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

[djveed]

Fantastic! I've roasted a grand total of four times so far using just an iron skillet at home. I bought my green beans from roastabean.com - just two pounds of Columbian to start. Kind of expensive but great product. The beans taste great after roasting! I've been able to convert two tea drinkers in my office!

So as far as home roasting goes - the problem I'm having using a skillet or pan is the amount of husk that i have leftover when done. When I'm done roasting I take the pan outside and just blow forcefully over the hot beans - trying to just get rid of all the husk. But inevitably a ton of it ends up in my coffee container, which means it ends up in my grinder and inevitably in my cup of coffee. How best to get rid of husk??

 

[jlyon10]

What I do with my BBQ roaster is I put the beans in a metal collindar and set it on top of a box fan and it blows the chaff every where but it does the trick.

 

[djveed]

That's actually quite smart, and simple. I'll do that. Thanks Jim.

 

[locobill]

Phase 2!!

Well, after the farmer's market season has ended, what do we do now?

We decided to lease a Primo TT from a friend and installed it in our shop. Also bought a used Bunn G1 bulk grinder. Now we are really looking to up the sales to businesses. Have a couple things working, but not the larger customer that will require constant supplies. We are confident it will come.

Using the TT roaster is a lot of fun and very quick to roast 6 pounds - about 10 - 12 minutes.

We started buying beans by the 132-152 pound bags. A lot cheaper that way. We have also started doing flavorings, but need to find a supplier of flavors that come in larger than 4 oz bottles.

I have another question for anyone who has more experience doing this. What is the typical wholesale price we should charge vs retail? We are selling retail for $10-$11 per pound.

 

[djveed]

Okay can I ask a follow up question? I'd like to roast and sell from home but on a very small scale. Specifically, just to friends and family with the max goal of 100 pounds per month. Realistically simply 20 or 30 pounds per month for the next few months. I'm not looking at opening a large operation, just a little bit of income on the side to complement my hobby. Can someone provide some suggestions?

Should I modify my West Bend Poppery II or should I fork over the dough to get a Behmor Drum roaster (about $300)? Bear in mind I'm just trying to earn $100 or $200 per month or so. Any advice? I'm not much of an electronics geek and the thought of modifying the Poppery is daunting!

 

[jlyon10]

They have BBQ drum roasters that roast from 1lb to 5lb, even if you bought an new BBQ grill it would be less than $300. Just a thought. I use mine when I want to roast a whole pound i a hurry otherwise I like the results I get with my Fresh Roast Plus 8 the best but it only roasts small quantities. I am only roasting for myself at present but trying to sell green beans to other roasters to supplement my hobby.

 

[djveed]

So a BBQ drum roaster can be used in the home? I live in the cold of CT, so outdoors isn't an option. Any model you suggest?

 

[jlyon10]

You can't use a BBQ in the home so I guess that wouldn't work in CT in the winter. Most roasters smoke no matter what they claim.

 

[petesesplankis]

Thats what I do ( I have a roasting room in my house.) I have a stand at the farmers markets on the weekend with brewed coffee as well as roasted. I place a business card in the bag with my email on it. Its turned out to be quite a nice income with reasonable small effort.

 

[jdrue]

Re: We did it

quote]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.[/quote]
Can I ask how you are handeling your taxes with the income generated from your sales? Have you actually started a busienss or are you operating "under the table"
The reason I ask is because I've been trying to find a way around the red tape while I learn the craft with out getting in any trouble. There has to be a way to simply claim the income the same way you would if you just sold some things on ebay or a rummage sale. Any tips around this?

 

[snouterhound]

Uh oh. I've been roasting outside in Winsted, CT for the past three years! Now I'm going to have to stop because I just found out it's too cold for it!
By the way, the BBQ coffee roaster from "coffeeroastersclub.com" is made right in East Hartford. I haven't tried one yet, in fact that's why I came to look at these boards- looking for reviews. I've been using a heavy stainless steel fry pan with a lid on the side burner on my grill.
Strangely enough, when I looked for advice on that method on "Sweet Maria's"; I found out that I shouldn't have been doing THAT, either. oops!

 

[lachris]

Okay - it's been a while from my last update.

We made it through the Christmas season - sold many many pounds of gift wrapped coffee to folks looking for small gifts to give. Turns out a small 6oz wrapped package goes well in a stocking - $6/6oz. We did very well.

We have improved our packaging and our label/branding. Created and have now recieved first edition T-shirts with our own branding. LOADS of interest there. Getting many more return customers. Gift bags had a card in them on how to order more. I have found that sticking to not more the 4 origins and a decaf has worked out well. Too many origins and you run out of space and storage containers fast - not to mention the cost of the inventory. Keeping it down to just a few is much easier. Soon this hobby will have to be a business I think.

Hope to have a website link in the next month or so. So far we are piggy backing from a link off of my wifes nutrition site: http://www.naturalnutrition4health.com/ ... fering.htm
This only helps those that want to see what we have and pay online via PayPal.

Hey - it's a start and we are having fun doing it.

I guess I've answered my original questions " - why not?"

lachris

 

[jlyon10]

My cousin uses that same method and she roasts a lot of coffee on her grill in a cast iron skillet. She has been to Nicaragua and the farm she visited they roast in a big cast iron kettle over a wood fire.

 

[lachris]

~ Smell the Smoke ~

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm!

My new tag line!

 

[kimwroble]

Edited for content, please stay on subject any further post of this nature will result in a permanent ban.

edited by CCafe 1/26/09