U.S. Federal Court Fines Company $31 Million Over Coffee Shipment Failure
A federal court in the United States has ordered H&H Coffee Investments to pay over $31 million in damages to Neumann Gruppe USA, after hundreds of containers of green coffee from Nicaragua were never delivered as agreed.
The ruling was issued by Judge Jacqueline Becerra in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, following an extensive bench trial held in January. During the trial, the judge found the defendant’s testimony to be largely lacking in credibility.
The legal proceedings began in December 2022 when Rothfos Corporation, later acquired by Neumann Gruppe USA (a subsidiary of Germany’s Neumann Kaffee Gruppe), filed a lawsuit.
According to case documents, between September 2021 and March 2022, Rothfos made advance payments totaling approximately $21.7 million to CLR Roasters, based in Miami, for Nicaraguan green coffee shipments. The transactions were conducted under standard contracts recognized by the Green Coffee Association.
However, CLR — a former subsidiary of Youngevity International that ceased operations in 2023 — failed to fulfill most of the contracts. Nearly 147,950 bags of coffee were not delivered, despite 49 purchase orders being issued.
The defendant, H&H Coffee Investments, is wholly owned by Florida businessman Alain Piedra Hernandez, who guaranteed CLR’s contractual obligations.
Court records show that Piedra Hernandez was also a shareholder or operator in two Nicaraguan companies — Hernandez Export and Beneficio Solecafe — which were key suppliers of green coffee to CLR.
During the proceedings, H&H argued that its financial guarantee was either invalid or limited to just $1 million. The court rejected this argument.
Ultimately, the judge ordered H&H to pay $31.4 million in total damages — including $19 million in principal losses and approximately $12.3 million in interest.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida under the number 1:22-cv-24000, titled Rothfos Corp. v. H&H Coffee Investments LLC.
