Roast Summit Is Sold Out — Let’s Talk About What Really Powers Your Roastery

We’re thrilled to announce that Roast Summit is officially sold out! Thank you to everyone who registered—this event brings together an incredible community of roasters, industry leaders, and solution-seekers, and we can’t wait to connect with you.

As electric roasting continues to gain attention in the specialty coffee world—especially among newer roasters and cafes aiming to align with sustainability goals—Diedrich’s CEO, Karl Schmidt, will be sharing a presentation that tackles the topic head-on with real-world data, practical insights, and perspective shaped by years spent engineering, designing, troubleshooting, and scaling roasting systems.

As energy costs continue to rise, roasters across the country are facing tough decisions. While electrification can seem like the obvious next step, it often comes with hidden and costly challenges. From aging local power grids and shifting energy policies that reduce access to renewables, to the realities of scaling up with limited infrastructure support, electric roasting isn’t always the straightforward solution it’s marketed to be.

Karl will break down how to identify the hidden costs, both financial and logistical, of scaling with electric roasting, what it really takes to prepare for and manage an electric roasting setup, especially in light of challenges including:

• Volatile utility rates and increasing demand charges

• Planning for long-term facility flexibility, scaleability and capital efficiency

• Infrastructure limitations in industrial zones
• Limited access to adequate electrical infrastructure in commercial zones, which can delay installation timelines, require costly upgrades (like new transformers or 3-phase service), and limit the capacity to scale roasting operations efficiently

When your margins are tight, every decision matters. Karl’s session asks the hard questions: What are the true costs of going electric? How do these costs evolve as you grow? And how can you protect your bottom line while still planning for a more sustainable future?

This isn’t just a talk about tech specs—it’s a strategic perspective grounded in real-world data and hard-earned insights from years of hands-on experience in the coffee industry.

We’re looking forward to unpacking these questions together in Portland. If you were lucky enough to grab a seat, we’ll see you there.