Moving coffee from the farm to the consumer involves a complex series of interconnected steps, often facing geopolitical, environmental, and bureaucratic challenges. Photo credit: Mountain Harvest
The global coffee supply chain is long and complex, and moving coffee from farm to roastery and on to a consumer’s cup involves many stages. Coffee cherries must be picked, sorted, processed, dried, milled, packed into bags or containers, transported to port, loaded onto a cargo ship, sailed across oceans, unloaded, warehoused, delivered to a roastery, roasted, bagged, ground, and finally brewed.
There are two stages to this process: inbound and outbound logistics. Moving coffee from farm to the importer’s warehouse in the country of destination is the job of inbound logistics; from there to the roastery is outbound. “Inbound logistics is basically getting coffee to the States, in our case,” says Amanda Armbrust-Asselin, marketing and education coordinator at Neumann Gruppe USA. “And then outbound means the coffee is landed, and we want to release that coffee to a customer.”
Amanda Armbrust-Asselin, marketing and education coordinator at Neumann Gruppe USA, details the meticulous planning and coordination behind inbound logistics. Photo credit: Neumann Gruppe USA
Along the way, a host of skilled workers must ensure that the coffee reaches its destination in optimal condition. Doing so involves meticulous record-keeping and a focus on quality control at every step. Importers also have to deal with the challenges and vagaries of geopolitics and supply chain disruptions, which have become increasingly complex over the past decade.
Stepping back, the sheer scale of the coffee industry puts the job of inbound logistics into perspective: Between October 2023 and September 2024, global coffee exports totaled 150 million 60kg bags, according to the International Coffee Organization, valued at more than $50 billion. Although there are exceptions, most shipments arrive on time and intact. That takes planning, communication, and a whole lot of paperwork.
Open, Afloat, In Store
Inbound logistics begin as soon as coffee has been sourced and a purchase contract has been drawn up. The contract sets out obvious things like the amount of coffee and its price, but also elements such as the delivery timeline, storage expectations, and who pays for which parts of the coffee’s transport.
The largest trading companies might control every step of the process, but smaller importers work with exporters and other intermediaries to ensure the coffee reaches its destination smoothly. Some producers and cooperatives handle their own exports, and some have even begun importing their coffee.
“We knew that exporting direct would be the best route to keeping more of the value of our specialty coffee, since we would not be accepting the price set by a local cooperative or local green buyer,” says Marianella Baez Jost, founder of Farmers Project Specialty Coffee and owner of Café Con Amor in Costa Rica.
Marianella Baez Jost, founder of Farmers Project Specialty Coffee and owner of Café Con Amor in Costa Rica. Photo credit: Marianella Baez Jost
As Armbrust-Asselin explains, three critical phases encompass inbound logistics: Open, Afloat, and In Store. The Open stage covers the period when a coffee is still in its country of origin and follows the contracted lot from farm to port. Much of inbound logistics involves paperwork, creating a careful, detailed document trail that accompanies the coffee as it travels to its destination. This includes creating the required shipping instructions, collecting required documents, preparing for customs entry, and generating the Bill of Lading (BOL).
The BOL is a crucial document that organizes all the necessary information in one place and shows who owns the coffee during transit. “It’s not just a shipping document; it functions as a receipt, acts as a contract, and even works like a title document,” Armbrust-Asselin says. “It brings together logistics, quality, and traceability, and can be used much like a title document for letters of credit and collections.”
Most importers work with trusted exporters to handle the first leg of the coffee’s journey. This is where correct documentation, especially the BOL, and close communication are essential. Certain documents must be filed with shipping companies or customs agencies at specific times before the cargo is loaded, and everyone involved needs to know exactly who is responsible for what and when.
Traceability is becoming increasingly important, making it even more critical that all paperwork is accurate and verifiable. “We need to understand not only where [the coffee] is at every point,” Armbrust-Asselin says, “but also who’s been handling it, that it’s been handled according to regulations, and that everything is compliant.”
Once the coffee is containerized, inspected, and loaded onto the cargo ship, the process moves from the Open to Afloat stage. Although the coffee is now out of the inbound logistics team’s direct control, there is, of course, yet more paperwork to organize as the container sails to its destination.
