Caffeine fix? Coffee wholesaler sues brokerage over missing $84,500 load

A publicly traded coffee wholesaler has filed a breach-of-contract and negligence lawsuit against a Texas-based logistics company nearly a year after a load of coffee, valued at almost $84,500, went missing.

Coffee Holding Co. (NASDAQ: JVA) of Staten Island, New York, a wholesale green coffee roaster and trading company, filed suit on Jan. 10 against Ryaan Logistics Group of Prosper, Texas, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The suit claims that Ryaan Logistics brokered the load to Florida-based AFC Trucking. However, an investigation later determined that AFC Trucking’s identity and DOT number had been stolen and its information had been changed online, according to court documents.

FreightWaves has reached out to Coffee Holding’s attorney, Allyn J. Crawford of Crawford & Desantis LLP of Staten Island, for comment.

The complaint states that a different carrier, Maya Transportation, arrived on Feb. 16, 2024, at Coffee Holding’s La Junta, Colorado, facility to pick up the shipment. The lawsuit alleges the driver purporting to be with AFC Trucking used his phone to show Coffee Holding’s logistics staff the load number provided by Ryaan Logistics.

The coffee was scheduled to be delivered three days later on Feb. 19 to United Natural Foods in Centralia, Washington.

Court documents claim that a Ryaan Logistics employee emailed Coffee Holding’s logistics department on Feb. 20, a day after the load was to be delivered, stating that “the driver had missed his delivery appointment” and Ryaan had lost communication with the driver for the load.

According to a business entity search on the Texas secretary of state’s database, Ryaan Logistics is owned by Rahul Minhas. The company’s common carrier authority was granted in March 2016, but its operating authority was involuntarily revoked in July 2022. Its broker authority was granted in August 2020 and remains active.

FreightWaves reached out to Minhas of Ryaan Logistics for comment about the lawsuit.

According to the suit, Ryaan Logistics contacted its insurance company about the missing load but didn’t immediately contact law enforcement. Ryaan Logistics claims that it later found out the name of the driver who purported to be with AFC Trucking. After sharing the name with Coffee Holding, the company requested that the La Junta Police Department run a background check on the driver, who allegedly had an extensive criminal record.

According to court documents, Ryaan was able to track the load to two warehouses in California, but it was never found, despite Coffee Holding having filed an incident report on Feb. 22 with the La Junta police.

In the suit, Coffee Holding claims that Ryaan Logistics breached its contract by failing to deliver the load. The company alleges it was never compensated by Ryaan Logistics for the missing shipment worth more than $84,000. Coffee Holding also claims the brokerage was negligent in vetting the carrier and “had a duty to ensure the driver who picked up the coffee load was in fact the trucking company it booked to transport the load,” according to court filings.

The suit has been referred to U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo. An initial conference regarding the suit is scheduled for March 14.

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