What is a bag in green coffee trading?

In green coffee trade, a bag refers to the standard unit of packaging and measurement - a woven sack (most commonly jute) used to hold and ship green coffee from producing countries to importing markets. Bag weight varies by origin and is not universally standardised, which matters when reading trade documentation and comparing prices across origins.

The most common bag weight in international green coffee trade is 60kg, used widely across Africa, Central America, and most specialty origins. Colombia uses 70kg bags. Brazil uses 60kg bags for most export but historically used 132-pound (approximately 60kg) bags domestically. Some origins use 69kg bags. When green coffee is priced per bag or when you're calculating how many bags fit in a container, knowing the bag weight for that origin is essential to avoid errors.

At GCC we list all coffees by kilogram price and weight to avoid the confusion of varying bag sizes, but understanding the bag unit is important for anyone working with trade documentation, import paperwork, or buying direct from exporters whose pricing may be expressed per bag.