Import Coffee from India to the USA

No license or permit specific to coffee is required. You do need to meet FDA food import requirements: the supplying facility must hold a current FDA registration, an electronic Prior Notice must be filed before arrival, and you must maintain a Foreign Supplier Verification Program as the importer. The customs entry is filed through a licensed customs broker.

Green coffee is classified under HTS subheading 0901.11.00 for unroasted, non decaffeinated coffee. Duty treatment follows the classification applied at entry and the measures in force at that time, and it is settled at the moment of entry rather than at contract. Confirm the current position with your licensed customs broker before quoting a landed cost. We supply every commercial document needed to support the classification.

The Foreign Supplier Verification Program is a Food Safety Modernization Act requirement that sits with the US importer, not the foreign exporter. You must verify that your supplier produces food meeting US safety standards, through hazard analysis, supplier evaluation, verification activities and recordkeeping. FDA conducts unannounced FSVP audits on green coffee importers, so the plan needs to exist before your first container arrives.

Standard MOQ for green coffee is one 20 foot FCL container, approximately 18 to 20 MT loaded as around 300 jute bags of 60 kg each. Roasted coffee is 200 kg per roast profile and instant coffee is 500 kg per profile. LCL shipments can be discussed for trial orders, specialty single origin lots and first time buyers building confidence.

Indicative ocean transit is about 25 to 32 days to US East Coast ports and about 30 to 38 days to the West Coast via Suez, loading at Mangalore, Cochin or Chennai. Actual times vary with carrier, service string and routing via Suez or the Cape of Good Hope, so confirm the current schedule with your freight forwarder before planning around an arrival date.

Robusta Kaapi Royale, the washed Parchment A grade, is the usual starting point, since wet processing delivers crema and body without the harshness of natural Robusta. Roasters wanting more sweetness often blend in Arabica Cherry AA or Monsoon Malabar AA for low acid body. Ask for a sample set across all three and cup them against your current blend.

Monsooning is a post harvest process unique to India, not a varietal. Natural Arabica beans are exposed to monsoon winds on the Malabar coast for twelve to sixteen weeks, absorbing humidity, swelling to nearly double their size and turning pale gold. The result is a bold, earthy, very low acid cup with heavy body. US roasters use it as a low acid single origin for customers who find bright coffees harsh, and as a body builder in espresso blends.

Coffee absorbs ambient moisture during a 25 to 32 day sea voyage in a steel container at high humidity, which can spike moisture content and allow mould to develop. Standard packing is 60 kg jute bags with GrainPro hermetic inner liners that hold internal moisture stable throughout transit. Every consignment includes an Ochratoxin A test report from a NABL accredited lab, and desiccant packs plus humidity monitor data are available on request.

Certified lots are available through our supplier network, primarily from estates in Araku Valley and selected Wayanad and Coorg estates, with 8 to 12 weeks lead time. Certification is held by the producing and processing facility rather than by Alstoe, and we supply the full certificate chain including Scope and Transaction Certificates. To market coffee as organic in the United States you will need certification recognized under the USDA National Organic Program, so raise it at the inquiry stage and we will match you to a facility carrying the right scope.

Coffee contracts are on advance payment against proforma invoice. A 500 g sample is dispatched free within 48 hours and cup scores are locked in writing before the order is confirmed, so you approve the lot before any payment is discussed.