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Industry Articles
So You Want To Start Shop Roasting?
(from "Coffee & Beverage", Volume 9, #7 Summer 2004)
From sleep deprivation to coffee fires, there are a few things you might want to think about before taking the plunge.
Once you've managed to open up your own coffee shop and make a go of it, it just seems like the next logical step is to become a roaster, for your own customers at least, and maybe even for wholesale accounts. Well that might be the next logical step, but that doesn't mean it's an easy one to take. Roasting coffee is, after all, an art form in itself, and there are more than a few business considerations involved in the process as well, so you might want to consult with an expert first.
And that's just what we did. Michael Whitley is Director of Sales and Marketing for Diedrich Manufacturers, one of the leading manufacturers of small batch coffee roasters in the world. We spoke with him recently about what it takes to start a successful shop roasting operation. (Michael Whitley is a featured speaker at the Canadian Coffee & Tea Expo in Vancouver, June 11 and 12, 2004. See the show guide section for details.)
Coffee & Beverage: When should a coffee shop operator consider shop roasting their own coffee and coffee for wholesale accounts?
Michael Whitley: The quick and easy answers are when an operator wants to have direct control over their coffee quality and consistency and/or when the operator's coffee volume purchase approaches 100lbs/45 Kilos per week.Another key exercise to complete when deciding to roast is to reference the operator's business plan. I recommend the retailer re-visit their business plan to determine or re-evaluate what segment or segments of the coffee supply chain their business will be targeting. Some examples are a) I am a retail business that will be selling coffee by the cup, along with some in-store whole bean sales to my existing client base, or b) I am a retailer that will be supplying roasted coffee for my store (cup and whole bean) and will target some outside wholesale opportunities. Reviewing the business plan or strategy will also assist the operator in determining the size of the roaster they will need for their business.
C&B: What kind of time commitment is involved with running a shop roasting operation?
MW: The time an operator will invest each week for their roasting is directly related to the size of the roaster. The size of the roaster determines how much roasted coffee the operator will produce per hour (day, week, etc.). The average operator roasting in-store will invest two to four hours roasting per week.C&B: Will more staff be required?
MW: No, typically an operator just setting up for roasting will learn and understand the craft of roasting coffee before they hire a dedicated roast position. Operators who are not in touch with the roasting (cup) quality they are providing their customers are placing their most valuable business asset (the customer) in someone else's hands. Learn the craft first; then train the staff with your passion for quality and consistency.C&B: Are all roasting machines basically the same?
MW: No, all roasting manufacturers are different. Therefore, each roaster varies by design and quality. There are two basic roasting methods: The Drum Style Roaster and Fluid Bed (Hot Air) Style Roaster. The vast majority of the roasting industry uses a drum style roaster. I recommend that all new roasters choose a manufacturer with a visible commitment to quality materials and quality customer service. Roasters are constantly heating up and cooling down, al this stress is accommodated for in higher quality roasters. However, less expensive roasters tend to have a dramatically shorter roasting life and produce significantly lower cup quality.C&B: How do you know which roasting machine is right for your business?
I recommend that an operator looking for a roaster invest the time to interview two to three roaster manufacturers. Challenge the roaster manufacture to provide you with the reasons why they believe their roaster is the correct roaster for your business. Most importantly, ask them for a fact-based explanation as to why they are the best roaster for your business.C&B: What other equipment is required, and how much can an operator expect to invest to get started?
MW: Every operator should include in their business plan an afterburner, or thermal oxidizer, which will reduce the emissions of the coffee roasting process. Most regions now require an air quality permit for coffee roasting.
The proper purchase, site preparation and set-up for a small (3 kilos per batch) in-store roaster ranges from about US$12,000 to US$20,000. If your region requires an afterburner, you can add US$5,000.00 to US$8,000.C&B: What kind of structural changes can an operator expect to make to their building if they want to start shop roasting?
