Starting a coffee roasting business offers a unique fusion of artistry and entrepreneurship. It's about transforming green coffee beans into aromatic treasures, infusing your passion into a thriving venture.
The coffee industry is thriving, with 2.2 billion cups of coffee being consumed globally and coffee sales overcoming tea sales in the UK! Coffee is not just a drink; it's a global phenomenon.
To be successful in this journey, you need a well-crafted business plan as your guiding star. In the upcoming sections, we'll delve into the art of coffee roasting business planning intricacies, and equip you for success in the coffee business. Grab your favourite brew; let's begin!
Master The Art Of Coffee Roasting: The Essentials To Start Your Business
Let's start by demystifying the basics of coffee roasting and exploring its various methods. Then, we'll venture into the coffee market's potential for growth. Our journey begins with the essence of coffee itself.
Coffee roasting, a blend of science and sensory delight, starts with green coffee beans meeting carefully controlled heat. The beans transform as they absorb heat, changing from green to yellow and then various shades of brown.
During this process, they release captivating aromas. The "first crack" occurs, marked by audible pops as moisture evaporates, and oils are released, enhancing aroma and flavour.
This roasting journey demands precision, with roasters monitoring temperature and time meticulously to achieve the desired roast profile. From light to dark, each roast level infuses unique flavours and aromas into the coffee.
Different Types of Roasting Methods
Coffee roasting encompasses a spectrum of methods, each lending its character to the final brew. Here are a few notable techniques:
- Traditional Drum Roasting: This method involves roasting beans in a drum-like chamber, ensuring uniform heat distribution. It's a preferred choice for achieving well-balanced and nuanced flavours.
- Fluid Bed Roasting: Using a stream of hot air, fluid bed roasting suspends the beans, leading to a brighter, more acidic taste profile.
- Direct Flame Roasting: In this method, flames directly contact the beans, imparting bold, smoky flavours. It's a technique favoured by those seeking a robust coffee experience.
- Microwave Roasting: A relatively recent innovation, microwave roasting provides quick and precise control over the process, allowing for experimentation with unique flavour profiles.
Selecting the best roaster for your business can take careful consideration. Roasters can range from below £5000 for a small micro-roaster (up to 2kg) to over £300,000 for a full commercial set up (240kg+). The largest roaster in the UK is a whopping 720 kg capacity down in Southampton!
When choosing the roaster that is right for you, you need to consider how much time you actually want to spend roasting. If you purchase a machine that is too small, for example a 1kg, and then get a regular order from a good cafe, you will be looking at roasting 3kg per hour, meaning that one order could take 13 hours to roast without any mistakes or quality control issues.
It’s recommended that at the start of your business, particularly if you are doing this solo, aim for a machine where you will be roasting for 1 day of the week maximum and then you can spend the other 4 days working on building your brand, reaching out to potential customers and securing new clients. There is nothing that will stop you from growing your business more than being a busy idiot!
Creating A Coffee Roasting Business Plan
A well-crafted business plan is essential for a successful coffee roasting venture. It sets clear goals and strategies, providing a roadmap to navigate industry complexities. Here are the key components:
- Executive Summary: Start with a concise executive summary that introduces your coffee roasting business and its unique vision.
- Market Analysis: Understand the coffee market's £56 billion value ($74 bn USD), and explore growing segments like specialty coffee and ethical sourcing. Understand what segment of the market you are trying to target and see what other roasteries in a similar capacity are doing well, and what you can do better.
- Target Audience and Niche: Identify your target audience and their preferences to tailor your offerings and marketing effectively.
- Product and Pricing Strategy: Detail your unique coffee offerings and pricing strategy, aligning with quality and market expectations.
- Marketing and Sales Plan: Outline your strategy for reaching customers through online and offline channels, including e-commerce.
- Operations and Logistics: Explain your roasting process, quality control, and supply chain management to ensure coffee freshness and consistency.
- Financial Projections: Provide realistic financial projections, including startup costs, revenue forecasts, and credible data sources to support your estimates.
Developing a Strong Value Proposition
There are a myriad of roasting businesses that have launched over the last 5 years, and so you need to understand why people will buy from YOU over the competition.
I recently had a client and when I asked them why people would buy their coffee, they responded with ‘well I’ll be a new roaster and people are always wanting to try something new’ and whilst I agree with that statement, it might bring in immediate sales, but when they learn of another new or trending business, they will take their money elsewhere. You have to think about why people will come back to your business and buy again.
