What is break bulk in coffee shipping?

Break bulk refers to cargo that is loaded individually onto a vessel rather than packed inside a shipping container - in coffee's case, individual jute bags stacked loose in the ship's hold. It was the dominant method of shipping coffee for most of the 20th century before containerisation became standard.

Today, break bulk is largely obsolete in green coffee trade. The container revolution from the 1970s onwards dramatically reduced shipping costs, improved handling efficiency, and made cargo far less vulnerable to damage, theft, and moisture exposure during transit. Almost all green coffee now ships in sealed containers.

You'll encounter the term primarily in historical context - discussing how traditional large-estate coffees from India or East Africa used to reach European ports - or occasionally in very specific trade routes where containerisation infrastructure is limited. It's also a useful baseline reference point for understanding why containerised shipping was such a significant development for coffee quality and traceability.