee Holding Co.
The consolidation into the Port Chester site promises manufacturing and logistical cost savings, Gordon said. Coffee Holding sealed the $800,000 purchase of Empire Coffee Co. in November 2024, rebranding it as the wholly owned Second Empire subsidiary. That transaction covered inventory, equipment, accounts receivable, customer lists and all intellectual property.
By streamlining East Coast operations and relocating production of private brands including Harmony Bay, Café Supremo and Café Caribe to Second Empire, the move should yield about $700,000 in additional annualized net overhead savings, Gordon said.
Coffee Holding has reshaped its footprint before, shuttering its Brooklyn, N.Y., facility in 2009 and consolidating output at a larger Colorado plant.
“We knew we would eventually need to have production capabilities on the East Coast in the future in order to remain competitive for the business opportunities, which could not be serviced efficiently from a logistical and profitability standpoint from the West Coast,” Gordon said.
Sales of the Harmony Bay line have steadily eroded as major supermarket chains trimmed shelf space for regional brands to favor national players backed by hefty ad budgets, Gordon said. That shift eroded Comfort Foods’ profitability and dragged on Coffee Holding’s recent results.
“…But we still relied on the facility for the production of products for our new private label customers, as well as our increased sales levels of both Café Caribe and Café Supremo Espressos,” he said.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
