This article comprehensively sorts out the practical implementation standards of the review rules for roasted coffee production licenses, covering the industry development overview, scope of certification and application units, production and processing techniques and common quality issues, review methods for essential conditions of production enterprises, product inspection requirements, sampling methods and other core content. The article provides a detailed introduction to coffee variety classification, the history and current status of coffee cultivation in China, the production techniques of roasted coffee beans and ground coffee, common quality and safety issues and corresponding control measures, and also lists the specific requirements of relevant national and industry standards. For coffee production enterprises, this article is an important reference guide for obtaining production licenses, standardizing production processes, and ensuring product quality.

I. Industry Development Overview

The coffee tree is a plant of the Rubiaceae family. Among the 73 known varieties, only two—Arabica (Coffea arabica Linnaeus) and Canephora (Coffea canephora Pierre)—are commercially cultivated and utilized by humans. The remaining 71 varieties remain wild and have no economic value for growers.

The Arabica species contains approximately 200 varieties. Early Mocha, Bourbon, Maragogipe, and Typica all belong to this category. These traditional varieties have relatively low yields, around 700 to 1,500 kilograms per hectare. In contrast, modern bred lines such as Catuai, Caturra, and Catimor have significantly higher yields, reaching 7,000 to 12,000 kilograms per hectare, but their flavor performance is relatively inferior. The Canephora species has about 50 varieties, of which only 5 produce coffee with commercial value: Kouillou (from Madagascar), Conillon (from Brazil), Niaouli, Gime, and Robusta coffee.

In terms of origin, Arabica comes from the Middle East, while Canephora is native to Congo. Comparing the two, Arabica produces better quality coffee and is the most widely cultivated globally; Canephora is more cold-resistant and can adapt to harsher climatic conditions than Arabica. In addition, Robusta coffee beans are widely used in instant coffee production.

Coffee, along with cocoa and tea, is known as one of the world's three major beverage crops. Its main cultivation areas are concentrated in developing countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. According to statistics, more than 70 countries and regions worldwide grow coffee, and about 20 million people make a living from coffee cultivation. Over the past 30-plus years, world coffee production has roughly gone through three stages. The first stage was a period of increase from 1951 to 1963, with the harvested area climbing year by year from 5.74 million hectares to 10.23 million hectares; the second stage was a period of decline from 1964 to 1974, with the harvested area continuously shrinking to only 6.68 million hectares by 1974; the third stage was a period of recovery from 1975 to 1988, with the planted area gradually recovering after 1975, breaking through 10 million hectares again in 1980 and reaching 11.304 million hectares in 1988. Based on 1988 data, the proportions of coffee harvested area by continent as a share of the global total were: South America 42.7%, Africa 33.4%, Asia 31.3%, Central and North America 13.1%, and Oceania 0.4%.

Coffee was first introduced to China in Taiwan in 1884, and in 1908 overseas Chinese introduced it from Malaysia for cultivation on Hainan Island. However, the time when it truly formed commercial production is not long. In the late 1980s, the planted area reached a peak of 270,000 mu, including 210,000 mu on Hainan Island, 50,000 mu in Yunnan, 10,000 mu in Guangdong, and a small amount in Fujian. Thereafter, due to falling coffee bean prices, cultivation enterprises switched to other crops. The planted area began to decline in 1991, and by 2004 the national coffee planted area was about 90,000 mu, with annual coffee bean output of about 2,600 tons, while domestic coffee bean consumption that year was about 20,000 tons, of which about 10,000 tons was medium-grain coffee, with the vast majority dependent on imports.

Coffee production in Hainan Province has experienced several major ups and downs since liberation. Larger-scale planting appeared in the 1950s, and by 1960 the planted area was close to 130,000 mu, mainly medium-grain varieties. After 1963, affected by various factors, by 1979 the planted area had shrunk to 5,000 mu, with annual coffee bean output of only 35 tons. After the 1980s, production gradually recovered. In 1988, Hainan Island's coffee planted area reached 237,800 mu (mostly small-grain varieties), with a harvested area of 18,200 mu and annual coffee output of 642 tons. After 1989 it declined again, and by 1995 the province's coffee planted area was only 34,000 mu, with output of 523 tons, of which the harvested area of medium-grain coffee was less than 5,000 mu and output less than 200 tons.

Thanks to unique natural conditions, coffee produced in Yunnan Province is renowned worldwide for its excellent quality, mellow taste, and rich aroma. Yunnan has a long history of coffee cultivation, having been introduced as early as the beginning of this century, but for a long time this advantage was not fully realized, and it only gradually developed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. In 2004, Yunnan's coffee planted area was nearly 8,000 hectares, with a harvested area of about 3,333 hectares and annual dry bean output of more than 3,500 tons. The cultivation areas are distributed across 22 counties (cities) in 9 prefectures (cities), including 3,640 hectares in Simao Prefecture, accounting for 46% of the province; 1,533.3 hectares in Baoshan Prefecture, accounting for 19.6%; 786.7 hectares in Yuxi City, accounting for 10%; 768.3 hectares in Lincang Prefecture, accounting for 9.8%; 269.7 hectares in Xishuangbanna, accounting for 3.4%; in addition, Dehong Prefecture, Wenshan Prefecture, Honghe Prefecture, and Dali Prefecture also have cultivation.

China's coffee consumption has long been low. In the early 1980s, national consumption was only just over 2,000 tons, reaching 12,000 tons by 1990. With the advancement of coffee processing technology, new product development, and the promotion of export trade, coffee bean consumption exceeded 15,000 tons in 2000, and by the end of 2010 it was expected to double to 30,000 tons. The total area of coffee-suitable land nationwide is 11.644 million mu, but in 2004 only 90,000 mu was planted, leaving 11.3737 million mu of suitable land undeveloped, of which 5.569 million mu of first- and second-class suitable land could be developed and utilized, indicating considerable potential. In 1995, the national total coffee output was only 3,196 tons, including 581 tons in Hainan, 2,605 tons in Yunnan, and 105 tons in Guangdong.

II. Determination of the Scope of Certification and Division of Application Units

(I) Scope of Certification

Roasted coffee included in food production license management refers to food processed from coffee beans as raw materials through cleaning, blending, roasting, cooling, grinding, and other processes. Instant coffee is not within the scope of this unit.

(II) Product Classification

After coffee fruit is harvested, the peel must be removed by either the wet method or the dry method. Dry processing is mainly used for medium-grain coffee. The method is to spread freshly harvested fruit on a drying yard for sun-drying, then place it in a hot-air dryer for 18 to 24 hours, after which it is hulled, impurities are screened out, and it is graded by size. Wet processing is mainly used for small-grain coffee. The process is: fresh fruit is first graded by a grading machine, then the peel and pulp are removed with an electric pulper; the pulped beans are placed in a fermentation tank for water immersion and fermentation, with the water changed every 12 hours; after 1 to 2 days, the fully fermented coffee beans are washed clean with water, then dried and hulled to obtain commercial coffee beans. Coffee beans obtained by wet processing are of better quality and can improve the appearance of the coffee beans as well as the color, aroma, and taste of the coffee beverage.

The coffee bean raw materials used by production enterprises are commercial coffee beans after the peel has been removed by either the wet or dry method.

1. Roasted coffee

After coffee beans are cleaned and blended, they are roasted with a roasting machine and cooled, then packaged in airtight containers; this is the roasted coffee product.

2. Ground coffee

After coffee beans are cleaned, blended, and roasted, they are mechanically ground and screened, and stored in airtight containers; this is the ground coffee product.

(III) Application Units

For roasted coffee under food production license management, there is 1 application unit, namely roasted coffee (including roasted coffee beans and ground coffee).

III. Production and Processing Techniques and Common Quality Problems

(I) Process Overview

1. Process for roasted coffee beans

(1) Cleaning

With the aid of airflow and vibration, various impurities such as ash, soil, small stones, and metal mixed in with the coffee beans are removed. Cleaning is usually completed on specialized machinery, and manual screening may also be used. The coffee beans are then passed through screens with different mesh sizes and graded by size. Enterprises with the conditions may also use a colorimeter to monitor unripe or overripe coffee beans and pick out beans that are too light or too dark in color. Ultraviolet light is used to select and remove rotten coffee beans.

(2) Blending

Before roasting, different varieties of coffee are blended. By supplementing with coffees of different varieties and origins, various aromas and components are combined so that the final product has a specific flavor and the consistency of the coffee quality is ensured.

In order to satisfy the taste preferences of different groups of people, coffees may be mixed in certain proportions according to origin to achieve the best effect. Generally speaking, wet-processed Arabica coffee has a pronounced acidity and is full of aroma, while natural Arabica coffee has a more balanced taste. Robusta coffee, on the other hand, has a strong, rather bitter taste with an earthy note. Coffee from Kenya and Tanzania has obvious sweetness and acidity. Different blending methods can produce distinctive flavors.

(3) Roasting

The blended coffee beans are treated under dry heat, and their structure and composition undergo significant chemical and physical changes, causing the coffee beans to darken in color and emit the characteristic aroma of roasted coffee.

At the beginning of roasting, the temperature should rise above 150°C. Through a series of Maillard reactions and Strecker degradation, proteins and carbohydrates in the coffee beans react to produce aromatic and colored substances. Several major aroma substances in coffee are formed at this stage. The color of the coffee beans is related to the roasting temperature; the higher the temperature, the darker the color. After 8 to 12 minutes of roasting, the internal moisture of the coffee beans is completely evaporated, the mass is reduced by 20%, but the volume increases by 60%.

(4) Cooling

After roasting is completed, the coffee beans must be cooled rapidly, generally by forced cooling with cold air, though water cooling processes are also used.

(5) Packaging

Roasted coffee products require strict packaging and suitable storage conditions. Because roasted coffee products themselves are prone to oxidation, their packaging and storage are particularly important.

Freshly produced roasted coffee products have a beautiful aroma, which is also a sign of the freshness of roasted coffee products. But soon afterward, these characteristics disappear one after another. Under general climatic conditions, the rate of deterioration of roasted coffee products often depends on packaging and storage conditions.

The role of packaging is to prevent air and moisture from attacking roasted coffee products. Relative air humidity fluctuates high and low; if roasted coffee products absorb air and water vapor, in severe cases the product may lose its value. Therefore, the selection of packaging materials and packaging forms is the key to improving the product's resistance to water and air.

Another role of packaging is to protect the aroma of roasted coffee products over time. First, it prevents the product's own aroma from escaping into the air, and second, it blocks contamination from unpleasant odors in the external environment. Fresh and rich roasted coffee products will have a weakened aroma after being left for a period of time. This is first because volatile aromatic substances diffuse from the product into the surrounding space, and at the same time the product also adsorbs unpleasant surrounding odors. Therefore, high-quality roasted coffee products mostly use airtight packaging to preserve aroma.

2. Process for ground coffee

The cleaning, blending, roasting, and packaging production processes for ground coffee are the same as for roasted coffee. Ground coffee is simply made by mechanically grinding and screening roasted coffee beans.

(II) Common Quality and Safety Problems

1. Improper setting of time and temperature during coffee roasting causes a decline in quality indicators

During roasting, coffee beans undergo a series of physical and chemical changes at high temperature, and these changes determine the quality of their taste and flavor. If the roasting temperature is increased, although the roasting speed can be accelerated and the coffee beans can be darkened in color, the Maillard reaction cannot proceed fully, and the amount of coffee flavor substances generated is limited.

2. Improper product storage and packaging cause a decline in coffee flavor and the production of unpleasant odors

Coffee that has just been roasted should be packaged as soon as possible; if it comes into contact with air, it will oxidize and lose its characteristic taste. Packaging can also prevent roasted coffee from adsorbing unpleasant surrounding odors. Therefore, roasted coffee products mostly use airtight packaging to preserve aroma.

At the same time, coffee beans produce a certain amount of carbon dioxide gas after roasting. If stored improperly, gas accumulation will cause the packaging bag to swell or even burst. Therefore, composite packaging bags with a valve device should be used as much as possible. The valve is a one-way valve that can both prevent air from entering and allow the gas produced by the coffee to escape smoothly. Of course, metal cans are relatively ideal packaging materials.