Your value proposition defines your uniqueness. It could be taste, quality, ethics, or unique blends. A well-structured plan keeps you adaptable to changes. Research, analyse, and showcase your passion for exceptional coffee. Make sure your business doesn’t just fall into the rest of the noise other roasteries are making.
Balancing A Coffee Roasting Side Business: Tips And Strategies
Starting a coffee roasting business as a side venture offers its own set of advantages and challenges. Let's explore the pros and cons, effective time management tips, and strategies for marketing and promoting your coffee roasting side business.
The Pros and Cons of a Coffee Roasting Side Business
Pros:
- Reduced financial risk compared to a full-time venture.
- Opportunity to test and grow your brand gradually.
- Additional income source from your primary job.
Cons:
- Juggling two roles can be demanding.
- Balancing work-life commitments can be challenging.
- Time constraints may affect business growth.
- If you buy a small capacity roaster and it scales quickly then it can rapidly consume more time and become a burden (there are multiple people who will testify to roasting through to the early hours in the morning to fulfil orders and then wake up at 7am to go back to their day job!)
Time Management Tips:
Effective time management is essential. Prioritise tasks, set realistic goals, create a structured schedule, and consider outsourcing non-essential tasks to balance your career and coffee roasting side business effectively.
Marketing and Promotion Strategies:
To boost your side business, create a website and engage with your audience through social media. Highlight what makes your coffee unique and explore partnerships with local cafes or farmers' markets for more exposure.
Good coffee is not enough to draw consumers' attention- visuals, packaging and good marketing and social media presence is what will get your coffee through the checkout. Consider the user experience from when they first come across your coffee on social media through to checkout and then ensure that the whole experience looks good enough for them to post about it on social media and draw someone else into the seamless experience.
Getting Started In The World Of Coffee Roasting
Starting your coffee roasting journey demands planning, tools, and a passion for the craft. Unfortunately, with roasting, it is not as easy as throwing beans into a roaster and they will taste good. It is a blend of the science of heat transfer, a lot of experimentation, and the art of tasting and creativity.
Acquiring Essential Equipment and Resources
To kickstart your coffee roasting venture, you'll need the right equipment and resources. Invest in a high-quality coffee roaster, preferably one that allows you to control roasting profiles. Other essentials include packaging materials, storage solutions, and a dedicated workspace.
Sourcing Premium Green Coffee Beans
Quality green coffee beans are the foundation of exceptional coffee. Research reputable suppliers, considering origin, variety, and processing methods that align with your desired profiles. Of course, the Green Coffee Collective is a prime spot for ethically sourced, low volume coffees, allowing you to offer a wide range without having to compromise on cash flow and getting stuck with 60kg of coffee before having to offer change to your customers.
Becoming a Roasting Maestro:
Understanding the delicate balance of time, temperature, and airflow is key. Experiment with roast profiles to achieve desired flavours, keeping detailed records for consistency. Unfortunately no two coffees will roast the same due to having different moisture contents, densities and chemical compositions, so you will have to play around with each coffee to find the sweet spot that you know your customers will love.
Establishing Your Brand and Marketing
Crafting a compelling brand identity sets the stage for your coffee roasting business. Your logo, packaging, and messaging should resonate with your values and personality, creating a memorable brand image. A lot of creative people have set up roasteries with some outstanding branding, so it’s something you really want to spend time and invest in to give yourself the best impact when launching.
To effectively reach your target audience, employ a diverse range of marketing strategies. Utilise online ads, content marketing, partnerships, and events to tailor your approach to your audience's preferences.
Use the power of social media platforms and digital marketing tools to expand your reach. Engage with your audience, share your brand story, and highlight your coffee's unique qualities to build a loyal customer base.
Securing Distribution And Sales Channels
Efficient distribution and sales channels are vital. Let's explore key strategies and stats for success.
Distribution Channels and Partnerships
In coffee roasting, the right distribution channels are crucial. A National Coffee Association survey shows that 70% of U.S. coffee consumers prefer enjoying coffee at home, emphasising the need for partnerships with cafes, restaurants, and retailers to reach the remaining 30%.
Collaborating with cafes is promising, with a consistent 7% annual growth in coffee sales in these establishments. Partnerships can expand your reach, especially in breakfast-focused restaurants where coffee dominates morning beverages.
