After the beans have been sorted they are ready to be graded. Each country of origin has its own criteria for grading and labeling its coffee beans. Size, Shape, Altitude, and Density are all used by various countries to grade and label their coffees.

Coffee is also graded into "commercial coffee" (typically distributed as national brands by supermarkets) or into "specialty coffee" (typically sold by local and regional roasters and coffee houses).

The following standards are required for a coffee to be considered "Specialty":
· The coffee must have a distinctive and pleasing flavor profile in the areas of taste, acidity, body, and aroma.
· Once roasted, the sample must be free of unripe or under-developed beans.
· The coffee must meet stringent requirements the number of allowed primary and secondary defects within a 300-gram sample.

Factoid: Only 7% of the global production of coffee is graded as "specialty coffee".

Bagging
The last step prior to export is to put the graded green coffee beans into bags for their international journey to Flagstaff. Coffee bags are made of readily available local material consisting primarily of hemp, jute, or burlap. The bags are printed with the Country of Origin, Grade Name, Growing Region, Method of Processing, and if applicable, the Estate Name.

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