IV. Review Methods and Requirements for Essential Conditions of Production Enterprises

(I) Production Sites

In addition to the necessary production environment, roasted coffee production enterprises should also have raw and auxiliary material warehouses, production workshops, finished product warehouses, and inspection laboratories suited to production. The processing room and packaging room within the production workshop should be isolated (this applies only to situations where the processing and packaging processes are discontinuous and intermittent; under fully sealed conditions for processing and packaging, this requirement may be waived).

(II) Essential Production Equipment

Production equipment and facilities should be inspected according to the enterprise's production process. The enterprise should possess all equipment and facilities required by the process. Enterprise production processes vary greatly, equipment models differ, and new technologies and processes are constantly emerging. The enterprise's specific situation should be taken into account, and the judgment of whether the enterprise has the equipment and facilities to produce qualified products should be based on the raw materials and final products. The following descriptions of equipment merely illustrate commonly used working principles and methods.

1. Screening equipment

The workflow of coffee bean cleaning machinery is as follows: after coffee beans are fed into the equipment, heavy stones and metal are first removed; then airflow is used to draw fine dust and other matter from the coffee beans through a cyclone into a dust collector; next, the coffee beans fall successively onto lower screens, and the vibrating screens send whole coffee beans, broken coffee beans, sand, and soil out through different outlets, thereby achieving cleaning and grading of the coffee beans. Some cleaning equipment also has functions such as color sorting. Any equipment with screens, or manual screening that can satisfy process requirements, meets the requirements.

2. Roasting and cooling equipment

Traditional roasting equipment uses direct fire heating and is operated entirely by experience, roasting one batch at a time, loading new beans after each batch is finished. The disadvantage is slow speed and low efficiency, but the quality of the roasted coffee beans is satisfactory. In contrast, the working procedure of a continuous roaster is: coffee beans fall from the feed hopper into the preheating zone, then into the roasting zone; fully roasted beans fall into the cooling zone, and finally into a rotary valve, which discharges the roasted coffee beans onto the conveyor belt below. This cycle continues without interruption, forming a continuous roasting effect. At the fastest, the roasting time is less than 90 seconds. This type of equipment has low processing costs, but poorer quality.

3. Grinding equipment (applicable only to ground coffee products)

The roasted coffee beans are crushed, and the particle size is controlled by adjusting the screen below.

4. Packaging equipment (sealing machine, production date marking device, metering and weighing device, etc.)

There should be a sealing machine capable of printing the production date and capable of metering and weighing at any stage of production.

5. Repackaging enterprises should have grinding equipment (applicable when there is a grinding process requirement) and packaging equipment.

6. Principles for determining qualified, generally unqualified, and seriously unqualified production equipment

(1) Possesses the essential production equipment, and the equipment's performance and precision can meet food production and processing requirements: qualified.

(2) Possesses the essential production equipment, but only the screening equipment needs improvement: generally unqualified.

(3) Does not possess the essential production equipment, or the performance and precision of some or all of the roasting and cooling equipment and packaging equipment cannot meet food production and processing requirements: seriously unqualified.

(III) Product-Related Standards

The roasted coffee produced by the enterprise should comply with the following standards, and enterprise standards should comply with the requirements of the corresponding product standards. The enterprise should have the current text of the product standard corresponding to the declared application unit.

1. NY/T 605—2002 "Roasted Coffee Beans."

2. Filed, currently effective enterprise standards.

(IV) Production Process Control

Production enterprises should, according to the sequence of the production process and product characteristics, set up raw material handling, semi-finished product handling (processing), finished product packaging, and other processes separately to prevent cross-contamination between preceding and subsequent processes. Production should be organized according to the requirements of Table 1, and corresponding critical control points should be set according to specific circumstances.

Table 1 Requirements for Production Process Control of Roasted Coffee

Note: * indicates a critical control point.

Critical control points are for reference only during review and are not used as a basis for judgment.

(V) Inspection Equipment

Factory inspection equipment refers to the necessary inspection equipment to complete factory inspection items. The equipment listed in the rules is only the main part. These devices alone are not enough to complete inspection, because some commonly used auxiliary test equipment, glass instruments, test reagents, and consumables are not listed one by one.

1. Factory inspection equipment

Factory inspection equipment that enterprises should possess: (1) analytical balance (sensitivity 0.1 mg); (2) electrically heated constant-temperature drying oven.

