Getting a container to Europe
Container, LCL or Sample Bag: Minimum Orders Explained
The question small roasters most often avoid asking is how little they can buy. It is a reasonable question and every exporter has heard it.
The default unit in the green coffee trade is a container, and a container is a lot of coffee.
What a container holds
A 20-foot container takes roughly 18–19.2 tonnes of green coffee, depending on bag size and stuffing method:
| Packing | Bags per 20ft, approx. | Net weight |
|---|---|---|
| 60 kg jute | ~300–320 | 18–19.2 t |
| 30 kg jute | ~600–640 | 18–19.2 t |
| 60 kg with GrainPro | Slightly fewer | Slightly less |
Green coffee is a weight-limited cargo rather than a volume-limited one — a 40-foot container does not carry proportionally more, which is why 20-foot is standard.
For a roaster turning over a tonne a month, a container is 18 months of stock. That is not a purchase, it is a warehousing commitment, and coffee does not improve for 18 months.
The realistic options
Full container
Right when you are confident in the coffee, have storage, and turn enough volume to use it inside a year. Lowest cost per kilo by a clear margin.
LCL — less than container load
Your pallets share a box with other cargo. Practical minimums are typically a few hundred kilos upwards.
The trade-offs are real: higher cost per kilo, more handling, slower transit because the box waits to fill and is deconsolidated at destination, and more opportunity for damage. But it exists, it works, and it is how a great many first direct purchases happen.
Sharing a container
Two or three roasters split one box. Common, sensible, and rarely discussed publicly.
It requires that everyone agrees the coffee, pays on time and takes delivery — which is why it works best between people who already know each other. Agree in writing who is the importer of record, because someone has to be, and from December 2026 that someone files the Due Diligence Statement.
Buying ex-warehouse in Europe
An importer has already landed the coffee; you buy bags from a European warehouse.
Highest price per kilo, no import mechanics, no minimum beyond a few bags, immediate availability. For testing an origin this is often the right first step even when you intend to go direct later.
Samples
200–350 g, by courier. Free coffee, paid courier, at most origins. This is how every relationship should start.
The honest cost picture
Per kilo, roughly in order:
- Full container — lowest
- Shared container — slightly above, plus coordination effort
- LCL — meaningfully higher
- Ex-warehouse in Europe — highest
The gap between a full container and LCL is real but not usually catastrophic; the gap between either and ex-warehouse is larger, because the importer's margin, financing and storage are in that price.
What to actually do
First contact: ask for type samples. Cup them.
If they are good: buy a few bags ex-warehouse in Europe if the origin is stocked there, or ask the exporter for the smallest LCL they will do. Roast it properly, sell it, see whether your customers care.
If that works: contract a container, or share one.
Nobody sensible in this trade thinks less of a roaster for starting at 300 kg. The exporters worth dealing with would far rather begin small with someone who will be buying containers in three years than sell one container to someone who will not repeat.
What to ask an exporter
- What is your minimum for a direct shipment, and does that change for LCL?
- Do you consolidate shipments for smaller buyers?
- Do you have European warehouse stock, or an importer partner who does?
- What does the per-kilo price look like at 300 kg, 1 t, and full container?
An exporter who will only quote full containers is telling you something useful about whether they want your business at your current size.
Hoysala ships from India to the port of your choice. Tell us the volume you are working towards and we will tell you how best to start.