MW: Site preparation for a roaster includes a dedicated 110 Volt/30AMP Electrical Circuit; a gas supply line for the roaster and afterburner (natural or LPG); and a dedicated venting system for the roaster/afterburner. It is extremely important to install the proper venting material for a coffee roaster. Do not take any short cuts on cost or ducting material quality, regardless of what some roaster manufacturers or HVAC contractors tell you.C&B: Are there legal considerations?
MW: There are air quality regulations in most regions. I recommend you contact your local air quality organization or local township for any requirements they my have.C&B: How would a new roaster go about sourcing green coffee and how do they ensure quality?
MW: Green coffee is sourced by green coffee brokers. I recommend the operator interview several broker candidates and it is also a good idea to use dual sourcing (more than one broker) for green coffee. Challenge your green coffee broker to supply you with the latest high quality supply of green coffee that meets your flavor profile objective, regardless of weather conditions or availability.A good green coffee broker can be one your best business partners, but there is no substitute for cupping (tasting) your coffee to insure quality, both when shopping to buy green coffee and after roasting. Cupping is critical to the roasting process, and it should be done throughout the roast profile development process and consistently through the roasting week. No short cuts here -- the cupping of your roasted coffee is the "Roaster's Report Card."
C&B: How should green coffee be stored and does it lose quality over time?
MW: Operators should avoid storing green (or roasted) coffee in extreme conditions. A cool room temperature is a good target.C&B: What are the key factors to watch for during the roasting process, and what is the best way to master the art?
MW: The best way for an operator to learn and improve their roasting skill is to attend a reputable roasting workshop. The workshop should include hands-on roasting with qualified coaching. The workshop should also include a focus on how to develop your roast profiles. A common error novices make is to attend a one- or two-hour presentation at a trade show and assume they will be roasting when they arrive back at their shop. Coffee roasting is similar to other arts -- the quality of your skills and the rewards you reap are proportionate to the time you invest.C&B: What are the earmarks of badly roasted coffee and what are the common mistakes that rookie roasters make during the process?
MW: You can usually tell a badly roasted coffee by its scorched or underdeveloped appearance and flat or baked negative taste attributes. The most common mistake I see novice roasters making is trying to take short cuts by not investing the appropriate amount of time to roast and cup the coffee they serve their customers.C&B: Is the roasting process the same for different single origin coffees and blends, or does it vary depending on the coffee being roasted?
MW: All coffee is different. Each single-origin has its own unique growing region, altitude, weather conditions, processing, etc. All of these variables need to be considered when developing a roast profile ( or roasting recipe) that is unique for each coffee.C&B: What is involved in maintaining roasting equipment?
MW: It is important to empty the chaff--the by-product of the green bean during the roast--from the roaster. Beyond that, you should also make sure all the air flow channels are clear and periodically greasing the bearings.
In terms of cleaning, that varies by manufacturer. In general, ten minutes of cleaning to each four hours of roasting is a good standard to maintain, along with a one hour of cleaning with each 40 hours of operation. Ducting should be inspected and cleaned several times per year, depending on the number of hours you are roasting.C&B: Does it necessarily follow that a good coffee shop operator will be a good roaster?
MW: Shop roasting operations usually fail because the operator has a lack of focus and dedication in terms of quality, consistency and just basic passion for the business.The successful operator usually is in touch with their customers' quality and consistency expectations. But applying the same dedication and investment of time and patience learning roasting and cupping will pay off for the successful operator. Business owners without passion and dedication to quality and consistency, usually fail in the coffee industry.
The Diedrich family has been involved in the coffee, tea and cocoa trade for three generations. They began growing coffee in Guatemala in 1912 and developed the first Diedrich coffee roaster in the 1960s. The family moved to California in 1972, where they opened the first of what would eventually become a nationwide chain of more than 60 coffee houses. Diedrich Manufacturing was founded in 1980 to focus exclusively on manufacturing coffee-related equipment, including roasters, coffee loading systems, destoners, green coffee silos and afterburners. In addition, Diedrich also conducts monthly, two-day workshops on the nature of coffee and the roasting process.