The rise of gourmet coffee in restaurants offers opportunities for premium coffee products. For retail, explore specialty stores and online platforms aligned with your brand and products.
Direct-to-Consumer E-commerce Sales
Tap into the growing e-commerce market, projected to hit £3.72 trillion by 2021 ($4.9 trillion USD). Create an online presence through platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, Tiktok and Amazon, employing digital marketing strategies to drive traffic and sales.
Ensuring Quality Control And Building Customer Loyalty
In coffee roasting, quality control is key. Even if you were to roast the coffee to the same temperature each time, if it took 6 minutes, 10 minutes and 12 minutes on three different roasts it would taste completely different! Having quality control procedures and following your roast profile (a roast masters equivalent of a perfect recipe) will ensure that every bean you send out is premium quality.
The Significance of Quality Control Measures
Quality control plays a pivotal role in the coffee roasting industry. Just how there are so many variables to control when brewing coffee- least water, temperature, brew recipe and time - there are tens more in roasting.
Make sure you have a procedure in place to ensure that your roast profile is repeated, you heat your roaster up consistently to maintain radiant heat, follow in-between-batch protocols and of course test each batch with some qualitative and quantitative evaluations.
This could be getting a moisture/density metre or it could be simply measuring the weight loss each time- any variation will show that something different happened in the roaster.
Cup cup cup- always do at least one cupping bowl from each batch to ensure it tastes how it should. Get into the habit of this at the start, it might cost you time but it will ensure you retain customers. (another reason to start with a bigger roaster and free up some time from roasting!)
Strategies for Consistency and Freshness
Coffee beans start to deteriorate and oxidise as soon as they come out of your roaster. This is why freshness is so important.
You will need to allow your coffee to degas for a period of time after roasting. The darker you roast, the quicker it will degas. If you brew freshly roasted coffee, it will always have an ‘off’ flavour to it, test your coffee each day after roasting to figure out the optimum days to brew and also how long before it begins to stale. You can then communicate this with your customers with brewing recommendations and give them the best experience.
Once roasted, try to keep your coffee as fresh for as long as possible.
Here are some strategies for maintaining coffee freshness and consistency.
- Airtight Packaging: Use one-way valve, airtight bags for freshness.
- Ideal Storage: Keep beans in a cool, dark, and dry place.
- Roast-to-Order: Customise roasting for each customer's order.
- Profile Monitoring: Regularly adjust roast profiles for consistency.
- FIFO Inventory: Implement first-in, first-out inventory management.
Navigating The Path To Coffee Roasting Success: Scaling And Growth Opportunities
Starting a roastery is not for the faint hearted- it certainly will demand a lot of time, effort and patience for you.
As you start to grow, the main issues roasters face are time management, cash flow and capacity. If you do decide to start with a smaller roaster, consider a contingency plan for when you reach full capacity.
Contact other roasteries local to you with a bigger roaster and inquire about ‘toll roasting’ or slot roasting- where you rent their equipment for a few hours a week to fulfil your orders. Another solution is to get your core coffees (the 1kg bags that are bought by cafes) roasted by a local roastery white-label for you. They will roast and package the coffee for you consistently, with a price that allows you to still make profit on top. This will allow you to free up some time and focus on roasting your single origin and higher-grade specialty coffees yourself and give you space to reach out to more clients and pursue further growth opportunities.
But our best advice, if you truly want to grow, is to keep one ear to the ground on what is trending in the industry and be innovative to meet your customers’ needs. Be sure to spend a couple of hours a week doing market research and coming up with solutions to your customers’ problems or needs and this will allow you to have a business that is always evolving and staying a few steps ahead.
Contempt and lack of creativity is what will stifle your business.
In Closing:
We've explored the fusion of artistry and entrepreneurship. From recognising growth opportunities in a thriving market to maintaining impeccable quality, and embracing diversification, your journey from beans to business is marked by passion and innovation.
As the coffee market continues to flourish, your venture, fueled by quality and innovation, is poised for success. So, remember the key points: seize opportunities, uphold quality, and foster growth.
With these pillars, your coffee roasting business is destined to brew excellence and leave a lasting aroma in the industry.
If you have any more questions, be sure to reach out to Green Coffee Collective or Hope Espresso for more advice and recommendations or check out Hope Espresso’s online course for ‘How to start a roastery’ for a more detailed dive into the dos and don’ts of starting a coffee roastery.