How Coffee Beans Are Exported: From Farm to Roaster

Ever wondered how those coffee beans in your grinder made it halfway around the world? Most coffee journeys begin on a farm, often carried by animals before hitting roads, rivers, railways, or planes. But the way coffee is stored, packed, and shipped might surprise you—even after harvest, it’s not quite ‘ready to roast’ yet.

The short answer: nearly all freshly harvested coffee is exported as parchment coffee (still wrapped in its inner fruit layer), packed almost exclusively in 60kg jute or sisal sacks. That bulky, weighty format adds cost but protects the bean until it reaches roasters abroad.

What Is Parchment Coffee?

Parchment coffee refers to green coffee beans that are still encased in their natural protective layer—the parchment shell. This layer, also called the silver skin or pergamino, surrounds the bean even after it’s been processed (washed, honey, or natural). Keeping the beans in parchment during storage and early transport helps buffer them from physical damage and moisture loss, though it does add extra weight.

Why Are Most Coffee Beans Still Shipped in Jute Sacks?

Despite modern logistics, around 90% of the world’s green coffee is still packed in 60-kilogram jute or sisal sacks. These coarse fiber bags are cheap, breathable to some degree, and standardized for global trade. While they add bulk and weight compared to bulk shipping (like container bins), they remain the default due to tradition, cost, and compatibility with global buying systems. Different regions may use slightly different sack sizes: Hawaii commonly uses 45kg bags, Colombia favors 70kg, and Puerto Rico sometimes opts for 90kg sacks.

How Coffee Leaves the Farm

Coffee cherries are picked and processed at origin—either washed, honey, or naturally dried—before the beans are milled to remove the outer fruit skin and pulp. What remains is the green coffee bean still inside its parchment layer. These parchment beans are then dried further (if needed), sorted, and stored. Only right before export are they typically hulled (to remove the parchment) if they’re going in bulk, but most often they’re shipped as parchment coffee in sacks.

The beans are transported from farms to mills, then to warehouses, and finally to ports. They may move by animal, truck, train, ship, or increasingly, plane—though air freight is rare for commercial green coffee due to cost. The journey is long and layered, often spanning continents and multiple modes of transport.

Why Not Ship Coffee Already Roasted?

Roasted coffee is far less stable than green coffee. Once roasted, beans start losing flavor immediately due to oxidation and CO2 degassing. Green coffee, protected in parchment and packed in sacks, maintains its potential flavor for months to over a year when stored properly. Shipping roasted coffee internationally would require expensive packaging, faster transit, and much shorter shelf life—making it impractical for the global supply chain.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 'parchment coffee' mean?

Parchment coffee means the green coffee beans are still covered in their natural parchment layer (the pergamino), which protects them during drying, storage, and early transport. It’s removed just before roasting or sometimes before bulk shipping.

Why are coffee beans shipped in 60kg sacks?

Most coffee is packed in 60kg jute or sisal sacks because they’re cheap, standardized, and widely used in global trade. They add weight and bulk but protect the beans and fit established supply chain systems.

Are there different sack sizes for coffee?

Yes. While 60kg is standard, some regions use different sizes: Hawaii often uses 45kg sacks, Colombia uses 70kg, and Puerto Rico sometimes uses 90kg sacks.

Do coffee beans travel by plane?

Occasionally, but air freight is rare for green coffee due to high costs. Most coffee moves by ship, truck, train, or even animal transport before reaching ports and exporters.

Why isn’t coffee roasted before shipping?

Roasted coffee loses flavor quickly due to oxidation and degassing. Green coffee stays fresh much longer in parchment, making it better suited for long-distance shipping and longer storage before roasting.

Recommended FrontStreet Coffee Beans for Export Insights

Explore how exported coffee beans begin their journey with FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Humbera, a bright and floral Ethiopian offering with notes of jasmine and citrus—typical of high-elevation parchment coffee. For contrast, try the Colombia Huila, a balanced washed coffee with caramel and red apple, showing how regional processing affects exported beans. Finally, the Yirgacheffe showcases the classic lemon-tea brightness of exported Ethiopian parchment coffee. All three arrive as green beans, just like those shipped worldwide. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.