Roaster Profile: Little River Roasting Company
by Jim Fadden
(from "Roast Magazine", March/April 2004)MOST SPECIALTY COFFEE ROASTERS offer a variety of familiar roast levels: American, French and Italian to name a few. But only one offers the light-light roast known as the Tuxedo roast.
Designed to suit the unusual tastes of the coffee-drinking public in Tuxedo, N.C., this roast is the custom-creation of Gervais Hollowell of the Little River Roasting Company. “The people of Tuxedo couldn’t drink the coffee [I was roasting],” Hollowell says. “No matter which coffee or blend I came up with, I always heard the same complaint; ‘This stuff is too strong!’”
Although primarily a wholesale roaster, informal sales to local people who stopped by the roastery gave Hollowell a chance to see firsthand the reaction to his coffees. Hollowell says he’d watch, disheartened, while customers poured themselves half a cup of his coffee and filled the rest with water. “Specialty coffee is new here, so I had to find something that would introduce the local market to the world of great coffee. That’s how the Tuxedo Roast came about. I took our wonderful Cameroon Boyo to a light roast, and the people loved it.”
After opening in Tuxedo in 2000, Little River moved the main roasting operation to nearby Spartanburg, S.C., in 2001. Many darker roast levels have been added to the lineup, but the Tuxedo roast continues to be one of Little River’s best-sellers, not only in Tuxedo, but throughout the Carolinas.
The Tuxedo roast illustrates an important lesson for small roasting companies: they must present products that differentiate them from general marketplace. For Little River, this also means roasting coffee from the West African nation of Cameroon.
The Boyo area in the North and West provinces of Cameroon spans more than 1,800 meters, and the small, one-to-two hectare farms are planted with the Blue Mountain varietal. “It is a rich, earthy, full-bodied coffee that lingers on the tongue. This and its fine acidity make for a well-rounded cup,” says Hollowell. “And not only are they excellent coffees, they are organic and shade-grown. We use these coffees in our blends and feature them by themselves in lighter (Tuxedo) and darker roasts.” Little River pays above market prices to support ongoing quality initiatives.
Altering roast styles to adapt to local tastes demonstrates that flexibility often holds the key to success for a small specialty coffee roaster. A family-run operation that roasted just over 40,000 pounds last year, Little River is no exception. In early 2002, local inns, restaurants and coffee shops bought most of Little River’s weekly 300-pound run.
But later that year, through a friend’s helpful introduction, Hollowell landed a contract with a major retail consumer goods chain, which placed an order for national distribution. The initial order was for 3,000 pounds in 12-ounce bags, and a follow-up order was for 24,000 pounds in one-pound bags. While this was great news for sales, it put a strain on resources, so the roastery turned to family members and the community for help. Hollowell roasted the coffee, and then it was poured into homemade hoppers that were mounted to a pair of grocery store grinders run by Hollowell’s wife Laura. The Hollowell’s daughters, Leland and Kathleen, and many of their friends, hand-sealed the bags and applied the labels. It took six weeks to fill the initial order.
Additional orders followed, and Little River was able to slowly upgrade its equipment. The company’s original 25-pound Diedrich roaster was augmented with a 100-pound model. To further increase capacity through the use of pre-printed bags, a matrix bagging machine was added. Help also came in the form of three new employees, and the most recent order was filled in one very busy week.
Although selling unique products and taking creative approaches to problem-solving are an important part of Little Rivers’ success, it is the company’s roots in the communities of the Western Carolinas that sustain it. The Hollowells have recently turned part of their roasting facility into retail space and have begun to sell beans directly to consumers in Spartanburg.
Whether it’s introducing people in the Southeast to new roast styles or to coffees from exotic places, Little River continues to do its part to increase specialty coffee awareness and appreciation.
Clear The Air: Breaking Down the Myths of Emission Control
by Shanna Germain
(from "Roast Magazine", March/April 2004)
ASK FIVE PEOPLE in the coffee industry the same question about air quality control, and you’re likely to get five different answers.
