From their many friends in Central America, they, and others in their line, obtained small consignments that were bought by the roasters according to their immediate needs. Often as many as five or six buyers would share in a parcel of fifty bags, as they were not in the custom of filling up the larder for days of want. There always seemed to be sufficient for every one, and bull movements and corners had not then become the vogue.
Just as today, the mainstays of the early San Francisco trade were coffees produced in Costa Rica, Salvador, and Guatemala, although some were brought from the Colima district of Mexico. The broker had a comparatively easy job in selling his wares. Samples of the lots would be given to him in carefully sealed glass bottles, and usually the buyer would trust his discerning eye to judge correctly the quality of the goods, not even taking the trouble to uncork the bottle. Size, color, and imperfections would be his criterion.
The leading coffee importers at San Francisco in 1875 were B.E. Auger & Co., 409 Battery; S.A. Carit & Co., 405 Front Street; Hellmann Bros. & Co., 525 Front Street; Adolphe Low & Co., 208 California Street; S.C. Merrill & Co., 204 California Street; Parrott & Co., 306 California Street; and Urruella & Urioste, 405 Front Street.
The annual consumption of green coffee in San Francisco in the early eighties was estimated at 100,000 bags.
A marked change in the coffee business of San Francisco was brought about by the discovery that the differences in the taste of coffees could not be accurately detected from their color or from the size of bean. To Clarence E. Bickford belongs the credit of having discovered the cup qualities of high-grown Central American coffees. He was employed at the time by a broker named Hockhofler, and probably did not realize what far-reaching effect his discovery would have on the future of San Francisco's coffee trade; but no other factor has contributed so much to its growth. When the roasters began to examine coffees for their taste, values were of course revolutionized. Antiguas, and other high-grown coffees, that had theretofore been penalized for the small size of bean, soon brought a premium, and have ever since been in great demand. It goes without saying that the new classification was of material assistance to the roasters in bettering their output, as blending was then put on a scientific basis.
About the middle of the nineties San Francisco began to function as a distributing center, and shipments were made from there to St. Louis and Cincinnati. The selection of coffees on their cup merit was undoubtedly a factor of considerable importance in creating new outlets; although it is generally conceded that the winning personality of C.E. Bickford helped considerably. Mr. Bickford, by this time, had succeeded his former employer. He served the trade by living up to the best standards of business practise until his death in 1908; when the institution he founded was continued by E.H. O'Brien under the name of C.E. Bickford & Co.
California Street, the Coffee-Trading Center of San Francisco
San Francisco imported 175,293 bags of coffee in 1900. Imports had grown to 256,183 bags by 1906; and the following were the leading importers, as taken from a compilation by C.E. Bickford & Co.: