Importing Green Coffee to Germany from Indonesia: Tariffs, FOB vs CIF, and MOQ

Every few weeks a German roaster asks us the same question, and it’s usually the wrong one. “How much is the Kaffeesteuer on my container?” Zero. The Kaffeesteuer, Germany’s coffee tax, only applies once the beans are roasted inside Germany. Green coffee crossing the border is exempt from it entirely.

Here’s what actually applies. Importing green coffee to Germany from Indonesia carries 0% customs duty under commodity code 0901 11 00. It does carry 7% import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer), because raw coffee sits under Germany’s reduced VAT rate rather than the zero rating some other markets use. And starting in late 2026, it carries a paperwork requirement none of this series has had to cover yet: the EU Deforestation Regulation, which asks you to prove your coffee didn’t come from cleared forest land.

This article walks through all of it: the real tariff and VAT numbers, what EUDR actually requires and when, FOB versus CIF pricing, what a container costs to land in Hamburg, minimum order quantities, and the steps to buy.

Last updated: July 2026

Do You Pay Import Tariffs on Green Coffee in Germany?

No. Importing green coffee to Germany carries a 0% import duty. Unroasted, caffeinated green coffee beans fall under TARIC code 0901 11 00, and the EU’s third-country duty rate on that line is zero, whether the coffee ships from Indonesia, Brazil, or Vietnam.

The confusion almost never comes from the duty line. It comes from three different charges getting lumped into one scary word: “tax.” Here’s how they actually break down for a standard green coffee shipment.

Notice the pattern. Duty is zero because raw agricultural coffee has never been a protected good in the EU. VAT is 7% because Germany classifies coffee, roasted or green, under its reduced-rate schedule rather than the standard 19%. The Kaffeesteuer doesn’t touch your import at all, because it’s an excise on roasted and soluble coffee sold or produced domestically, not a border tax. Once you roast the beans in Germany, that changes: roasted coffee is taxed at €2.19 per kilogram, soluble coffee at €4.78 per kilogram. But that liability starts at your roaster, not at customs.

What About the Kaffeesteuer? Germany’s Coffee Tax Explained

The Kaffeesteuer does not apply to your green coffee import, full stop. It’s a national excise tax dating back to a 17th-century revenue measure, and it only becomes payable once coffee is roasted or processed into a soluble product inside Germany. Green, unroasted beans are explicitly exempt.

This is worth stating plainly because it’s the single most asked question we get from German buyers, and the answer surprises most of them. We’d argue it’s also the most misunderstood cost in German coffee sourcing: people budget for a tax that never touches the shipment, then get caught off guard by the VAT line that actually does.

Here’s why the confusion runs so deep. Germany taxes roasted coffee more heavily than almost anywhere else in Europe, and roasters talk about it constantly, at trade shows, in supplier emails, in industry press. That noise bleeds backward onto the import stage, where it doesn’t belong. If you’re importing green beans to roast yourself, the Kaffeesteuer is a bill you’ll pay later, tied to your production volume, not a customs charge tied to your container. Budget for it in your roasting business plan. Don’t budget for it in your import cost model.

EUDR in 2026: The Paperwork That Actually Matters

The real compliance work for a German coffee import in 2026 isn’t the tariff, it’s the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). From 30 December 2026, large and medium companies placing coffee on the EU market must submit a due diligence statement proving the coffee wasn’t grown on land deforested after 31 December 2020. Micro and small businesses get until 30 June 2027.

Here’s what that means in practice, plain language before the acronyms. You’ll need geolocation data for the farms or plantations your coffee came from, not just “Aceh, Indonesia” but coordinates precise enough to check against satellite deforestation maps. Your supplier needs to hold that data at the farmer or cooperative level, and you need it referenced in your due diligence statement before the coffee clears an EU port.

This is where direct-trade sourcing stops being a marketing phrase and starts being a compliance requirement. A trader who buys mixed lots off a general market and can’t trace them to specific farms is going to struggle to produce this paperwork. A supplier who already tracks which of its 1,200-plus partner farms a lot came from has the raw material for an EUDR statement sitting in its records already. That’s not a sales pitch, it’s the practical difference between a shipment that clears cleanly and one that gets held at Hamburg while someone scrambles for geolocation data after the fact.