That’s because emission control is confusing, often misunderstood, and riddled with myths and misconceptions.
Here, we tackle the top 10 myths about air quality control in an attempt to clear the air and sort the facts from the fiction.But first off, let’s look at what all the fuss is about: Why should coffee roasters care about emissions?
When coffee beans are roasted, they release a number of emissions, including volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and combustion products. While some of these emissions come from compounds within the green coffee beans that decompose or oxidize during roasting, others come from the process of roasting itself. Because roasters are typically gas-fired, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions occur as a result of fuel combustion. The roaster is also the main source of gaseous pollutants, including alcohols,
aldehydes, organic acids, and nitrogen and sulfur compounds. When all of these emissions mix together, it forms smoke.“Smoke is actually particulate matter suspended,” says Shawn Hamilton, vice president of operations and green coffee buyer for Java City. “It’s little tiny chunks of stuff like coffee oils, tars, and bean fibers. And that’s what everyone worries about, because if you breathe those, they get into your lungs and they stick there.” That’s where oxidizers, commonly called afterburners and catalytic incinerators, come into play. An afterburner is a gas burner chamber that uses high heat to break down the odor and smoke and convert it into water vapor and carbon dioxide.
“Basically, it burns those particulates into nothing, or at least makes them so small that they’re beyond the scope of what the air quality management district looks for,” says Hamilton. Seems simple enough, right? But the truth is that there is much more to clear air than meets the eye (or the nose).
Myth #1: The EPA regulates roasting emissions
This seems to be the number one misconception about emission control. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does have a hand in regulating emissions of all types, the truth is a little less concrete. First off, it’s hard to find anyone at the EPA who knows exactly what the regulations are for coffee roasters.
Many people believe that’s because the EPA has bigger fish to fry at the moment. “The EPA’s worried about coal-fired power plants,
refineries, and pulp mills,” says Steve Van Slyke, supervisory engineer for the permit engineering team for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “At this point, coffee roasters just don’t get up very high on their radar screen.”Instead, it’s the state or local jurisdiction that really regulates coffee roasters, says John Keenan, environmental engineer with the
EPA. If you’re planning to build a new roastery, or even upgrade an old one, you’ll need to go through the state and local construction
permit processes in your area. “This is a good opportunity to ask what is required of you when it comes to air emission control,”
Keenan says.Which brings us to…
Myth #2: Emission standards are the same everywhere
Not true at all, says Keenan. “The standards are all over the map. If you’re in rural Montana, you’re going to get a different standard
than if you’re in downtown San Diego.”Van Slyke agrees, saying that forewarned is forearmed. “Always check with the agency that has responsibility for air permits in your
area,” he urges. He says he’s seen too many instances where people start a coffee roastery without checking the regulations, and realizes six weeks into their business that they need an afterburner. “And then it’s an unexpected expense that hasn’t been build into their business plan,” he says.And it’s not just regulations that differ from area to area, the costs vary nearly as much as the requirements. In some areas, the process costs a chunk of change and time: $2,000 plus two pages worth of forms to fill out. In other areas, the cost is as low as $150 and a verbal notification that you’re going to install an afterburner.
Myth #3: Every roastery must have emission control
Legally, this isn’t true. Some state and local agencies don’t set any emission requirements at all. “The million-dollar question is: Do I need an afterburner or don’t I?” says Michael Whitley, director of sales and marketing for Diedrich Manufacturing. “The regulations differ from Topeka to Taiwan, from Seattle to Singapore.”The answer, again, can be found with the local governing jurisdictions. “What we recommend is that you contact your local air quality management district and say: ‘I’m working on a business plan that includes coffee roasting. Do I have any regulations I need to consider?’” Whitley says.
Terry Davis, president of Ambex, Inc. suggests that roasters do their afterburner homework before they dive in head-first. “Most people jump to the conclusion that they have to have an afterburner,” says Davis. “But don’t assume you need an afterburner. Don’t take anybody’s word for it. Do the research yourself.”
