TOMBALL, Texas - What's your morning routine? Chances are, it involves having a cup of coffee…or 2, or 3!
There's a Harris County company that knows a thing or 2 about what goes into creating that coffee, and it’s bringing new meaning to “farm-to-table.”
“All of our lives, we’ve been in the coffee business,” says Sheri Dunaway.
Her company packages and sell the coffee to retailers throughout the Greater Houston Area. One of their specialties is green coffee.
“The aroma kind of comes out in about 7 minutes. You’ll start smelling it cook, and that’s when the beans start and turn from green to yellow,” Roast Master Dusty Davis, explains.
Their green coffee is manly imported from the Dunaways’ own family farm in Honduras, the Copan region of the country. They import from other farms and regions, as well.
“The whole family is involved, my sister and brother,” Dabiel Dunaway tells us. He’s the sales operation manager for the business. “My father is still in Honduras. He runs the facility there,” Dunaway adds.
The coffee beans are shipped directly from Central and South America to the Port of Houston. About 40,000 pounds of coffee arrive at the Tomball warehouse, twice a week.
Sheri Dunaway says a lot of hard work goes into making just 1 cup of coffee. A bush takes 3 years to mature, then “one cherry, you hand-picked it, you have to wash it; then you have to put it out to dry; then you have to take it the exporters; then they have to mill it,” Dunaway says.
All of that hard work is done before the coffee is even its bagged, grinded and brewed.
The Dunaway family moved from Honduras to the United States years ago so that the three children could get a better education. They settled in Magnolia, and soon afterward, started the business in nearby Tomball.
They opened it before the so-called, “coffee craze” took over.
“The industry keeps growing and growing,” states Daniel Dunaway. The family says it never imagined the kind of success, it’s experiencing.
“Never in our wildest dreams,” Sheri Dunaway says, laughing
Due to high demand, the Dunaways say they've nearly outgrown their Tomball location. They’re likely discussing their next move, over what else - a nice hot cup of coffee.