Shipping green coffee: bag sizes, container loads, liners and documents

Bag sizes by origin

Green coffee is packed in jute or sisal bags whose standard weight depends on the origin. Royal Coffee, a US importer, lists the usual sizes:

A full 20-foot container of bagged coffee usually weighs close to 19 tonnes, for example 320 bags of 60 kg is 19.2 tonnes. Contracts allow a small weight tolerance (franchise), typically 0.5 to 1%.

Container options

• FCL (full container load): one buyer's coffee fills the container. The usual way to ship from origin.
• LCL (less than container load): your bags share a container with other cargo, often through a consolidator. Useful for small lots, but with more handling.
• Bulk liner: coffee is blown loose into a food-grade liner inside the container. One liner holds about 21 tonnes, around 17% more than bags, and lowers freight per kilogram, but the whole container is one lot and the buyer needs a site to unload it. It suits commercial grades, not microlots.

Protecting quality on the way

• Moisture: ship only when the coffee is dry enough; many exporters hold lots until moisture is at or below about 12.5%. Coffee that is too wet can develop mould in transit.
• Hermetic liners: plastic liners such as GrainPro sit inside the jute bag and limit moisture and oxygen exchange. They are widely used for specialty lots and long voyages.
• Condensation ("container rain"): daily temperature swings make moisture condense on the container roof and drip onto the top bags. Dry coffee, liners and lining the container with paper or absorbent material reduce the risk.
• Handling: ask for no hooks on bags with liners, and inspect the container before loading.

Export documents

Requirements vary by origin and destination, but a typical green coffee shipment carries:

• Commercial invoice and packing list.
• Weight note and quality certificate.
• ICO certificate of origin and, where required, a chamber of commerce certificate of origin.
• Phytosanitary certificate from the national plant protection body (for example KEPHIS in Kenya), and a fumigation certificate if the buyer requires one.
• Bill of lading, usually three originals; with cash against documents, the bank releases them after payment. See avoiding scams for how to check them.

Who arranges what

The Incoterm in your contract decides who books and pays for freight and insurance and where the risk passes. Under FOB the buyer books the ship; under CIF the seller pays freight and minimum insurance but the risk passes at loading. See how to buy green coffee directly for the full list, and remember that freight and insurance change your landed cost.