Roasted coffee is an extremely perishable product.
It is almost as sensitive as the most perishable produce found in the market. Freshness cannot be preserved very long, regardless of how the coffee is packaged or stored - whole bean or ground. It is the roasting that sets the clock ticking on the shelf-life of coffee. Roasting Roasting is the last and most important step in a long sequence of processing that the beans go through after they are harvested. Coffee does not grow ready to use.