Shipping of Coffee an Industry in Itself

According to Jon Thorn's The Coffee Companion, well over six million tonnes of green coffee are produced by the various coffee growers each year. Much of this coffee will begin its journey to the homes and coffee houses of Europe and North America on a pack animal, and after that its journey will continue by road, river, sea (and in some cases, air).

Until ready to be sold and exported, the beans will be kept and transported in their parchment shells. Although this increases the bulk of the coffee and hence adds to its shipping costs, this has the effect of preserving the bean. Traditionally, most beans are packed in coarse fiber bags made of jute or sisal. Most of these bags hold approximately 130 pounds of coffee, though the size of the bag will vary from region to region. In Hawaii, bags holding 100 pounds are common, while in Puerto Rico bags holding as much as 200 pounds are the norm. A few coffee producers make a point of shipping their coffee in unusual and distinctive packaging: Jamaica's Blue Mountain Coffee (a particularly expensive brand of coffee) ships its coffee in specially designed wooden barrels.

After hulling, the bags are shipped from their original port in containers that hold around 250 standard bags. Increasingly however, the bags are being dispensed with at the transport stage in favor of shipping the coffee in bulk within the containers themselves. Once the inside of the container is lined with what amounts to a huge plastic bag, it is filled with loose beans -- up to 22 tonnes in each container. When these beans reach their destination (mainly the large roasting plants of North America and Europe) they are simply upended into modern silo systems that are standard at all the biggest coffee-roasting concerns.

Pests and humidity can cause real problems during shipping, and the shipping companies must take measures to prevent them from occurring. When the coffee arrives at its location, it is either sent on to another warehouse to be stored or sent directly to the roaster.