What is outturn in green coffee processing?

Outturn - also written as out-turn - refers to the ratio of exportable green coffee produced from a given quantity of fresh cherry or parchment. It's essentially the same concept as the cherry to green ratio, expressed from the perspective of what you get out of the process rather than what you put in.

In practice, outturn is often used specifically at the dry mill level - describing how much export-grade green coffee is produced from a given weight of dried parchment after hulling, sorting, and grading. Losses at this stage come from husks, defects sorted out, and below-grade material separated during screen sizing. A high outturn means more of the incoming parchment has been converted into exportable green; a low outturn suggests higher defect rates or stricter sorting removing more material.

Outturn data appears in dry mill processing records and is a useful metric for both producers assessing the efficiency of their post-harvest process and buyers understanding the economics behind a lot's pricing. A coffee with a low outturn from strict sorting is more expensive to produce than one with a higher outturn from looser preparation.