“You’re trying to create this timeline,” Armbrust-Asselin explains, “using information from the BOL, such as the lot size as well as the ship’s ETA. As an inbound logistics person, you take that information, and you create a series of documents to communicate all those details to the relevant parties who are going to receive that coffee when it lands stateside.”
If the importer is working with one, the customs broker needs to be provided with the necessary documentation to prepare. Sometimes this paperwork is time-sensitive: for example, customs entry notifications need to be filed five days before the shipment arrives, but Armbrust-Asselin says arrivals are sometimes delayed, which can cause issues with US customs and add costs for the importer.
Once the coffee is containerized, inspected, and loaded onto the cargo ship, the process moves from the Open to Afloat stage and requires shipping instructions, document collection, customs entry preparation, and Bill of Lading (BOL) generation.
Shipping times can vary wildly depending on the origin and destination. Once the container arrives at the port, it must clear customs and potentially undergo inspection by the United States Food and Drug Administration. After that, it can be unloaded and transferred to the warehouse, at which point it reaches the In Store phase. At this stage, the coffee can be held at the port for a few days, known as free time, before it is either transported directly to the roaster or transferred to the importer’s warehouse.
The Trouble With Tariffs
Because coffee is a global commodity with a complex supply chain, external factors such as geopolitical unrest or shipping disruptions can quickly impact a coffee’s delivery and availability.
Last year, the coffee industry, along with much of world trade, was disrupted by the global tariff regime imposed by United States President Donald Trump. The tariffs, which imposed duties of up to 50% on imports from nearly every country that trades with the US, had a massive impact on coffee in its largest consuming market. Importers who paid tariffs at the point of entry into the US faced an immediate spike in import costs, which they often passed on to their customers and eventually contributed to a rise in coffee’s retail price. Roasted coffee at US grocery stores rose 21.7% in August 2025, compared to a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In November 2025, after months of lobbying by lawmakers and industry bodies, the Trump administration exempted coffee from the tariffs. “The coffee community as a whole came together and worked really hard to lobby and advocate for their industry on Capitol Hill and to demonstrate that coffee itself is not a product that is grown in the United States,” says Mike Padovano, senior vice president of global trade consulting at Worldwide Logistics Group. The US Supreme Court struck the tariffs down entirely in February of this year.
Since the exemption and the Supreme Court ruling, Padovano has been working with coffee importers to help them recover the tariffs they paid. As with most other aspects of coffee logistics, much of it comes down to documentation. He explains that having the correct paperwork is crucial at all times, but especially when applying for refunds, as customs may request additional documentation or, worse, conduct an audit.
Going forward, the Trump administration has said it will look to impose new tariffs, which may not exempt coffee. Padovano says in this case it’s better to be prepared. “The hope for coffee is that it will receive another agricultural exemption, but the truth is, we won’t know until those tariffs are imposed,” he admits. “So instead of taking a wait-and-see approach, it’s important to make sure you’re prepared for the worst-case scenario.”
Complicated, Unpredictable, and Vital
Ensuring that coffee gets where it needs to go safely and smoothly is a complicated and sometimes unpredictable process. For importers, close management at every stage is vital and involves working closely with partners in origin countries as well as across sectors such as shipping and customs.
After the coffee is unloaded and warehoused, it enters the In Store phase, where it is prepared for outbound transfers to the customer’s businesses.
For producers and exporters such as Baez Jost, taking ownership of the supply chain brings benefits, but also challenges. Financing can be difficult, as is navigating geopolitical and supply chain disruptions as a small operator. However, she says, it is worth it. “We end up improving communication, shortening the logistics chain, and providing a real sense of loyalty. Trust and transparency provide real value to all involved,” explains Baez Jost.
The vast web of global coffee logistics allows consumers to enjoy fresh, high-quality coffee every morning, often without realizing the work involved in getting it to them. Behind the scenes, there are a multitude of logistics professionals, from coffee buyers to QC cuppers, and from warehouse workers to customs brokers, all working to ensure that coffee makes it to the breakfast table.