What are the best practices for green coffee storage?

The production of high-quality roasted coffee requires meticulous storage practices across each step of the supply chain. From harvesting and processing to exporting and storage, there’s a lot for coffee professionals to consider. High-barrier green coffee storage is, therefore, essential for supplying roasters with green coffee.

Green coffee storage is particularly important because it impacts not only quality and freshness but also the coffee’s ultimate value. While existing research shows how best storage practices result in high-quality coffee, emerging challenges like packaging choices and sustainability concerns are more pressing than ever.

To learn more, I spoke to Ronald Pivaral. He is a specialty coffee producer with a 32-hectare farm in Guatemala focused on specialty coffee. Read on to gain his insights into the best practices for green coffee storage.

How should you store green coffee after processing?

Coffee is stored differently depending on where it is in the production chain. For example, it often sits on patios at farms during the processing phase. However, it then must be stored differently as it is prepared for exporters to ship to roasters.

After green coffee has been picked, processed, and rested, you should store it in airtight hermetic bags made from multilayer plastic such as polyethylene (PE). “This [guarantees] us a longer shelf life,” Ronald says.

Once sealed in hermetic bags, the external storage conditions for green coffee need to remain as consistent as possible. Any fluctuations in humidity, temperature, and exposure to light can affect the coffee’s flavour notes and aroma once roasted. Ronald says that an ideal warehouse should offer moderate airflow, minimal light, and temperatures below 25°C – guidelines echoed by the Green Coffee Association.

When stored in hermetic green coffee bags under these conditions, green coffee can remain fresh for up to 12 months. After this period, it becomes an old crop and gradually loses its flavour notes and aroma. For this reason, roasters may discard any green coffee that isn’t stored optimally.

With that 12-month window in mind, importers should optimise their shipping timelines to ensure green coffee is appropriately stored and arrives with roasters with plenty of time to spare.

“We believe that a coffee’s quality comes from the field,” says Ronald. “After being harvested, we only have two options: take care and maintain the quality through good processing and storage conditions, or lower the quality through bad processing practices.”

What packaging should you use for green coffee storage?

According to Ronald, green coffee needs to be stored as soon as possible after processing. For this reason, producers should communicate with exporters to tell them when the coffee was picked and how long it has spent drying. “Once you know all these details, you have a better perception [of] this coffee’s behaviour,“ he continues.

However, a lack of standardised storage methods can make it difficult to ensure high-quality green coffee storage. Approximately 44% of smallholder coffee farmers face financial hardship, meaning warehouse quality or access to hermetic green coffee bags is inconsistent. For example, “the pallets that the farmer is using [may not be] that good,” Ronald says, “[or] the floor is just a concrete or earth base. If the density or the layers are not that thick, the bag is going to get damaged really easily.”

For this reason, exporters commonly store green coffee bags in jute sacks made from burlap. The jute bags protect the green coffee and hermetic bags from damage during long storage periods. “We cover the plastic bag with that [jute] sack,” Ronald says, “[which] allows us to keep the coffee in good condition for a longer time.”

However, producers should avoid filling hermetic bags to capacity, as they need to be sealable to create an airtight seal. “[Ensure] the leftover of the bag is big enough close,” Ronald says. Otherwise, it may not adequately protect your green coffee.

To achieve this, exporters should consider hermetic bags such as PureLock’s hermetic green coffee storage bags. Made from multiple layers of high-strength PE, they safeguard green coffee from environmental factors during storage and shipping while also fitting into burlap sacks for physical protection.

Storing coffee in these conditions can result in coffee that lasts longer than usual. Therefore, roasters can market it as a “fresh” product for longer, translating into a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Sustainability considerations in green coffee storage

Roughly 3% of the coffee industry’s carbon footprint stems from packaging, and green coffee storage bags figure into this statistic. Fortunately, the prominence of eco-friendly green coffee packaging allows producers and exporters to offset their impact and operate more sustainably.

To address this, producers, cooperatives, and exporters can source recyclable and reusable packaging, such as PureLock’s hermetic green coffee bags. They maintain the optimal airtight conditions for green coffee and can be used up to three times before recycling.

Once hermetic bags have served their purpose, roasters can also reuse the green coffee packaging for other purposes. “They are using those bags as trash bags or to store their products,“ Ronald suggests as viable options. However, it’s also important to recycle them alongside soft plastics after reusing them to prevent waste build-up.

Equally, producers and exporters need to source green coffee packaging in suitable quantities. High minimum order quantities (MOQs) can result in excess packaging being discarded for low-volume producers. Therefore, you should look for packaging manufacturers that offer low MOQs.

MTPak Coffee offers complete packaging solutions for green coffee to offset sustainability concerns while still preserving your green coffee. Our hermetic coffee bags and jute sacks are fully reusable and customisable to provide increased visibility and reduce your single-use packaging outlay.

Our low MOQs mean you can order just as much packaging as you need to optimise your storage space and reduce waste. We also offer effective closure methods such as zippers and twist-and-tie sealers to ensure your green coffee remains airtight during transit and storage.

Contact MTPak Coffee to learn more about our packaging for green coffee storage and how it can help your business align with sustainability goals.