So are you looking to earn a living from roasting coffee? Coffee roasting is a delicate process, but it can be fun, especially when you’re earning income.
However, you can’t just put up a small coffee roasting business without a reliable roaster. And that’s why we’re here to help you find the best coffee roaster for your small business.
Starting a coffee roaster business from home can be exciting, but you have to consider a few factors in putting it up. Don’t worry, because we’ll guide you through in the latter part of this article.
We’ll give you a short guide on how to start a coffee roasting business from home. Here are some of our top choices for the best coffee roasters for a small business.
Take a look also at our list of Best Home Coffee Roaster!
Table of Contents
Best Coffee Roaster For Small Business
Behmor 1600 Plus Customizable Drum Coffee Roaster
The Behmor 1600 Plus is the large capacity home roaster that can hold a maximum of 450 g of green coffee beans. It’s an excellent feature to save time and energy.
You have the option to customize up to five roasting profiles. It’s an excellent feature to produce consistent roasts repeatedly.
The multi-speed roasting drum gives you full control during roasting. The lighted interior provides clear visuals while you monitor the roasting.
The patent-pending smoke suppression allows you to roast indoors. Enjoy a mess-free roasting with the removable chaff tray.
Pros:
Cons:
The Behmor 1600 Plus is excellent for a small coffee roasting business. It will save you time and energy as it can accommodate a pound of beans in a single roast.
Bar Well Coffee roaster, Small Electric Coffee Roaster
This Bar Well coffee roaster can save you time with its 450g capacity roasting. It saves energy as well since you can roast more in a single batch.
The great thing about this coffee roaster is its programmability. You don’t have to wait around it while roasting, as it also has a cool-down function.
It roasts the coffee beans evenly with its mechanical spinning arms. The slow roasting process produces more flavors and a better aroma.
This coffee roaster doesn’t have a smoke suppression system, so consider if you don’t have a range hood or any other ventilation type in your kitchen. It also doesn’t come with a chaff collector, so separating the chaff is another consideration to take note of.
Pros:
Cons:
This Barwell coffee roaster is excellent for starting a home coffee roasting business. It can roast in large batches, which saves you time.
Mingfuxin 2020 Upgrade Coffee Roaster Machine
The Mingfuxin 2020 can accommodate 725 grams of green coffee beans in a single roasting. Therefore, you can roast more than 10 lbs of coffee in a single day.
The adjustable timer and temperature allow you to produce different roast types. The transparent lid with multiple vent holes allows moisture to escape, which is an essential part of the coffee bean roasting stage.
It’s effortless to clean as well due to the non-stick pan. Best of all, it only has two dial knob controls for straightforward operation.
On the other hand, having no smoke suppression would require enough ventilation in your kitchen. A good exhaust or a range hood would suffice if you intend it to use indoors.
However, this coffee roaster lacks a chaff collector, which may give you an extra task of separating the coffee dandruff. You might as well consider this lacking feature.
Pros:
Cons:
This Mingfuxing 2020 Upgrade coffee roaster is a great starter for a small business. It’s easy to use and is affordable for a home-based coffee roaster.
JIAWANSHUN 800g Electric Coffee Roaster Machine
The JIAWANSHUN electric coffee roaster has a unique sloping pan design. This tilted pan feature allows the beans to roll for even roasting.
The temperature control allows you to bake the coffee beans in different heat intensities. The S-shaped rotating arm prevents scorching and uneven roast.
The 800 grams roasting capacity is relatively large, which saves you time and energy. It’s user-friendly but it’s not equipped with a smoke suppressor, so you might consider if there’s proper ventilation in your kitchen.
It also lacks a chaff collection system, though cleaning is easy with its non-stick pan.
Pros:
Cons:
The unique tilting pan design makes this Jiawanshun coffee roaster stand out from the other roasters when it comes to uniform roasting. The 800-gram capacity is also a top consideration.
Sniper M2 Pure Electric Heating Coffee Roaster for Home or Coffee Shop
The Sniper M2 is an ultimate electric coffee roaster, which can be an excellent investment for your home coffee roasting business. It probably got all the features you need in a coffee roaster.
It’s a quick roaster that can complete the roasting process within 4 to 15 minutes. Its rapid cooling system has an incredible 2 to 3 minutes of cooling time.
Therefore, you can use the Sniper M2 for back to back roasting. So, in an hour, you can roast approximately 1600 grams of green beans.
All controls are accessed through a touchscreen panel. It may require a learning curve, but everything is a breeze once you get used to the controls.
The smoke suppressor is electronically-controlled, which minimizes the amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust. Best of all, the automatic chaff collector efficiently separates the silver skin from the beans.
Pros:
Cons:
The Sniper M2 can be an overly expensive coffee roaster. However, it is considered an excellent investment when it comes to the efficiency and quality of the roast.
How To Choose Coffee Roaster For Small Business?
Are you still confused about how to pick the right coffee roaster for your small business? We got your back!
The following are some of the essential factors to consider.
The Cost
Various coffee roasters come at different prices. Cheap doesn’t always mean low quality, and the same goes for the expensive ones, which means being costly doesn’t mean it’s always the best.
The cost of your coffee roaster is a crucial deciding factor as it forms part of your capital. So, it’s highly recommended that you set a defined amount at how much you are willing to invest in your coffee roaster.