However, there’s another side to this argument: Even if emission control is not a legal requirement, many roasters argue that it is a social and environmental requirement. “There is damage we are doing when we don’t have some kind of smoke control,” says Donald Schoenholt, president and coffeeman at Gillies Coffee Company. “Smoke is fi lled with an awful lot of stuff that you really don’t want to put in the atmosphere unless you have a death wish for the air and, oh yeah, for your great grandchildren.”
While Schoenholt admits that it’s easy to understand why roasters don’t want smoke abatement equipment, he believes it’s the
neighborly thing to do.“They don’t want it, and I don’t blame them, because it’s lot of money,” he says. “But they have to understand that if you’re going to
be a smoker, it’s polite to use an ashtray. You don’t just put the ashes on your mother-in-law’s couch. It’s a question of good manners, and of being a good neighbor.”
Schoenholt equates today’s afterburner situation with that of chaff collectors in the past. “Today, no roaster would think of putting in a roaster without a chaff collector, but there was a time when there was no such thing as a chaff collector and all the ash and all the dust and all the chaff - some of it still burning- would just go out into the street and into the neighborhood,” he says. “Nobody even thinks of operating without a chaff collector today. Yet, we still haven’t learned our lesson with smoke control.”
Myth #4: It’s all about pollution
“This is kind of a misnomer,” admits Davis. “The biggest issue with coffee roasters falls more on the nuisance side than on the pollution side.”That’s because regulatory agencies are often so busy that they don’t check into something unless there’s a complaint. And typically
the complaints are visible smoke or odor-related.“The real issue is odors from the coffee roasters, big or small,” Van Slyke says. “In some ways, it’s the smaller [roasters] that have more challenges because they tend to be in neighborhoods, where people notice it more.”
Myth #5: An afterburner is the only choice
While the term afterburner is the one you hear most often when it comes to emission control, there are actually a few options for
roasters.For those who are having nuisance problems, one option is dispersion. “Dispersion is where you put a blower outside the stack that mixes fresh air with the nuisance smoke so that you can pass the opacity test,” Davis says. Although the method may sound a little sketchy, Davis says it’s legal as long as the roastery is having a nuisance problem and not a pollution problem. When it comes to pollution-control devices, two basic types are readily available in the United States:
AFTERBURNERS are the most common. These machines use a power burner to oxidize the smoke and smell when they run between 1,200 and 1,400 degrees.
The problem? “Afterburners are huge energy hogs,” says Davis.“All of a sudden, your gas bill is humongous.” Not only that, but
they require costly triple-wall ducting due to the high temperatures, and they take up a lot of space.CATALYTIC INCINERATORS are a second option. While catalytic incinerators have to get to the same high temperature as regular afterburners, once they hit that temperature, catalysts inside the machine light off and feed off the smoke. But catalysts can be tricky because they get dirty and have to be cleaned and/or replaced.
There is also a third option, which, while still new, is slowly growing. These are a new breed of roasters that take care of roasting and afterburning all in one machine. Lilla offers machines with afterburners already attached, while Loring Smart Roaster has designed a machine that reuses the already-heated air from the roasting process to burn away emissions, thus decreasing energy use and costs.
Myth #6: You match the after-burner to the size of the roaster
This seems to be half-myth and half-truth. While some afterburners are matched to the size of the roaster (for example, Diedrich makes an afterburner that specifically fi ts each of their roasters), if you’re trying to match machines from different manufacturers together, the measurements can be tricky.“You can’t necessarily just mix and match any roaster with any afterburner,” says Whitley. “You want to consider the size and the airflow.” Airfl ow is important because in order for the roaster to perform properly, the air flow cannot be restricted by the afterburner. Best bet? Find an expert to help you match your machines.