One honest caveat: EUDR guidance and enforcement timelines have shifted before, and they can shift again. Confirm the current deadline and your obligation tier with your customs broker or the EU’s official EUDR information system before you commit to a shipment schedule around it.

FOB vs CIF vs CFR: Which Price Are You Comparing?

When an Indonesian exporter quotes you a coffee price, the first question is which Incoterm they’re using, because the same lot can carry three different numbers for the exact same coffee.

FOB (Free on Board) prices the coffee loaded onto the ship at the Indonesian port, Belawan for most Sumatra lots, and you arrange everything after that. CFR (Cost and Freight) adds ocean freight to a German port. CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) adds freight plus marine insurance on top. The bean in the bag doesn’t change between these three quotes. What changes is how much of the journey to Hamburg the seller has already priced in.

None of these three terms gets the coffee to your roastery door, and none includes German destination handling, customs clearance, or the paperwork EUDR now requires. Even CIF, which sounds the most complete, ends at the ship’s arrival in Hamburg or Bremerhaven.

One detail that changes your real price per kilo: moisture. Most wet-hulled Sumatra coffee is semi-washed, then wet-hulled (Giling Basah) while the bean still sits at 35-40% moisture, then dried down to export-ready levels around 12-13% before it loads FOB. You’re paying for dry bean weight at that point, not water weight. Ask any exporter what moisture the lot loaded at. A cheap quote on a lot that shipped wet isn’t a bargain, it’s a defect risk you haven’t tasted yet and a weight you already overpaid for.

The Honest Trade-Off: Why Germany Is a Notch Harder Than the UK or Canada Right Now

Duty and VAT on green coffee into Germany aren’t dramatically different from the UK or Canada guides in this series. What’s different, and what we won’t soften, is the paperwork load. Germany is inside the EU, and the EU is the first major coffee market to require deforestation due diligence on a hard deadline. The UK and Canada guides we’ve written don’t carry that requirement yet. Germany, from December 2026 onward, does.

That means a first-time German importer in late 2026 is doing more upfront work than a first-time UK importer doing the exact same trade a few months earlier: confirming your supplier’s farm-level traceability, holding geolocation data, and filing a due diligence statement most brokers are still building processes around. It’s an honest extra cost in time and admin, not a reason to avoid the German market, which remains the largest green coffee entry point into the EU and a genuinely deep destination for specialty lots. But anyone telling you German import paperwork in 2026 is identical to a UK import is skipping the part that actually matters this year.

What It Costs to Land a Container in Hamburg

Your landed cost is the FOB coffee price, plus ocean freight, plus German destination charges, with duty at zero and import VAT at 7% on top of the customs value. Hamburg handles roughly a third of all coffee entering the EU, which means the port infrastructure, bonded warehouses, and specialized freight forwarders are as established as anywhere in the world. That doesn’t make the charges disappear, it just means they’re predictable if you ask for them in writing before you ship.

Verified FOB Belawan ranges for Gayo, to anchor the coffee-price line (current export ranges; confirm live pricing before you budget):

On top of FOB, expect ocean freight in the region of a modest number of US cents per kilo on a full container, and German quayside charges, terminal handling, the delivery order fee, and haulage inland, adding another real layer regardless of Incoterm. CIF Rotterdam runs roughly $0.85/kg over FOB, a reasonable proxy for a nearby North Sea port like Hamburg, and gives you a sense of scale for the freight-and-insurance uplift before you get a live quote.

Then add 7% import VAT on the customs value (coffee price plus freight plus insurance), which most competent German customs agents will handle as postponed accounting if your business is VAT-registered, meaning it’s a cash-flow timing issue more than a hard cost. Confirm this with your Steuerberater before you assume it.

MOQ: How Much Do You Have to Buy

You don’t start with a container. A serious Indonesian exporter sells you a cupping sample first, then scales with you as trust builds. Should you request that sample before you commit to anything larger? Yes, every time, no exceptions.

