Starting a coffee roasting business

[eldub]

They say you can roast a pound of beans on the US Roaster Corp 5 kg unit.

The price includes a spanner wrench, a tube of food grade lube, lunch and a day of training on the unit. (At their factory in OK City.)

Btw, I look at the initial practice batches as an investment in your future success. We used those beans to develop roast profiles as well as blends. Samples were delivered to prospective wholesale accounts. We gave away hella pounds of beans from those batches to friends, family and neighbors, turning many folks into loyal customers in the process.)

We went with US Roaster Corp for many reasons. I like the stainless steel barrel. I like the fact that the unit is manufactured here in the US. I like the fact that this brand recently won the blind taste test four years in a row at the SCAA Roaster's Guild Retreat. (They weren't allowed to participate in the competition this last go round for some odd reason.):twisted:

 

[Kbeans]

Those are all great points. I am just anxious to get roasting in a professional roaster! :coffee-bean:
Does the 5kg come with a chaff collector or any type of computer monitoring system? Would I need to add anything to the one with the price of $14,500 or would I be good in regards of equipment to get started?

 

[eldub]

External chaff collector is included. No computer monitoring system. (Can be purchased for an additional $4000 or so.)

We went with the manual unit and I'm still happy with that decision.

You will still need to purchase venting for the unit. It requires a col vent for the bean cooling fan as well as a class "A" hot pipe. (The class A ain't cheap, btw.) We had a friend with a wholesale account at a heating/plumbing supply order the hot venting for us on his account. That saved us a bunch of money.

 

[Kbeans]

I am thinking I would go with the manual system as well. I know some people in the heating and air business that I could probably do the same thing. About how much, ballpark figure, for the venting? Do many states require some type of emissions restrictions on coffee rosters?

 

[eldub]

Retail, the venting can run up to $100/foot. We went with stainless triple wall and paid a bit over $1000 for 14 or 15 feet of venting plus collar and top piece.

The convevtional shove pipe for the cool air venting was much cheaper.

As far as regs go, check with your local/state officials. Here in Iowa, a chaff collector is sufficient.

 

[Kbeans]

Hmm ok I will have to look into the regulations around here. Do you use propane or natural gas? Is this the only type of roaster you have used?

On another note...do you suggest starting getting beans from a broker or a smaller middle man due to starting out with small orders as I build my business?

 

[eldub]

We use natural gas.

It is my first roaster.

We only roast organic and mostly get our green beans from Royal Coffee and Cafe Imports, as they both keep a nice selection of organics on hand, for the most part. Keep in mind that shipping costs are partly determined by distance. Cafe Imports and Royal both have warehouses here in the upper midwest and we can get beans from those facilities to our shop for less money than if they ship from facilities on the coasts.

Btw, it pretty much costs the same thing to ship one bag or a full pallet, so order accordingly.

scott

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I buy for my own use and I normally buy around 180kg or 300 kg and the shipping is same for 180kg or 300 kg...
I like Propane for smaller roaster. When you have propane roasters, you can move the roaster to different location but when they are 5kg or bigger, natural gas.

 

[Kbeans]

I live near VA Beach. Does anyone know of any brokers close to my area? I would love to be able to pick up my beans and avoid shipping. When you started your roasting business, did you order several bags of coffee upfront?

 

[eldub]

There are warehouses on the east coast.

We ordered eight bags and another three shortly after that hadn't arrived by the time we placed the first order.

 

[Kbeans]

Did those go pretty fast? Did you already have clients by the time you ordered? I'm just unsure of the demand and I don't want to order too much in the beginning.

 

[eldub]

We didn't have any clients before we ordered the beans. However, once the beans arrived we roasted batches until I liked the results and then set appointments by phone, made up a price list and brought samples around to the targeted establishments.

I wanted to have a nice variety of beans on hand for single origin offerings as well as blends before setting out to sell anything. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Keep in mind that we roast only organically certified beans and for that reason had immediate interest from all of the local health food stores/upscale markets.

Green coffee beans have a reasonable shelf life. You should be OK if you make sure all of the beans you buy are from the current crop.

 

[eldub]

I guess a question to ask yourself would be, "How committed are you to making this business venture a success?"

Is it going to be a hobby?

That's why I get a kick out of some folks talking about starting a coffee roasting business with a 2Kg machine. Its almost like they are hedging their bets against failure rather than planning on succeeding.

 

[Kbeans]

I am very committed and I am determined to grow this business as much as I can. I have always known I wanted to own a business one day since I was very young, but just didn't know what I wanted to do. Until last year I had no clue what I would be passionate about. The first time I roasted I fell in love and have been researching and practicing ever since. My wife and I are coffee LOVERS and her dream has always been to own a coffee shop, so our dreams fit together perfectly. This is my first business venture and I am a anxious, excited and nervous. I am just trying to find out as much information as I can from seasoned roasters such as yourself, and others. I really appreciate everyone's help!

 

[Hankua]

KB, we have RoyalNY here in Jax and they are solid. Long way to drive for a few bags, but they have a Honduran Cerra Azul our coffee club has been distributing, fresh in. It's a really mild coffee that would be great for starting out with. Maybe you should consider getting something small to roast samples on, like a used Behmor.