Coffee on the Move: Facts in a Nutshell
Coffee on the Move: Facts in a Nutshell
18-21
A container of Arabica coffee weighs between 18 and 21 tons.
of international green coffee is transported by ship.
Air freight is used for some specialty coffees and costs 5–10 times more.
20 Documents
(Fortunately, only in exceptional cases! 😉)
A CONTAINER SHIP CAN CARRY
18,000 to 24,000
CONTAINERS, INCLUDING HUNDREDS FILLED WITH COFFEE.
6
bags
from Hawaii
In 2025, NKG sold three bags of coffee from France to the US and 6 from Hawaii to the US.
137
bags
sold to the Faroe Islands
a self-governing archipelago and part of the Kingdom of Denmark (54,719 inhabitants)
379
bags
sold to the Channel Islands
in the English Channel, Guernsey (63,950 inhabitants)
Following the Coffee: From Harvest to Europe
It takes 30 to 60 days from picking to export plus a transit time of 20 to 30 days.
Discover some of the
Major Coffee Ports Worldwide
In 2025, China imported a record volume of green coffee totaling
3.7m bags /
224,000 tons
mostly to serve its growing domestic market. Ethiopia accounted for a third of the total, with Brazil at 31% and Colombia and Vietnam each at 9%.
Header image: Adobe Firefly
Global coffee production reached 173 million bags in 2024/25, with Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia leading the way. Around 70% is grown by smallholders, and over 120 million people depend on coffee farming. Climate change threatens up to half of current growing areas by 2050, making sustainability more crucial than ever.
From seed to shipment, women play a vital yet often underrepresented role in the global coffee supply chain. Whether in the fields, in quality control, or in advocacy work, their contributions shape the future of coffee in meaningful ways. In this issue, we speak with three women from different position in the supply chain.
This time, you can embark on a search in “Search the seedling!” A photo of a seedling is hidden on various pages of our MAG. Find all the seedlings and tell us which articles you found them in.
