How to Read a Green Coffee Import Contract (the 7 Numbers That Matter)
If you've ever wondered how coffee gets from a farm to your bag — what the actual transaction looks like, what the roaster on this end is paying, what the importer takes — this post is the walkthrough. We're a small roastery, so we don't import directly. We buy from importers. But I've read enough of their contracts to understand the structure, and the structure tells you a lot about where the money goes.
This is the practical explanation, not the legal one. Not a substitute for an actual contract review (we're a small roastery, not a lawyer), but enough to understand what you're looking at if you ever see one. If you're interested in the origin side, our Costa Rica Tarrazú region guide and Colombia Antioquia washed process posts walk through what the green bean tells you about the farm.
The 7 numbers to understand — the ones that show up on virtually every contract — are below. Order matters.
Number 1: The differential
The differential is the per-pound premium (or discount) over the C-market price for a specific origin/quality combination. It's usually quoted in cents per pound — for example, "Colombian Excelso, +22¢ over" or "Ethiopian Yirgacheffe G2, +48¢ over."
The differential captures what the C-market doesn't account for: origin-specific risk, quality premiums, supplier relationships, and the cup score the importer believes the lot will deliver. A 25¢ differential doesn't mean the beans are 25¢ better — it means the market is willing to pay 25¢ more for that lot than for a generic commodity Brazilian.
For specialty-grade lots, differentials are typically in the +15¢ to +60¢ range. For competition-grade microlots, you might see +$1.50 or higher.
If you see a contract with a "0¢" differential, that's commodity-grade coffee — usually Brazilian, Vietnamese, or robusta. The differential tells you whether this is a "just coffee" lot or a "specific lot" lot.
Number 2: The C-market reference price
Most contracts price coffee as "X¢ over the ICE Futures closing price" for some specified future delivery month. The "over" part is the differential.
So if the C-market is at $2.20/lb for December delivery and the differential is +30¢, the per-pound landed price is $2.50. That's the importer's cost from the producer/exporter side — not the final price.
The reason contracts price in C-market + differential rather than a flat price is that coffee prices fluctuate daily. A flat price locks both sides into a number that one party will regret if the market moves. The C-market + differential approach shares the risk: if the market drops, both sides lose some value; if it rises, both sides gain.
Small roasteries mostly buy at "spot" prices — what the importer is offering that week, with the C-market and differential already baked in. The C-market reference shows up more in forward contracts, microlot booking, and direct-trade relationships.
Number 3: The minimum screen size
Coffee beans are sorted by physical size before export. Screen sizes refer to the diameter of the round holes the bean passes through — 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. A "screen 16" bean is bigger than a "screen 14" bean. Larger beans typically come from higher elevations and tend to score higher in cupping, though this is a general rule with plenty of exceptions.
The minimum screen size is what the importer guarantees. "Screen 15 and up" means every bean in the bag has passed through a 15/64 inch hole. Anything smaller is sorted out.
If the contract specifies "screen 16 and up," the lot commands a premium — it's the top 60–70% of the harvest by size. Smaller screen sizes (14, 13) are used for espresso blends and commodity-grade blends, where size uniformity matters less.
Number 4: The defect tolerance
Every green coffee contract specifies a maximum defect count per 300-gram sample. The Specialty Coffee Association standard:
- Specialty grade: 0–5 defects per 300g. This is what earns "specialty" status.
- Premium grade: 6–8 defects.
- Below that: commercial grade.
The contract usually specifies a number (e.g., "max 3 defects per 300g") and what happens if the lot arrives above that threshold (typically the importer takes a discount or refuses the lot).
The defect types that matter: black beans (over-fermented), sour beans (under-fermented), insect-damaged, broken, withered, foreign matter (stones, sticks). All of these affect cup quality to varying degrees.
Number 5: The moisture content
Standard moisture for green coffee is 10–12%. Above 12%, the beans are at risk of mold and premature aging in transit. Below 10%, the beans are over-dried and tend to lose flavor volatiles in roasting.
The contract specifies the moisture band the importer expects (usually 10–12%) and the discount if the lot arrives outside that band. Properly dried coffee is a basic requirement, but lots vary, and this is the number a moisture meter catches.
Number 6: The cup score
The cup score is a number from a Q-grader (a certified coffee taster) that summarizes the lot's flavor. The Specialty Coffee Association cupping form covers aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, uniformity, clean cup, sweetness, and overall impression. The final number is a single score.
The standard bands:
- 80–82.99: Specialty grade (commercial specialty)
- 83–84.99: Specialty grade (premium specialty)
- 85–87.99: Specialty grade (specialty)
- 88+: Specialty grade (outstanding / competition level)
If the contract specifies a cup score (and many do — "minimum 84.5, expected 85.5"), that's the importer's evaluation. Most small roasteries don't get this number on their buying sheet — it shows up more on direct-trade contracts where the roaster is committing to a specific lot in advance.
Number 7: The shipping and arrival terms
Every contract specifies the trade terms — Incoterms, in shipping language. The two most common in coffee:
- FOB (Free on Board): The importer's responsibility ends when the coffee is loaded onto the ship. The roaster/importer takes over for transit.
- CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight): The exporter takes responsibility through to the destination port. The importer pays a bit more but doesn't have to manage the freight.
For US buyers, FOB is more common — coffee arrives at a US port, and the importer handles US-side logistics. The contract will specify which port (New York, New Jersey, Oakland, Seattle, Houston are the main coffee entry points).
The shipping terms don't affect cup quality directly, but they affect the price significantly — a CIF contract is typically 8–12¢/lb more expensive than FOB for the same lot.
Putting it together
If you saw a contract line item like this:
> "Colombia Excelso EP, 25 bags × 70 kg, FOB Cartagena, screen 15+, max 3 defects/300g, moisture 10.5–11.5%, cup 84.5, +24¢ over Dec '26, ETA February 2027."
You'd know:
- Origin: Colombia
- Grade: Excelso (Colombian specialty export grade)
- Processing: EP (European Preparation — fully washed, hand-sorted)
- Quantity: 25 bags, 70 kg each = 1,750 kg = ~3,860 lbs
- Shipping: FOB Cartagena (the buyer's responsibility starts at the port of Cartagena)
- Quality: minimum screen 15 beans, max 3 defects per sample, moisture in band
- Cup: minimum 84.5
- Price: C-market + 24¢ differential
- ETA: February 2027
That's the same information a small roastery sees, just framed differently. The contract isn't mysterious once you know which numbers matter.
Why this matters for the cup in your hand
The contract numbers determine what the roaster paid and what quality they were promised. They translate, eventually, into what's in your bag:
- A high-differential, high-cup-score, screen-16+ lot, properly processed, will taste different (typically more complex, more distinct origin character) than a low-differential, screen-14, 5-defect-tolerance lot.
- Both can taste good. But they taste different.
- The premium you pay for "specialty-grade single origin" reflects the contract numbers behind the bag. Roasters don't pocket the difference — most of it goes to the importer, who passes a meaningful share to the producer.
The coffee industry is unusual in that producers see a relatively small share of the final retail price (typically 10–20%). The rest goes to importing, roasting, retail. The contract structure explains a lot about where that money splits.
If you want to understand how the cup character you're drinking got there, the contract is the most concrete version of the answer.