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Coffee Export & Arrival

After the coffee beans have been processed, most of the green coffee is exported abroad. The green coffee is shipped from the loading port of the production country on the long journey to Germany. 95% of the coffee imported into Europe is green coffee. Only 5% has already been processed into roasted or instant coffee before import.

Loading

The green coffee is stored in shipping containers during the crossing. Particularly high-quality green coffee is stacked in sacks in shipping containers. More and more often, however, coffee is also transported in bulk, which saves costs and makes better use of the available space. For this purpose, the containers are lined with liner bags that protect the goods from contamination.

Port of import

The valuable freight needs about 2 weeks from South America to Germany. Shipping from the Far East can take up to 4 weeks. Hamburg is one of the most important import ports for the European coffee market. Arriving at the port of destination, the coffee is checked for quality so that possible damage during the crossing can be ruled out.

It is also checked whether the delivered goods correspond to the quality of the previously concluded purchase contract. If everything is in order, the goods are unloaded and weighed. Calculations and counts are made in the unit “60 kilo sacks”, although shipping containers with bulk goods mostly arrive in Germany. The coffee is now transported directly to the customer by train and truck or stored in warehouses. To ensure that the goods do not lose quality, humidity and temperature in the warehouses are constantly monitored. Furthermore, samples are taken regularly from the stored coffee, because a loss of quality reduces the selling price.

Intermediaries

In general, it can be said that there is not just one way to import coffee. Because in addition to export and import companies in the trading countries, there are also coffee agents and brokers as well as other middlemen. There are many different ways and combinations of how coffee is traded before it ends up in the consumer’s cup as an aromatic hot beverage.

Import and export company

Roasters that do not trade directly or have no contact with the country of origin turn to importers to buy their coffee. The importer contacts an exporter or other party in the country of production with his customer’s request and places the order. The importer is responsible for purchasing, transport and customs.

He is also responsible for quality deviations and short deliveries to his customers and for an adequate replacement. An exporter buys his customer’s desired goods and prepares them for transport. He can obtain the coffee from various sources – coffee plantations, traders, cooperatives.

Coffee Agents and Brokers

Coffee agents and brokers are middlemen who bring two contracting parties together. This can be, for example, an exporter and an importer or a plantation and a roaster. You maintain business contacts and receive commission for a successful placement.

Direct trade

Coffee roasters make roasted coffee from raw coffee. This processing step is one of the most important, because the irresistible aromas that pamper the palates of coffee lovers are only created during roasting. They also have a variety of options for getting green coffee. You can contact an agent or hire an importer.

Another option is to buy directly from the producer. Some roasters are in direct contact with the cooperatives or coffee plantations and import the green coffee without intermediaries. They rent unused container space from importers or join forces with other roasters and share loading space and costs.

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Coffee Export Worldwide: The Home of the Coffee Plant

When you think of coffee and its growing areas, you immediately have South America and Africa in your mind’s eye. The reason for this is simple: the sensitive coffee plant needs specific, finely tuned climatic conditions in order to grow optimally and produce aromatic beans. Coffee export is therefore not possible everywhere, but only where there is a mild climate without frost all year round: in the so-called coffee belt on the equator. The growing areas of the coffee exporters range from Africa to Asia, the Caribbean, South America to Australia. Depending on the growing area, the coffee has a taste that is typical of the region. We have put together a list for you of who is among the largest coffee exporters and how coffee exports behave worldwide.

At the top of coffee exporters: Brazil

Although Africa is the actual homeland of our coffee, exports from there account for only one-sixth of coffee production. The largest coffee exporter, on the other hand, is Brazil with a 34% share of the global export volume. There are approximately 300,000 coffee farms across the country, covering up to 25,000 hectares.

In Brazil, the beans are usually harvested by hand from May to November and usually dried directly in the sun. Coffee is one of the most important export goods and is mainly shipped to the USA and Europe. However, the Brazilians drink almost half of their coffee production themselves.

Second place: Vietnam

After Brazil, Vietnam accounts for about 14% of global coffee exports. The market in Vietnam is strictly regulated: since Vietnam is often accused of price dumping, there is a government-limited acreage of around 630,000 hectares that can be used for coffee cultivation. The hardy and high-yielding Robusta variety, which is mainly used for instant coffee products, is grown almost exclusively.

Third place with special features: Indonesia

7% of coffee exports worldwide come from Indonesia, mainly Robusta is harvested here. Even if Indonesia is summarized as a coffee-growing region, there are regional differences and peculiarities. The island of Java, for example, is well known: the Arabica or Java beans grown here account for 8% of Indonesian coffee exports.

In Sumatra, the coffee cherries are peeled wet using the so-called “Giling Basah” method.

The most expensive coffee in the world, the Kopi Luwak, is very complex to produce. The coffee cherries are first eaten and excreted by the civet species Fleckenmusang. The bacteria and enzymes in the cat’s digestive tract make the bitter substances in the coffee cherries almost completely disappear, which has a very positive effect on the taste of the coffee.

Another special feature of Indonesia is a certain form of storage in connection with the after-ripening effect of the coffee beans. The so-called warehouse coffee picks up on the circumstances of the earlier coffee exporters, where the beans had to make a long journey on their way to Europe. Today, the beans mature in special warehouses and are processed into the Old Java, Old Government or Old Brown varieties.

Fourth place: Colombia

The most well-known coffee-growing region in Latin America is Colombia, which produces about 6% of the world’s coffee exports. In contrast to Vietnam and Indonesia, however, Arabica beans are almost exclusively grown in Colombia for coffee export. The coffee beans can be harvested twice a year thanks to the optimum climatic conditions in the country’s high altitudes. Colombian coffee is known all over the world for its special mildness and is valued and loved by coffee connoisseurs.

Country of origin in fifth place: Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the country of origin of coffee and 5% of coffee exports, especially the Arabica variety, are shipped from here. Every fourth inhabitant of Ethiopia earns his living from coffee production. And although Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest coffee exporters, most of the production remains domestic.

Coffee is important to Ethiopians and growing coffee is part of the country’s tradition. The most legendary coffee from here is the Harrar, which is grown at an altitude of 1500 to 2100 meters and whose beans have a special golden yellow, almost amber color.

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