Keep in mind that the quality of the roast plays a crucial role in the success of your home coffee roasting business.
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Heat Source
Electricity
Electric roasters have a more limited roasting capacity, which is ideal for starting a small home-based coffee roasting business.
Gas
Gas-powered coffee roasters may use propane or any other source of heat using an open fire. These types of coffee roasters can come in various sizes and capacities.
Since gas can produce unlimited heat, many large-capacity roasters are powered by gas. Therefore, if you’re looking for larger capacity roasters, a gas-powered machine could be your ideal pick.
Roaster Type
Perforated Drum
A perforated drum provides both conductive and convective heat. Some coffee roasters with perforated drum may use fans for added airflow.
Solid Drum
A coffee roaster with a solid drum relies on a fan-forced air. Therefore, it only produces conductive heat for roasting the coffee beans.
Air Roasters or Fluid Bed
The Air roaster or fluid bed roaster relies on heated airflow. Typically, the constant agitation of the coffee beans allows fluid airflow in between beans for an even roast.
This type of coffee roaster roasts quicker than the drum type.
Daily Capacity
Coffee roasters are often rated by the weight of a single batch of roasting. However, it’s worthy to note that the actual roast is less than the rated capacity.
This is because 20% to 25% weight is lost during roasting, so you might want to consider this loss when computing for the average daily capacity of your roaster.
Other Features
Heat Control
Heat control is an important part of roasting as different roast types vary in the required temperature to get the ideal roast. Therefore, whether you’re using electricity or gas-powered roaster, it’s recommended to check the heat control feature.
Drum Speed
Drum speed is also an important factor in achieving your desired roast type. If you’re planning to purchase a roaster with a mechanized drum, check if it has a variable drum speed control.
Air Flow
Airflow affects the characteristics of a roast. Typically, airflow is controlled or restricted with a damper.
Smoke Control
Smoke is inevitable in coffee roasting due to the natural oil inside the green coffee beans. Smoke may not be a problem when producing light roast, but if you’re making a dark roast, coffee oil comes out and causes lots of smoke.
A roaster with a smoke suppressor would be ideal if you plan to roast indoor. Or better, install a range hood or other types of exhaust for ventilation.
Chaff Collection
Coffee dandruff or the silver skin makes coffee roasting messy. A chaff collector may not be necessary, but you might consider getting a roaster with a silver skin catcher if you’re looking for convenience.
Tip! What to do with coffee chaff?
How To Start Coffee Roasting Business From Home?
Starting a coffee business from home can be profitable as long as you begin it right. Here are some things to consider when creating your home coffee roasting business.
What is your Budget?
The budget is not only meant for the coffee roasting machine but for the entire cost of which you will use to start up the business. Your budget depends on several factors such as your target market, your plans on how you will serve customers, your place of business, storage, packaging, and others.
Depending on your business plan, you might need a smaller budget. You can save on refurbished roasters.
Making a list of the pros and cons of purchasing can help you justify your budget needs. However, if your business model needs a larger budget, there are several financing options you can consider from different sources.
Opting for financing also requires studying your capacity for repayment. Interest rates are also essential to consider.
Who do you plan to serve?
A small business may be more ideal to sell on retail. So, are you going to sell your roasted coffee beans to your local grocery?
Are you planning to offer freshly roasted coffee to patrons in a small store? Or are you willing to explore online selling?
Before you start your home-based coffee roasting business, it is recommended that you determine your target market.
How are you going to serve clients?
This question is related to your target market. You may decide early on how you will push your products to the end-users.
Are you going to serve your clients through a traditional brick and mortar onsite store? How about an online store?
These are just some of the questions you need to answer before you start your home-based coffee roasting business.
Roaster Placement
Since you’re planning to put up a home-based business, the perfect place to place your roaster is in your kitchen. Or, if you have a separate place with enough ventilation to place your roaster, then it’s better.
Remember, coffee roasting may produce a lot of smoke. So, proper exhaust and ventilation is a requirement.
Storage
Coffee beans need to be protected from elements to preserve its flavor and aroma. To keep your roasted beans fresh, you need not just the right containers but the proper location for storage as well.
You may pick an extra room or an extension in your house that is cool and dark. This type of location helps keep your roasted beans fresh longer.
Packaging
Do you believe that packaging is one crucial factor that affects the buying behavior of consumers? Attractive packaging makes your product look expensive and with quality.
However, keep in mind that you also need the proper type of packaging that will preserve your coffee’s integrity. Nice packaging with a stale coffee will never gain repeat customers.
So, it’s recommended to create a proper packaging with attractive design to gain the trust of your clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start a small coffee roasting business?
Starting a small coffee roasting business is an exciting undertaking. However, it takes a lot of considerations and planning to make it work and gain profits.
To start a coffee roasting business, you may review the “How to Start Coffee Roasting Business at Home” section.
Is Coffee Roasting a profitable business?
Just like any other business, coffee roasting can be profitable. Given the right amount of sales and margin, enough profits will come in.
While green coffee beans typically cost around 6-10 times less than roasted and packaged coffee beans. The overall mass does shrink by 20% to 25%. Using these numbers you can easily come up with the right amount of weight to be sold for a certain period (let’s say in a month) to gain profits.
Happy Roasting!