Registration, U.S. Agent, and the exact rules that apply to green, roasted, and instant coffee.
Any foreign facility that grows, dry-processes, roasts, grinds, blends, or packs coffee intended for the U.S. market must complete FDA Food Facility Registration. This applies at every stage — a dry mill washing and sorting green beans is in scope just as much as a roastery packaging retail bags.
This is facility-level, not shipment-level. One registration covers a facility; it doesn't need to be repeated per shipment (that's what Prior Notice is for — see our Prior Notice guide).
Every registered foreign facility must name a U.S. Agent — a person or company physically located in the United States who can receive FDA communications on the facility's behalf, including in an emergency (such as a recall notice or import alert). Orionex serves this role for coffee exporters across green bean, roasted, and instant coffee categories.
| Product | Registration Required? |
|---|---|
| Green (unroasted) coffee beans | Yes |
| Roasted whole bean / ground coffee | Yes |
| Instant / soluble coffee | Yes |
| Flavored or blended coffee | Yes |
| Cold brew concentrate / RTD coffee | Yes |
In practice, every commercial form of coffee destined for the U.S. requires registration — there's no processing-level exemption.
Yes — instant coffee is processed food, and the manufacturing or packing facility must be FDA registered with a U.S. Agent, same as green or roasted coffee.
Yes. Registration applies to the facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds the coffee — not the party you're selling to.
We handle FDA registration, U.S. Agent service, and your 2026 renewal in one place.
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