Against the grind with coffee importers DRWakefield

"In just one month, the price of a pound of coffee went from 275 cents to 420 cents." Like most in the coffee business, DRWakefield managing director Terry Sparling knows the volatility of this market.

He also gets the importance of navigating it in a solid partnership, like the one his company made with HSBC - then Midland Bank - just a day after opening its doors in 1970.

"That sort of price movement has never been witnessed before. And it's not just the fact that it went up so much, but it went up over such a short period," Terry said.

Climate, tariffs and logistics: all driving volatility

This is something Vivek Ramachandran, Head of Global Trade Solutions at HSBC says is our speciality: “The world of trade is changing so quickly. If you take the coffee industry, you've seen volatility in prices driven by the climate. You've seen it driven by tariffs, and you've seen it through logistical challenges.

Vivek continued: "That's one of the things that makes HSBC quite unique. We've been in these sectors for many years and have hundreds of specialists, and typically we understand the buyer, the seller, and all the way through the value chain.”

Mark Traversi is HSBC's relationship manager behind the DRWakefield partnership. For him, understanding the market has created the trust needed for success.

“HSBC is DRWakefield’s primary banking partner, so the relationship stretches from trade finance to the day-to-day running of the business.

“It’s important to have a certain level of trust. I've worked with Terry for a few years now and we’ve built up a strong business relationship.

“As a banking partner, you need to be able to understand where the business wants to go.”