Coffee and Tea Manufacturing Insurance
(Finding the right coverage has never been easier)
Written by
Ann Herro has been writing about insurance and employee benefits for over 15 years. She has covered topics as easy as insuring a car, and as difficult as transparency in healthcare costs.
Reviewed by
Paul Martin is the Director of Education and Development for Myron Steves, one of the largest, most respected insurance wholesalers in the southern U.S.
American consumers love their caffeinated beverages and treats, whether they prefer a $4 cappuccino from Starbucks or a basic cup of joe from the local gas station.
Coffee and tea manufacturers are the backbone of the booming coffee business, serving retailers and coffee sellers by:
- Roasting coffee
- Manufacturing coffee and tea concentrates
- Blending tea
- Manufacturing herbal tea
- Manufacturing coffee extracts, flavorings, and syrups
All of these are complex processes involving heavy equipment, manual labor, and the potential for problems. Like all food processors, coffee and tea manufacturers face both traditional and unique risks involving property damage, lawsuits, product spoilage, and product recalls.
Coffee and tea manufacturing insurance helps you recover financially when these problems occur, so you can focus on producing a quality product and keeping your doors open for the long term.
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Why Do I Need Coffee and Tea Manufacturing Insurance?
Business insurance acts as a financial backup when you face certain losses. Your coffee and tea manufacturing insurance policies should protect against the specific risks you face.
Problems can arise at any time in the coffee manufacturing process. Machines can break, contaminants can be inadvertently introduced into your product, and other outside forces can damage your facility or force a shutdown. These can all result in serious financial losses.
What’s more, you can also be subjected to costly liability claims and lawsuits, product recalls, accidents involving your vehicle fleet, equipment breakdowns, business interruptions, and more.
Could you recover if you experienced any of the following:
- Fire or smoke damage to your factory, plant, warehouse, or offices
- Theft or vandalism of manufacturing equipment, inventory, materials, computers, office space, delivery trucks, or any other business property
- Windstorms, tornadoes, hail, or other severe weather events that damage or destroy your property, vehicles, or ability to operate
- Breakdown of or damage to essential manufacturing equipment
- Power or utility outages that cause a production shutdown
- Auto accidents involving your trucks or vehicle fleet
- Product spoilage
- Product recalls
- Consumer illness or death caused your coffee or tea
What Does Coffee and Tea Manufacturing Insurance cover?
Coffee and tea manufacturing companies face many risks that are similar to other food processors, like employee injuries, car accidents, and property loss. You also face many unique exposures related to spoilage, food safety, and product recalls.
You need a variety of coffee and tea manufacturing insurance policies to appropriately cover your risks and ensure your company can stay afloat even after the worst happens. Talk to your independent insurance agent about protecting your business property with:
- Commercial property insurance: Protects your business property from events like fire, weather, theft, vandalism, and certain other covered perils. It is essential to protect your coffee and tea manufacturing facility, warehouse, office space, and all of their contents.
- Inland marine insurance: Protects business property as it is transported from place to place.
You depend on the flawless operation of essential equipment. If a machine breaks down or a storm, power outage, or other interruption plagues your production line, there is probably an insurance policy that can help.
- Business interruption coverage. Also called business income coverage, it pays for rent, salaries, lost income, relocation fees, and more if your business is temporarily unable to operate because of fire, wind, hail, equipment breakdown, or other covered property losses.
- Utility interruption coverage. This pays for costs related to a breakdown in utility services, like water or electrical power, that forces you to temporarily cease production.
- Equipment breakdown coverage. Helps you pay to repair or replace damaged machines or equipment after an accidental breakdown.
Product spoilage is also a concern for any food manufacturer. Coffee or tea that is spoiled or contaminated on-site cannot be sold and becomes a total loss.
- Spoilage coverage. Reimburses you for the costs of goods that spoil on-site.
Depending on where your facility is located, you may need additional flood, windstorm or earthquake coverage. Your agent can help you decide if this coverage is necessary, and can find the policies that best fit your unique needs.
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Get Comprehensive Liability Coverage, Too
If you or your products cause any type of illness, injury, or property damage, you can be sued and required to reimburse the injured party.
- Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance. Provides broad liability protection for injuries and property damage that occur on your premise or because of your carelessness.
If a non-employee or a member of the general public is injured in your plant, your CGL coverage will pay for related medical bills. It also pays for repairs or replacement if someone’s personal property is damaged on your premises.
If you are sued, your CGL policy helps to pay for legal fees associated with the lawsuit, as well as any settlements or judgments that you are required to pay.
You probably need a few other liability policies or endorsements to complete your coffee and tea manufacturing insurance program and fully cover your unique risks. These include:
- Product liability insurance, including completed products coverage. Helps you pay for losses or injuries to a user, buyer, or bystander caused by a defect or malfunction of your product.
- Environmental or pollution liability coverage. Protects your company from the costs associated with damage caused by improperly disposing of hazardous waste or causing environmental harm.
- Commercial auto insurance. Covers your vehicle fleet and drivers in the event of an accident or other vehicle damage.
- Excess liability, or commercial umbrella insurance. Liability protection for when the limits of your CGL or commercial auto insurance policy have been reached for any single covered claim.
Do Coffee and Tea Manufacturers Need Product Recall Insurance?
All food processors are at risk for product recalls. If you must recall a coffee or tea product from the market, the financial costs of removing the product from the market, disposing of the product, and containing the public relations and reputational fallout are often too devastating to recover from.
Product recall insurance helps companies pay for the immediate and long-term costs of a product recall. It helps you pay for:
- Product removal, storage, and disposal
- Product replacement
- Communications and public relations (communicating information about the recall to the public and to government agencies, and ongoing PR activity to minimize brand damage)
- Investigations into the source of the contamination
- Fines, legal fees, settlements, and court-ordered judgments
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Coffee and tea manufacturing workers can be plagued by a variety of moderate to severe injuries as a result of their work.
Consider the physical stress that is placed on an individual who spends long hours receiving raw materials at a loading dock, performing packaging operations, or operating large machinery or forklifts. Repetitive motion injuries are often the result.
What’s more, slippery floors or obstructions can lead to slips, trips, and falls.
When workers are injured at work, should they be forced to pay for their own medical bills? What if they need time to recover and cannot work? How would you pay if they sued you for damages?
Workers’ compensation is the answer for all of these questions. It pays for medical expenses and lost wages for employees who are injured on the job. It also ensures that you will not be sued for further damages.
Each state has workers’ compensation insurance laws. Most states require nearly every business that has employees to provide this coverage. Your state’s workers’ compensation statutes determine:
- The amount of benefits injured workers are entitled to
- Which impairments or injuries are covered
- How those impairments will be evaluated
- How medical care will be delivered
Talk with your independent insurance agent about workers’ compensation insurance. Your agent should be able to educate you about your state’s workers’ compensation requirements, and help you find adequate coverage.
How Much Does Coffee and Tea Manufacturing Insurance Cost?
The cost of coffee and tea manufacturing insurance depends on several factors, including the size of your business and the types of policies you need to cover your unique risks.
With so many variables (e.g., number of employees, types of manufacturing equipment, size and location of your building, and the volume and geographical distribution of your products), costs may vary significantly from one coffee manufacturer to another.
Find and Compare Quotes
An independent agent can work with you one-on-one to determine the types and amounts of coverage you need. Your agent can get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can evaluate the cost and coverage options and make the best choice.
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Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.
Benefits of an Independent Agent
Our agents simplify the search process for finding the right coffee and tea manufacturing insurance. They’ll walk you through some handpicked policy options and explain the details.
Most importantly, they’ll be there for you when claim time comes. They know the ins and outs of the process and will make sure your claim is handled appropriately.
The Lowdown on Online Quotes
Online quotes can be tempting. They are fast and easy to get—but are they accurate? And are you getting quotes for the right coverage? For business owners, choosing speed over accuracy can cost you.
Online quotes can’t and don’t see the whole picture. They can leave out important coverage that will leave you devastated if something unexpected happens. And they can leave out cost-saving opportunities that an agent can help you take advantage of.
Instead of getting an online quote, find an independent insurance agent now, and get one-on-one consultation and affordable options for the best coverage for your unique needs.