Myth #7: You have to do it all yourself
Typically, all you have to do is ask, and someone will help you with the process. Many companies that make and sell afterburners not
only help you set up the machine and get it running, they will also complete the paperwork and assist you with the inspection process.“When someone buys an afterburner, we do all the environmental work for them,” says Marty G. Curtis, founder and owner of Combustion Systems Sales & Service Inc. Not only does Curtis file the paperwork, he waits at the roastery while the proper officials check it out. That way he can make any necessary changes to get everything working up to spec. “What we tell people is when you buy your air pollution equipment, make sure whoever you buy it from is willing to come out and have it installed and help get it signed off when the environmental people are there.”
Myth #8: Emission control will solve everything
Not so, especially when the issue is one of nuisance and not of compliance, says Lincoln Fowler, co-owner of Alterra Coffee Roasting, which recently won a Green Power Leadership Award from the EPA. “Many people think they’ll put an afterburner on and solve the situation entirely,” he says. “But depending on what temperature you run you may burn all the smoke and the particulate will disappear, but you can still have an odor.”Fowler has found that a temperature of 1,100–1,200 will incinerate smoke but leave odor, while an afterburner running at 1,300 degrees will eliminate both smoke and odor. And then there’s another issue that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with air quality control, but which can cause a headache or two just the same, as Schoenholt recently found out. Last year, Gillies was cited by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for polluting the air around his plant with “offensive coffee odors.”
But it wasn’t odor from the roasting process that had the city up in arms. Instead, it was the fragrance of the already roasted coffee degassing. “We weren’t roasting, but the building is fi lled with little valve bags that release the smell of fresh-roasted beans,” Schoenholt says. “So if you happen to be near that stuff, there’s a reasonable chance—like 100 percent—that the ambient air is going to smell like coffee. And, in New York City, that’s apparently against the law.”
The city fined Gillies $400, but Schoenholt argued that the city didn’t have a case, because coffee was a naturally occurring fragrance (like flowers), and he spent nearly $30,000 in legal fees to try to prove it. At this point, the case is still in appeal. But Schoenholt worries that there’s a bigger issue at stake. “My concern is that this is a test case for the world,” he says. “Suppose San Francisco says, ‘Hey, New York got away with it, so you can’t have any smells here either.’ If this interpretation is let stand, there could be tremendous pressure on the specialty coffee community to keep these naturally occurring smells from leaking out of the building.”
Myth #9: Emission control is a one-time deal
Of course, the issue of emission compliance doesn’t end once you’ve installed the necessary equipment and crossed all the T’s. In most
places, regular inspections are also part of the deal.“In Sacramento, we’re allowed three minutes per hour of smoke over 20 percent capacity. So every year, someone comes and sits
across the street with a stop watch for an hour and they read the smoke,” says Hamilton.Inspectors also look at the company’s emission records—logs that record the number of pounds per roast, roasts per day, and what the operating temperature of the afterburner was at the end of the roast. At first, Hamilton admits, the “smoke readers” were fairly uncooperative and would give the company violations without explaining how to fi x them. When Hamilton realized that the fines were estimated to be $10,000, he decided there had to be a better way. “I wanted to learn what was and wasn’t a violation so I could make it better,” he says. “So I went to pollution school.”
In school, Hamilton learned how to read smoke by sight and to know what percent of the smoke was particulate. Now, he says, he talks “smoke smack” with the inspectors and tries to make sure he’s doing everything to stay on their good side. “The trick with those guys is, don’t argue with them,” he says. “Try to work with them, and try to understand what they do.
If worse comes to worse and you fi nd yourself in the middle of a situation with an agency, don’t panic. Although the chances are
“If you do receive a complaint, they won’t just come in the door and shut you down,” says Davis. “That never, ever happens, so don’t
good that you’ll get a fi ne, they probably won’t force you to shut your doors.
panic. You’ll probably have to take action—buy an afterburner or whatever, but they’re not going to shut you down.”Myth #10: Emissions control is too hard
Okay, so this isn’t really a myth, but after reading this article, you might think it is. But roasters who have gone through the process say it isn’t as diffi cult as it appears. Figure out what’s expected ahead of time, build the expense of emissions control into your budget, ask others for help, and you should be operating in the blue in no time.
