I want to roast & sell from home - why not?

Davec

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Oct 18, 2006
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You could also use the PTE Foil one way valve bags and simply heat seal them. They have a very nice appearance and the coffee keeps well.

You also don't need an expensive heat sealer for the bags, in fact there is an inexpensive solution that worked better (especially for the 250g bags) than the 400 foot operated sealer I have used.

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/coffee-po ... substitute

I still have the original unit and it has sealed over 1200 foil coffee bags with no problem at all.....sealing time for a definite good seal is 8-10 seconds per bag. The seal is so strong you can't pull it apart.
 

Davec

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I also definitely meant what I said about it being better than the £400 constant heat foot sealer I was using for a while....so much easier and of course warms up in 60 seconds not 15-20 minutes.....so you don't have to leave it on all the time in a busy roastery.
 

lachris

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Aug 7, 2008
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Farmers Market

Well - we sat up a booth yesterday at the farmers market - FUN FUN! We sold bagged coffee and 16oz ups of fresh pour over coffee one cup at a time. Melitta one cupper! They were great and we ground my Sumatra and Columbian I roasted the night before. Smelled great and tasted better! It was a hit except for the fact that for some reason the traffic was way off - so said the other vendors. Still it was fun.

So now that we have the feel for it, I have to get busy with getting my raosting room ready for the inspector. We have had two talks and she says it will be a snap!!!

I guess the answer to my original post is: there is no reason! :grin:

lachris
 
Jan 18, 2008
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Lachris, thanks for following up on your new coffee adventure.

Does your set up include selling bags of your freshly roasted coffee beans at the farmers' market as well? Say 8 - 16oz bags? You could possibly even grind the beans at the market for customers who don't have grinders at home.

Also, you mentioned pouring coffees the day after roasting - I've noticed that most of my coffees get even better, more well rounded flavors, after a few days from the roast date.....

Congratulations and keep us posted! :D
 

lachris

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caffe biscotto

Yes - I had three different beans: Columbian, Sumatra and Nicaraguan. Sold 4 or 5 bags (12oz) all the same price/$9. Coffee we sold by the cup was 12hrs old (too fresh). At the last minute the night before I realized I had roasted a day before to sell by the bag but roasted nothing to sell buy the cup so I roasted more Friday night to sell ground and fresh brewed – grinding about 21g per 16 oz cup – yield in that cup is really only about 12-14oz depending on how full you fill the cup. Brew time was a little slow based on most customers think they should just come up and pour themselves a cup of coffee from an airpot. I told them "like Emmeril says on his cooking show, "where really cooking here.."" and that it would be about 3min wait. Most didn't mind.

Coffee was very hot and flavor was best after about 10-15 minutes cool down time in the cup. Coffee went over well – creamer (whitener) was not such a hit. I was going to have to buy a 500 pack of little single servings of half & half or I could buy a 50 pack of the coffee mate – so I took the lesser and – you know… Next time, I'm going half & half.
 

lachris

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Well - I went to the farmers market again Saturday and we had a good day. traffic was slow again at the market but ours increased by 50%. I had return "bagged bean" customers. One guy even bought one of everything we were offering - cool. Sold more coffee by the cup - I offered a 12oz cup for $1 along with our 16oz like last time for $1.5 We also had half n half. Lots of work, but lots of fun!

Our roasting room at home is coming along - cutting out drywall tonight for the new plumbing for the hand wash sink. Everything is coming together slowly hut surely - about the time we get it finished winter will be here and the market will be closed - could be a long winter...
 

lachris

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Aug 7, 2008
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Yes - I have had tons of interest in my fresh roasted beans. It is amazing how folks just come out of the wood works with interest. I have a specialty tea shop asking for coffee samples, a mobile espresso shop asking for samples and a specialty offsite corporate meeting ranch that provides a meetng place for companies to brainstorm. They provide premium quality food and accomidations and they are looking for a high quality coffee - local - fresh - organic if possible. All looking for suppliers right now. :eek:

I got to get moving on things or I'm gonna miss out...

Yes - lots of planning - right now! :)
 

locobill

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Sep 16, 2008
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We did it

Hi,
I partnered with another couple who wanted to roast and sell beans. We had the good luck of having a separate shop behind my house. I was originally a maintenance shop, and now stores lawnmowers etc.
We had to get approved by the county health dept, which included 3 bay sinks, painted ceilings, wall and floor, toilet, utility sink, and hand washing sink. More sinks, than we know what to do with.
To date, we have sold about 1,000 six oz bags of beans this summer, and now we need a bigger roaster. We bought a modified rotisserie grill on Ebay that served us well this summer but now we need to expand. We probably roasted over 200 batches of beans this summer, 4 lbs at a time.
Now we are looking to expand into selling to various businesses. This requires a state license in Indiana. So that is our next step.
 

djveed

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Jul 23, 2008
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Hey wow that's great lachris! I am so obsessed with coffee and just wondering how I can break into the industry without actually forking over six digits for a coffee shop. And people up here in CT are so anal retentive that all they think about is Starbucks. But times are changing.

You've inspired me! I'll start learning how to home roast today and maybe look at selling in next year's CT farmers' markets!
 

lachris

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djveed - Good for you!

So far the response has been great - if I could brew by the cup faster I could no doubt double my per cup sales. But really that is not what I'm trying to do - not sell cups of coffee, rather bags of beans - and by the response, folks are very interested. I have set up at 4 markets and each one brings both new folks and returning coffee drinkers. Some just want a cup of coffee, while others want to know all about it.

I hope to be able to set up this fall after the market has ended and sale at a few of the fall festivals. My only fear is that I won't be able to keep up - they always bring out tons of cold folks looking for hot coffee or chocolate. I might have to bring out the Bunn - I am resisting thermal air pots for now. The point is "fresh coffee" not stale.

Anyway - good luck and get to it...!
 
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