2. Product inspection standards

Roasted coffee should be inspected according to the following standards:

GB/T 4789.4—2003 "Microbiological Examination of Food Hygiene: Examination of Salmonella"; GB/T 4789.5—2003 "Microbiological Examination of Food Hygiene: Examination of Shigella"; GB/T 4789.10—2003 "Microbiological Examination of Food Hygiene: Examination of Staphylococcus aureus"; GB/T 4789.11—2003 "Microbiological Examination of Food Hygiene: Examination of Hemolytic Streptococcus"; GB/T 5009.3—2003 "Determination of Moisture in Foods"; GB/T 5009.11—2003 "Determination of Total Arsenic and Inorganic Arsenic in Foods"; GB/T 5009.12—2003 "Determination of Lead in Foods"; GB/T 5009.13—2003 "Determination of Copper in Foods"; GB/T 5009.19—2003 "Determination of BHC and DDT Residues in Foods"; GB/T 19182—2003 "Coffee—Determination of Caffeine Content—High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method."

3. Principles for determining inspection equipment

(1) Possesses the specified factory inspection equipment, can meet the needs of factory inspection, and the laboratory layout is reasonable: qualified.

(2) Possesses the essential factory inspection equipment, but the laboratory layout is not quite reasonable: generally unqualified.

(3) Does not possess the specified factory inspection equipment, or the analytical balance or electrically heated constant-temperature drying oven cannot meet factory inspection requirements: seriously unqualified.

The inspection equipment used for factory inspection items of roasted coffee is shown in Table 2.

V. Inspection of Roasted Coffee Products

1. Certification inspection

Certification inspection is a comprehensive inspection of the products produced by the enterprise and a comprehensive assessment of product quality. Therefore, the certification inspection items are all inspection items in the relevant product standards.

Table 2 Correspondence Table of Factory Inspection Items and Inspection Equipment

2. Supervisory inspection

The focus of supervisory inspection is to inspect important quality indicators and safety-related items, generally all items in product hygiene standards.

3. Factory inspection

The factory inspection items in the review rules for roasted coffee shall be carried out according to the delivery inspection items specified in the product standards, mainly quality indicators that are prone to fluctuate with changes in production conditions.

4. Product standards and inspection standards

The specific implementation requirements are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Correspondence Table of Inspection Items, Product Standards, and Inspection Standards for Roasted Coffee

5. Inspection items

The certification inspection, periodic supervisory inspection, and factory inspection items for roasted coffee shall be carried out according to the inspection items listed in Table 4. For factory inspection items marked with "*", the enterprise should inspect 4 times per year.

Table 4 Table of Quality Inspection Items for Roasted Coffee

Basis standard: NY/T 605—2002.

6. Comprehensive judgment principles

(1) Meets certification conditions: all inspection items are qualified.

(2) Does not meet certification conditions: 1 or more inspection items are unqualified.

VI. Sampling Methods

Sampling for certification inspection and supervisory inspection shall be conducted according to the following provisions.

Sampling shall be conducted according to the variety of product for which the enterprise applies for certification, and 1 type of the enterprise's leading product shall be randomly selected for inspection. If the enterprise applies for two products, the verification team should select ground coffee for certification inspection.

For enterprises that pass on-site verification, after completing the on-site verification of essential conditions, the verification team shall randomly select certification inspection samples from the enterprise's finished product warehouse. The samples selected must be qualified products with the same production date and within the shelf life. For each product, 4 items shall be randomly selected, the total sample amount shall not be less than 800 g, and the base number of sampled samples shall not be less than 200 items.

The above sampled samples shall be divided into 2 portions and sent to an inspection institution for inspection, 1 portion for inspection and 1 portion for reference. After confirming that the samples are correct, the sampling personnel of the verification team and the sampled entity shall sign, seal, and seal the samples on the spot on the sampling form, and affix a seal. The seal shall bear the signature of the sampling personnel, the seal of the sampling unit, and the sealing date.

VII. Other Requirements

1. This category of products may be repackaged.

2. The certification inspection, supervisory inspection, and factory inspection items and inspection methods for ground coffee shall follow those for roasted coffee beans.

VIII. Drafting Unit

Shanghai Institute of Product Quality Supervision and Inspection

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.