MINDEN -- The first smell at the new Starbucks plant is not the rich aroma of roasting coffee. Hundreds of bags of green coffee bean are stacked high on pallets filling Starbucks cavernous warehouse with a musty burlap-like smell.
Each 160-pound bag is shipped from a number of exotic locations all over the world, like Kenya, Ethiopia and Columbia. The beans must pass one of their first tests here, before they're roasted, packed and delivered to more than 20 million coffee-lovers worldwide.
"Samples are drawn, roasted and tasted throughout processing," said Doug Langworthy, the new plant's green-coffee specialist. "If we don't like the coffee, we notify Seattle and they tell the supplier to find another buyer."
Located on 100 acres in the Carson Valley just south of Johnson Lane, the brand new 360,000-square-foot plant will start distributing its coffee April 7. At this point, it's far from filled.
Starbucks is planning a five-year build-out and when completed, the Minden plant is expected to employ from 180 to 200 workers and process between 60 million and 100 million pounds of coffee per year -- a level comparable to Starbucks main plant in Kent, Wash., near Seattle.
The plant currently employs 75 people and that number is expected to increase to 100 by midsummer.
In addition to roasting and distributing coffee, the Minden plant will distribute Starbucks merchandise like paper goods, sweets and chocolates. Now, the 200,000-square-foot building distribution area takes on the air of a Star Wars set, its towering shelves standing empty.
"This plant will distribute coffee, supplies and merchandise all over the Southwest, including Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California," plant manager Tom Pasinger said.
Just past the warehouse, the plant's drum roasters rotate like large clothes dryers, tumbling 640 pounds of beans per batch, at temperatures ranging from 350 to 450 degrees, for 10 to 15 minutes.
"Each coffee is different and requires a specific roast," Langworthy said. "Coffees from Kenya, for example, tend to have citrus and floral flavors and if we don't roast the coffee correctly, we lose those flavors."
The beans are released into cooling trays, then blown into a silo system and into the packing room where the coffee is sealed airtight.
"The green coffee quality, roasting and packaging are equally important," Langworthy said. "Coffee is good for only one to two weeks, and how it is packaged is critical."
Carson City and Douglas County residents don't have to go far to fill their mugs. In addition to the Carson City Albertson's on North Carson Street, Starbucks coffee shops are located at 3228 N. Carson St. in the Northtown Plaza and at the intersection of Highway 395 and Waterloo Lane in Gardnerville.
The coffee is also available in local grocery stores.
Starbucks, which opens an average of three new stores per day, is the world's leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee. In addition to its retail locations in the United States, including eight in Northern Nevada, the company is expanding in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the Middle East and Pacific Rim nations.
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