Coffee roasting on a commercial scale...

Has anyone done it or know someone who has? 

A 25-pound roasting machine has become available locally to me that is tempting me to try my hand at another business as something to keep my hands busy into retirement.

Any thoughts? 

I haven't, but became friends with someone who did. Started as a small roaster and now does a lot and has two cafes in town. 

Bean suppliers in your area available or not. Packaging rules and equipment can be a bit expensive or as cheap as a seam sealer. 

I really like this idea and I wish that more people roasted locally here for my style. But everything is super dark and chocolate or setup for expresso here in San Diego. 

I will say that at our local farmers market the guys that do the best for roasting also offer to go cups with the brand name and the blend written on them. People get a single and then come back for beans. Also most will grind at the market, which I think is blasphmy. 

Here in SoCal the good stuff goes for about 24.50 a lb and around 20lb bulk above 5lb's. I hate to say it but the desert blends sell really well. 

Paging SVRex...

In reply to mtn :

Hi! 👋

Owning a coffee shop was the most fun I've ever had losing a butt load of money. 

We didn't do our own roasting. We worked with a coffee shop in the next town who had a roaster and was willing to custom roast for us. 
 

I never knew any companies that just did the roasting. They were all attached to coffee shops.

In Chicago, there is a company that you can reserve time to use their roaster. I don't know what the parameters of that are for whom they let use it, but an interesting idea. 

Best way to make a million doing this is start with 2 million.  

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

Agreed. 

There's a lot of reasons, but basically the industry is designed to prevent the little guys from succeeding. 
 

Tons of fun, but not a money maker.  If that's ok, go for it!  

There's been an interesting local setup I've been watching for a while now. 

Three or four different coffee shops, in different towns, but within ~20 minutes of each other have started working together. 

One has the roaster setup, and handles all the roasting for the shops, ones a bakery and handles all their fresh baked goods, and the other has a farm tie in for local dairy products, the milks, flavored milks, creams.

They're all doing pretty good through cooperation. Easier and less overhead than trying to do everything under one roof, publicly anyway shows a lot of community support and work togetherness, and it let's the specific shops do what they do best.

In reply to RevRico :

That's smart. 

In reply to wearymicrobe :

Prospect in Ventura might be what you're looking for. We have a bag delivered every few weeks. The cost is fair for the quality. 
 

House Roots in Granada Hills has some good beans as well. 

I have a friend who had a roaster and made a very nice living out of it. He sold direct to users and boutiques. He sourced and imported his own beans from Central America and got very good at figuring out the blends that tasted the best. His roaster was a vintage one that used a propane or natural gas flame and I think the newer ones use hot air if I remember what he said. His method of roasting produced much better tasting coffee and he was extremely popular. I was pretty disappointed when he retired last year.

In reply to Toyman! :

I'd be interested in this roaster if you are not. 

The coffee shop 3 blocks from me has the roaster right in the middle of their seating area. They do their days roasting in the morning before they open and by the time they unlock the door there is a line outside. 

I believe there are 5 or 6 little coffee shops that roast like that in this town. Coffee Plant Roasters is the only one with the machine as part of their decor though. 

I have a friend who does this part-time and enjoys it, but it doesn't seem to be a big money maker for him. 

I suspect owning 3-4 coffee shops plus a roaster provides a better profit margin. The shops probably break even and  the roaster makes the money. 

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You seem like the kind of person that likes keeping busy, and knows how to run a tight financial ship. What do you lose if you buy the machine and it doesn't work out?