Stock control for green coffee, roasted coffee and packaging
A roastery holds three kinds of stock with three different clocks: green that ages over months, roasted coffee that ages over weeks, and packaging with long lead times. How to control each.
7 min read Updated 9 October 2026
Stock is where a roastery's cash sits. Too little and you cannot fill orders; too much green and it fades in the sack; too much roasted and it goes stale; too much packaging and it dates when you change the design. Each needs its own rules.
Green coffee
Track green by lot, not just by name: origin, producer or station, process, the supplier's lot reference, arrival date, bags and weight, and where it is stored. Two shipments of the same coffee are different lots with different cost and quality.
Reorder points
Reorder point = weekly usage x supplier lead time in weeks + safety stock. A coffee you roast 40 kg of green a week, with a two-week lead time from a UK warehouse and one week of safety stock, needs reordering when 120 kg is left. Coffees bought on forward contracts or for a seasonal menu need planning months ahead instead.
Age
Green coffee changes over months as moisture and aromatics fade; storage conditions matter as much as time. Use first in, first out, and note arrival dates. See storing green coffee.
Roasted coffee
Hold as little roasted stock as your delivery rhythm allows. Label every container with coffee, roast date and batch number, and set a maximum age after which roasted stock goes to staff, sampling or a reduced-price channel rather than to a wholesale customer.
Packaging
Printed bags have minimum order quantities and lead times of weeks. Keep a reorder point for each bag size and label stock, and avoid printing details that change often (prices, a short-lived coffee name) directly on bags.
Stocktakes and valuation
Stocktake routine
- Count green by lot monthly, weighing open sacks
- Count roasted stock and packaging at the same time
- Value green at cost including freight and duty, not at today's price
- Investigate differences against the system before adjusting
- Year-end stocktake for the accounts, signed and dated
Signs of trouble
- Green lots more than a year old still in stock
- Frequent emergency green purchases at spot prices
- Roasted coffee written off each week
- Bags running out before a reprint arrives
Where Roastnet helps
Questions roasters ask
- How much green coffee should a roastery hold?
- Enough to cover usage through the supplier's lead time plus a safety margin, typically a few weeks for spot coffees from UK warehouses. More ties up cash and ages the coffee.
- How do I value coffee stock for my accounts?
- At the lower of cost and net realisable value, with cost including the purchase price, freight and duty. Ask your accountant how to treat roasted stock and packaging.
Read next
Storing green coffee: temperature, humidity, bags and age
Green coffee is a dried seed that keeps trading moisture with the air. Store it cool, dry, off the floor and away from smells, and it will hold its quality for months.
Production planning: from orders to a roast list
A roast plan answers four questions: what is ordered, what is already roasted, how much green that needs after roast loss, and how many batches fit the week. The method, step by step.
Traceability in a roastery: from green lot to customer
If a customer finds a stone in a bag, you need to know within hours which green lot it came from, which batches used it and who else received them. How to set that up.
Run the roastery from one place
Green stock, roast plans, wholesale orders and the green coffee market in one platform, with a free roast-logging app for your machine.