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Beans Crawling With Bugs
I'm fairly new to home roasting, and was very excited to find unroasted beans on Amazon. I usually procure my beans through Sweet Maria's, but I like the speed and convenience of the Amazon purchasing process. I ordered a 5lb bag of unroasted Sumatra Mandheling beans and they arrived the following day.
It was late in the evening before I got around to opening the bag. As soon as I cut the top off of the vacuum sealed bag, I noticed that the beans didn't look quite right. They looked sort of "mealy", as though something had been eating them, and they smelled off. As my eyes focused a bit better, I quickly saw the cause of the problem. Bugs. Little reddish-brown beetle-like bugs, crawling all over the beans. UGH! I took a few pictures to document the problem, closed the bag, wrapped it in a couple plastic grocery bags, and stuck it in the freezer.
The following morning I called Coffee Bean Direct to report the insect infestation. Though the person I spoke to was professional and polite, she was completely disinterested in assisting me. She kept repeating, "You bought the beans from Amazon, you'll have to deal with them to get a replacement or refund." I told her that I wasn't worried about replacement/refund...Amazon is fantastic when it comes to making things right. I just wanted the company who actually imported & packed the product to be aware that they had a serious insect problem. Again she was completely disinterested. Afterward I did call Amazon, and they sent out a replacement immediately. The replacement bag didn't contain any live bugs, but the beans were again so bug-eaten that they are totally unfit for human consumption. Again, Amazon made things right and issued a full refund, then pulled the product from the site so that no one else has to get a bag full of bugs.
I have contacted the USDA, the FDA, and the local health department for Stockton, NJ, where Coffee Bean Direct is located. The gentleman at the health department was a bit thrown off by the name of the business, as his department has neither issued a certificate for, nor inspected, a business by that name. Similarly, the FDA stated that they would be seizing imports for this company at it's point of import. They are very concerned that this company's products may be introducing non-native species of insects into the country.
CBD is a company to be avoided at all cost. The beans they offer for sale are inferior quality beans, and not subject to even a minimum of quality control. And they do not stand behind their product. Who could blame them, really?
March 2012 · Grocery and Gourmet Food · verified purchase