A Guide To Coffee Roaster Sizes by The Perfect Daily Grind
Whether you're setting up a new roastery or upgrading your equipment, finding the right roaster could be daunting. Along with considering the space and budget you have available, you must be mindful of the volumes of coffee you will undoubtedly be roasting on a regular basis.
Most manufacturers recommend that roasters don't make use of a machine at full capacity. As a broad rule, they recommend using about 75% of the listed capacity (depending on the manufacturer) allowing for consistent airflow through the roast.
You can also go right down to 50% capacity or lower for sample roasting and profiling. However, this will mean you have to modify the method by which you roast as you have much more space in the drum.coffee roasting machine
Altogether, this mean's that it's vital that you take a balanced approach when selecting how big is your roaster; too large could be in the same way detrimental as too small. For more insight, and to break down roasters into a few different size categories, I spoke to Neil Maree from Genio Roasters in Johannesburg, South Africa. Continue reading to find out what he said.
Picking The Right Size Is Important Neil says that at Genio, clients are often unacquainted with the facts they should consider when investing in a new roaster. “People often look for the absolutely wrong size, or they ask about the price tag on our roasters,” he says. “In my experience, this points to too little knowledge and understanding about both their target market and their ability to sell.”
He says that while people often search for larger roasters as a way of ensuring they've the capacity to expand, it's not too simple. “Lots of folks have think they've to go for a large roaster in order to turn a profit. These people think that they need a giant machine merely to roast coffee for the local community.
“Ultimately, upscaling your operation is easy, provided that you have a customer for the coffee. Being able to roast 5,000kg of coffee does not mean as you are able to sell 5,000kg. Start by selling 1kg, then 100kg, and then 500kg, and so on,” Neil explains. “Often, we find ourselves convincing individuals to select smaller machines.”
However, this doesn't mean there aren't mistakes among people searching for smaller machines. Neil says: “On another end, we've got people who think that they can buy a 1kg roaster and start a business from it.
“It will take 15 minutes to roast a set on a 1kg roaster, that may sell for maybe US $30. To be able to create a salary as a business owner with this, you'd need to stand behind the machine for your day,” he explains. “This leaves you no time to sell! Roasting does not equal making money. Selling equals making money.”
To illustrate the full time cost for using roasters of certain sizes, Neil compiled some models and forecasts for roasters of different skill levels that you'll find here.
Sizes & Categories For the purposes of the list, we've broken down commercial coffee roasters into six main categories by capacity: sample, small batch, small commercial, medium commercial, large commercial, and extra large commercial.
Sample Roaster (50g to 500g) Whilst the name suggests, the key focus of a sample roaster is to gauge examples of a certain coffee before you commit to buying large volumes of it.
While you'll find exclusive and high-quality coffee roasted in small batches on sample roasters, they're one of many suited to anyone trying to start a roastery at a big scale.
There's also plenty of overlap between craft and sample roasting as of this range; many home roasters will naturally adhere to a low minimum capacity if they are roasting coffee to solely be enjoyed at home.
Small Batch Roaster (1kg to 3kg) After sample roasters, the next thing up for roasting coffee at any kind of commercial scale is just a small batch roaster. These range in size from 1kg to around 3kg and are good for sample roasting in larger batches or identifying the proper roast profile for a new coffee.
These are a great option for micro-roasters, in addition to successful coffee shops trying to roast their particular beans. Most coffee shops don't sell more than 10kg of coffee in a day, but even should they do get close, a 1kg to 3kg roaster will have a way to provide that in a matter of hours.
For a café or a smaller existing coffee business, this is an excellent destination for a start. By starting small and being strategic about how much coffee you roast, you are able to build up a wholesale customer base steadily minus the risky overheads of a higher priced roaster.
Neil informs me that this is the target market for Genio's smallest machine, the Genio 3 Micro Coffee Roaster, launching in December 2020. “With this specific, we wanted to target on people who have been ‘owner-operators '; one or two-person businesses who roast and sell on their own,” he says.
“A 3kg roaster could be the backbone of the owner-operated roasting industry. You have enough capacity to really grow with a low enough capital outlay to be accessible to anyone with some savings and an interest for business.”
Small batch roasters also provide their uses for larger roasteries, however. Many can keep a machine of the size on-hand to profile new coffees without wasting large quantities of fresh green coffee. These profiles may then be translated onto larger commercial machines to start roasting at scale.
However, additionally it is important to see that your consistency will naturally decrease as you begin roasting a better amount of batches. For instance, roasting 600 batches in a 1kg machine will leave more room for error than, say, roasting 100 batches on a 6kg machine. Keep in mind that too little consistency might have an effect on customer retention.
Small Commercial Roaster (5kg to 15kg) Commercial non-small batch roasters start at around 5kg. The next step up from a small batch roaster, these machines tend to be more suitable for teams trying to roast coffee at scale as opposed to small businesses or cafés trying to diversify.
“A Genio 6 roaster can roast as much as two tonnes of coffee monthly,” Neil tells me. “That's plenty of coffee.” He notes, however, that despite this potential output, smaller-capacity commercial roasters continue to be quite versatile and can still be used to roast tiny batches for profiling.
Neil also warns against roasting to a machine's maximum weekly or monthly output. “Roasting two tonnes of coffee on a 6kg machine is like driving 5,000 miles on a monthly basis,” he says. “It is obviously possible, but you'd have to have a mechanic regularly carry out a significant service on your car.”
Finally, Neil notes that a roaster of the size is just a significant investment. For many up-and-coming roasters, he warns that a larger roaster might be bigger compared to business needs. “Even though you can roast two tonnes of coffee monthly, you will need to consider: who have you been going to sell this coffee to?”
Medium Commercial Roaster (15kg to 30kg) Machines with a set size of around 15kg are most suitable for existing roasting businesses that have a good base of customers. Many successful specialty coffee roasters will discover that this is the biggest machine they will ever need.
Neil notes that many roasters find it tempting to sell their preexisting roaster to finance a pricey purchase, but warns against it. He says he often sees this when people come to him to get larger roasters, such as the Genio 15 or the Genio 30.
“Let's say you have a 6kg roaster and you intend to buy a larger roaster. I would claim that you shouldn't sell the 6kg roaster – that will become your backup. Mechanical faults do happen – things break.” At this point, having an established customer base, being left without a roaster might be catastrophic.
Large Commercial Roaster (30kg to 70kg) Moving after dark 15kg to 30kg bracket will only be necessary if you have an enormous customer base. Roasters of the size are likely to be operating on a big commercial scale.
However, as of this stage, there are likely to be unforeseen expenses which come combined with the purchase of a bigger roaster, as Neil explains.
“[With these bigger roasters], people often don't have the proper gas supply or ventilation in place,” he says. “It could be just too difficult to perform a chimney out from the premises or a fuel main in… as of this size, it is a significant consideration.
“At Genio, we offer pre-inspection through video calls or face-to-face to ensure our larger products can fit into your space.”
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