According to legislation within the EU markets decaffeinated coffee is a coffee with a caffeine content reduced to 0,1% or less in roasted coffee beans, and to 0,3% or less in soluble/instant coffee. Decaffeinated coffee is available as a choice for those consumers who wish to enjoy the taste and aroma of coffee without experiencing the mild stimulant effects provided by the caffeine.

The decaffeination processes are performed on green coffee beans in industrial plants.

• There are four methods of decaffeination, according to which substance is used to extract the caffeine; Water – Ethyl Acetate – Supercritical or Liquid CO₂ – Methylene Chloride. These four processing methods all share the basic stages of;
• Swelling the green coffee beans with water or steam in order to make the caffeine available for extraction
• Extracting the caffeine from the beans
• Steam stripping to remove all solvent residues from the beans (when applied) / regenerating adsorbents (when applied)
• Drying the decaffeinated coffee beans back to their normal moisture content

Under carefully controlled process conditions, such as temperature, pressure and time, the caffeine extraction step is based on physical phase transport mechanisms. Due to the difference in concentration, the caffeine is diffused out of the cell structure into solvent surrounding the bean until the concentration of caffeine is the same inside and outside the beans.