Trade
How green coffee is graded, priced, shipped and sold.
Supply and seasons
4 entries · 3 coming- SupplyHarvest calendarsWhen coffee is picked in each producing country, why many origins have two crops, and how altitude spreads the harvest over the year.Source-checked
- SupplyCoffee production by countryWhich countries grow the world’s coffee, how much of it is arabica or robusta, how Brazil and Vietnam came to dominate supply, how much producers drink at home, and why official production statistics disagree.Source-checked
- SupplyCoffee consumption by countryWhere the world’s coffee is drunk, how consumption is estimated from trade and stock data rather than counted, why per-person figures for trading hubs mislead, and where demand is growing fastest.Source-checked
- SupplyCrop year and coffee yearThe time frames behind coffee statistics – the ICO coffee year from 1 October, national crop years, USDA marketing years and FAO calendar years – and why one harvest can carry different year labels.Source-checked
- Supply · comingStocks and supply balance
- Supply · comingCrop forecasting
- Supply · comingThe rise of robusta
Prices and markets
6 entries · 5 coming- MarketHow a coffee price is madeWhat a green coffee price is built from – a futures reference, a negotiated differential and the contract that fixes them – and what freight, duty, financing and roast loss add on the way to the cup.Source-checked
- MarketCoffee futuresHow the New York arabica and London robusta futures contracts work, how traders and roasters use them to hedge price risk, and what they cannot hedge.Source-checked
- MarketDifferentialsThe premium or discount that turns a futures price into the price of one real lot of green coffee – who sets it, what moves it, how the exchange’s own differentials differ, and why a futures hedge leaves it exposed.Source-checked
- Market · comingICO indicator prices
- MarketHedgingHow coffee businesses offset the price risk of physical coffee with an opposite futures position, who hedges and how, a hypothetical worked example, and what a hedge leaves open: the differential, margin calls and access.Source-checked
- MarketPrice fixationHow the open futures part of a price-to-be-fixed green coffee contract is fixed – who holds the call, fixing orders, exchange for physicals, deadlines before first notice day, rolling, and the risks of lots left unfixed.Source-checked
- Market · comingOptions on coffee futures
- Market · comingCurrency and coffee prices
- Market · comingSpeculation and funds
- Market · comingPrice volatility
- MarketCoffee price historyHow the price of green arabica has moved since 1970 – frosts, the quota years, the crises and the record highs – in monthly data, nominal and adjusted for inflation, with the causes the sources name.Source-checked
Who trades coffee
5 entries · 2 coming- TradeThe coffee value chainWho handles coffee between the farm and the cup – producers, collectors, cooperatives, mills, exporters, trading houses, importers, roasters and retailers – what each one does, and where ownership and bargaining power concentrate.Source-checked
- Trade · comingTrading houses
- TradeSwitzerland and the coffee tradeHow Switzerland, a country without coffee farms, became a centre of the green coffee trade and a large exporter of roasted coffee and capsules, and why it keeps compulsory coffee stocks.Source-checked
- Trade · comingCooperatives and middlemen
- TradeDirect tradeHow specialty roasters buy coffee from known producers through “direct trade” and “relationship coffee”, why no law defines these terms, how the coffee still moves, and what studies found about prices and benefits.Source-checked
- TradeAuctions and competitionsHow coffee is sold by open bidding – the national auctions of Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania, and quality competitions such as the Cup of Excellence that end in online auctions – with dated prices and what studies say about quality premiums.Source-checked
- TradeWho earns what along the chainHow the final price of coffee is split between producers, exporters, traders, roasters, retailers and states – what named studies measured, for which country, product and year, and what a share of the retail price leaves out.Source-checked
Contracts and documents
2 entries · 5 coming- ContractGreen coffee contractsThe standard contract forms under which most green coffee is bought and sold – the European ESCC and the New York GCA contract – and what they say about quality, weights, documents, payment, claims and arbitration.Source-checked
- ContractIncoterms for coffeeThe International Chamber of Commerce’s three-letter trade terms that say where green coffee changes hands, who carries the risk on the way and who pays freight, insurance and customs clearance.Source-checked
- Contract · comingShipping documents and the bill of lading
- Contract · comingPayment terms
- Contract · comingICO marks
- Contract · comingArbitration
- Contract · comingCoffee trade glossary
Logistics
2 entries · 5 coming- LogisticsShipping green coffeeHow green coffee travels from the exporting mill to the buyer's warehouse – bags, liners and bulk containers, stuffing and lining a container, port steps, the bill of lading, weights and samples on arrival, and cargo insurance.Source-checked
- Logistics · comingSmall-lot consolidation
- Logistics · comingImport and customs
- Logistics · comingSamples in the trade
- Logistics · from ProcessGreen coffee storage and transportHow green coffee is kept and shipped between the dry mill and the roaster – warehouse, bag and container – and why warm, humid air and time make it age.Source-checked
- Logistics · comingCoffee bean weevil
- Logistics · comingConversion factors
Risk
4 coming- Risk · comingRisk in the coffee chain
- Risk · comingCounterparty and country risk
- Risk · comingTransport and storage risk
- Risk · comingSupply-chain shocks
Quality and rules
1 entry · 3 coming- RuleGreen coffee grading standardsHow green coffee is graded for sale – who grades it, how a sample is checked for defects, bean size and moisture, and how national export grades, exchange grades and specialty grading differ.Source-checked
- Rule · comingGreen coffee quality control
- Rule · comingPesticide residues
- Rule · comingTraceability
Sustainability and standards
4 entries · 1 coming- StandardEU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)The EU rule that lets coffee be sold in or exported from the EU only if it is deforestation-free, legally produced and covered by due diligence; as of October 2026 it applies from 30 December 2026.Source-checked
- StandardCertifications and labelsWhat the main coffee sustainability labels – Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, organic, 4C and Bird Friendly – require and guarantee, how much coffee carries them, and what independent studies find about their effects.Source-checked
- StandardSustainability claims and greenwashing rulesWhat the EU rules applying from 27 September 2026 and the Swiss rules on climate claims say about environmental and sustainability claims on coffee bags, menus and websites, and how offsetting, insetting and carbon removal differ.Source-checked
- Standard · comingSustainability in coffee
- StandardLiving incomeWhat a living income is, how a living income benchmark is built and compared with what coffee-producing households actually earn, the coffee benchmarks and reference prices published so far, and what studies find about closing the gap.Source-checked
History
1 entry · 3 coming- History · comingYemen and the Mocha trade
- HistoryThe International Coffee AgreementsThe treaties between coffee-producing and coffee-importing countries, from Brazil’s 1906 price support to the International Coffee Agreement 2022 – what the export quotas did from 1962 to 1989, and why they ended.Source-checked
- History · comingCoffee price crises
- History · comingBrands and the industrial age
Tools
3 tools- ToolHarvest calendarWhen coffee is picked in 28 producing countries, month by month: main and second crops, which countries are harvesting now and what share of the world crop they grow.
- ToolGreen coffee cost calculatorFrom an origin price to the cost of a cup: futures plus differential or an outright price, freight, insurance, duty, financing and roast loss. Converts cents per pound, dollars per tonne, per kilo and per 60-kg bag.
- ToolGreen coffee physical assessment (CVA)Grade a 350 g green sample the CVA way: colour, defect counters that give full defects by category, the mean of your moisture readings and the bean size distribution by screen.
See also: Grading and sorting of green coffee (process)