Sample shipping is usually a courier cost you pay yourself, and that’s normal. You’re buying information, not weight. The economics shift hard at container scale, where ocean freight per kilo drops sharply, which is exactly why importers consolidate volume rather than shipping small lots repeatedly.

How to Actually Buy: Step by Step

Importing coffee from Indonesia to Germany is a sequence, not a leap, and the order matters.

First, get your EORI number if you don’t already have one; it’s required to clear customs anywhere in the EU and it’s free to apply for.

Second, if you’re a medium or large business, start your EUDR groundwork now, not the week your container arrives. Ask your supplier directly whether they hold farm-level geolocation data for the lot you want, and get that confirmation in writing before you sign a contract.

Third, choose your German freight forwarder before you lock in an Incoterm. A forwarder who quotes you Hamburg destination charges up front lets you compare an FOB price against your own landed-cost model, instead of accepting a CIF number you can’t verify.

Fourth, sample before volume: ask for a cupping sample of the actual current-crop lot, the full two-step process description, the moisture at shipment, and a recent cupping score. Cup it before you talk container size.

Fifth, agree the contract clearly: price and Incoterm, quantity and packaging (GrainPro-lined bags protect the cup through a long sea voyage), shipment window, payment terms, and the EUDR documentation your supplier will provide. Then your forwarder books the vessel, the coffee ships, and you clear it in Hamburg or Bremerhaven with the customs code entered correctly so the zero duty applies and the 7% VAT is calculated on the right base.

What This Means for German Roasters and Importers

If you’re a small German roaster placing your first Indonesian order, the tariff story is genuinely simple: no duty, a modest 7% VAT you can likely defer through postponed accounting, and no Kaffeesteuer until you actually roast. Your real job is sourcing a supplier who already has farm-level traceability, because that’s the piece that will decide whether your 2027 imports go smoothly once EUDR enforcement is in full swing for smaller operators too.

If you’re an importer or a larger roaster ordering at container scale, you’re already inside the EUDR compliance window starting this December. You have the volume to demand geolocation and due diligence paperwork upfront, so use it, instead of leaving it as an afterthought your broker chases down while your container sits in Hamburg. The customs numbers are the easy part. The traceability behind the coffee is where 2026 actually gets harder, and where a supplier’s records either hold up or don’t.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an import tariff on green coffee in Germany?

No. Unroasted, caffeinated green coffee beans (TARIC code 0901 11 00) enter Germany and the rest of the EU at 0% customs duty from all origins, including Indonesia. Duty applies only to roasted or decaffeinated coffee under different tariff lines.

Do you pay VAT when importing green coffee to Germany?

Yes. Green coffee is taxed at Germany’s reduced import VAT rate of 7% under Anlage 2 of the German VAT Act, unlike some markets that zero-rate raw coffee entirely. This is separate from the Kaffeesteuer and applies to the customs value of the shipment.

Does the Kaffeesteuer apply to green coffee imports?

No. The Kaffeesteuer is a domestic excise tax on roasted coffee (€2.19/kg) and soluble coffee (€4.78/kg) produced or sold within Germany. It does not apply to unroasted green coffee crossing the border, only after the beans are roasted domestically.

What is EUDR and when does it apply to coffee imports?

The EU Deforestation Regulation requires importers to prove coffee wasn’t grown on land deforested after 31 December 2020, using farm-level geolocation data. It applies to large and medium businesses from 30 December 2026, and to micro and small businesses from 30 June 2027.

What is the minimum order to import coffee from Indonesia to Germany?

You can start with a 1 kg cupping sample, then scale to a microlot around 60 kg, a wholesale quantity around 350 kg, or a full container of 9 metric tonnes and up. Most roasters sample first and confirm quality before committing to volume.

Sourcing Indonesian Green Coffee from Germany

Whatever supplier you choose, ask for the current crop year, the full two-step process description, the moisture at shipment, a recent cupping score, and confirmation of farm-level traceability before you sign anything larger than a sample order.

If you want to start with Gayo, Indonesia Specialty Coffee ships 1 kg cupping samples FOB Belawan so you can cup before you commit: request a sample or see the current green coffee pricelist.