Looking to start a mail order roasting company

[agoldin1989]

Hello Roasters!

I am a total coffee novice. I have a website right now where I sell herbs, but wanted to get into something that is a little more accepted, such as coffee. (The FDA is pretty ridiculous with herbal importing).

I want to run a similar style business, which is a website that delivers directly to the customer by mail. I have come to learn there is a huge lack of information out there regarding the freshness of beans, and that all beans are expired within 2 weeks. So, we want to have a site that roasts the beans and ships them out the day they are roasted, or maybe the day after.

I am trying to wrap my head around what would be the best plan of attack. Would I be better off with a small roaster since I will be roasting to order? Is this even a feasible idea? How long will it take before I can roast beans that are of respectable taste and quality? If anyone has any places they suggest I can go to learn, or any information you might feel will be helpful to me, please do share!

 

[John P]

1) All reputable roasters ship within a day of roasting. So nothing new there.

2) The size (capacity) of the roaster is only big or small compared to the size of your business/customer base.

2) Buying a coffee roasting machine does not make you a coffee roaster. It makes you someone who owns a coffee roasting machine. Respectable? Several hundreds of hours, possibly thousands... provided you have the skill and dedication to do so. It's not a "get rich quick" kind of thing. Even if you go to a roasting camp for a four or five days, that just gives you the basics. Roasting is a craft. It takes time. It seems like you are wanting to do it to make money, not because you have a desire to roast.

 

[agoldin1989]

1) All reputable roasters ship within a day of roasting. So nothing new there.

2) The size (capacity) of the roaster is only big or small compared to the size of your business/customer base.

2) Buying a coffee roasting machine does not make you a coffee roaster. It makes you someone who owns a coffee roasting machine. Respectable? Several hundreds of hours, possibly thousands... provided you have the skill and dedication to do so. It's not a "get rich quick" kind of thing. Even if you go to a roasting camp for a four or five days, that just gives you the basics. Roasting is a craft. It takes time. It seems like you are wanting to do it to make money, not because you have a desire to roast.

I prefer to dive into business rather than invest hundreds to thousands of hours into something and possibly never get a return. Perhaps I would be better off paying a roaster to do it for me.

 

[Redswing]

Here’s how it worked for me. I started roasting on the stove top, then bought a dedicated table top machine. After a couple years doing that, I felt confident enough in my grasp of what I like in coffee to purchase a drum style roaster that could produce 5 lb batches. I also spent about $500 on an online roasting course that gave me some basic guidelines as to time and temperature and background to the chemical changes occurring throughout the roast. Boot Camp coffee school https://bootcampcoffee.com/ and the book by Scott Rao http://www.amazon.com/The-Coffee-Roasters-Companion-Scott/dp/1495118193 are, in my opinion, good resources.
What I’ve found out is that there is a lot to know about roasting coffee, and I won’t ever be dedicated enough to be the best roaster out there. But I do know that if you find a solid importer of green coffee and develop a relationship with them, that goes a long way. Also, buy top-shelf green coffee and you will get a delicious product as long as you follow basic roasting parameters.
I would confidently challenge any roaster (especially one who believes adjusting drum speed or airflow or radically changing the temperature rise at varying stages in the roast cycle and the like to coax the green coffee to its highest potential) to take the same green beans as me, roast them how they want, and I will do the same...if we compared the cup, the average drinker wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference (if we finished our coffees at close to the same stage in the roast).
If you have the skills to market the coffee, I believe you can figure out how to roast a quality product. I’m glad I took a couple years to practice on my own coffee, and would recommend that.
Best of luck to you

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

The online Coffee consumer is not underserved. If you don't roast your own coffee, you will become just another face in a large crowd. If you have no knowledge of roasting, how will you gain the confidence of a consumer who wants to deal directly with a roaster? You are misinformed about this "huge lack of information"...there is only a consumer base that lacks this information, but not a shortage of information.

 

[expat]

It seems to me that in the U.S. there are so many good, local roasters that it would be difficult to run a mail order only coffee business. What's your Unique Selling Proposition? Why are people going to buy from you? What special thing do you bring to the table that all those other roasters don't have?

I know one U.S. roaster that does a whale of a mail order business that is mainly to people living in her general area and tourists that liked the coffee and want a pound mailed to them every now and then as a reminder of good times. The key is, this roaster has a coffee shop/roastery as her base, the mail order is an adjunct to her business.

Not asking this question confrontationally but as food for thought: What makes you special?

P.S. Ditto what Redswing said.

P.P.S. Ditto what John said.