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For most coffee roasters, the day will come when it’s time to upgrade their facilities. Whether it’s buying a new machine or moving into a bigger space, this can be one of the most exciting phases for any roasting business. However, it’s also a time filled with potential headaches, surprises, and considerable costs. With careful planning and thoughtful preparation, roasters can successfully navigate the process of upgrading or expanding their facilities and operations.
To learn more about this topic, I spoke with Giorgio Mosca and Giovanni Bedeschi from IMF Roasters. Here’s what they had to say.
Upgrading a roasting facility can be a one-time project or an ongoing process, depending on the roaster’s growth and operational needs. Any new roasting business needs to install essential equipment to roast, grind, package, and sell coffee. As business operations expand, roasters often outgrow their current facilities. This can mean investing in larger-capacity machines or even multiple machines, which in turn requires more space for green and roasted coffee storage and potentially more staff to meet increased demand.
Scaling operations is the most common reason roasters upgrade their facilities. For instance, a micro-roaster using a 1kg-capacity machine might experience a surge in online sales. To keep up with demand and maintain coffee quality, they might need to upgrade to a 3kg-capacity machine. The same scenario applies to larger roasteries that may need bigger machines or additional equipment to load, grind, and package coffee products.
It’s crucial for roasters to anticipate sales spikes and have the time and capital to upgrade equipment before it’s urgently needed. Working with a roaster manufacturer can help with this process.
Giorgio Mosca, a senior area sales manager at IMF Roasters, emphasizes the importance of understanding a roaster’s specific needs. “We focus on providing direct consultancy services with our clients to help establish their specific needs to achieve the best solution for them,” he explains. This involves understanding how they receive and store green coffee, how they roast and store it, and how they package their products.
Upgrading a roastery involves numerous considerations. One of the most important is accounting for any space constraints. If a roastery can’t store all its green coffee on site, additional storage space becomes essential, especially if orders are increasing.
Another key step is considering the design and layout of the upgraded facility. By measuring new equipment before installation, roasters can design a space that streamlines workflow and improves efficiency. Mapping the “journey” of coffee through the roastery can help create a more ergonomic space. Some steps to consider include:
Giovanni Bedeschi, a senior sales manager at IMF Roasters with over 26 years of experience, says asking these questions “plays a fundamental role in maximizing the potential of your coffee roastery, especially the machine itself.”
An often overlooked factor in upgrading a roasting facility is ensuring the right power supplies. This is particularly important if a roaster is switching from a gas to an electric machine, or vice versa.
“Roasters will need all the necessary utilities, such as gas lines, compressed air and water supplies, and smokestacks,” Giorgio explains. Roasters must understand local regulations about gas and electricity power supplies and ensure their facilities meet their machines’ power requirements. This might involve making changes or upgrades to existing infrastructure.
One of the most crucial points when upgrading a roastery is the size of the new machine. The capacity that works best depends on the business’s needs. Smaller roasters might start with 1kg to 3kg-capacity machines but may need to upgrade to 5kg or 15kg machines as they scale operations. Medium-sized roasters typically use 15kg to 30kg machines, while larger roasteries might roast up to 70kg batches.
Anticipating sales increases helps roasters choose machines that best suit their needs. Giovanni notes, “It’s important to roast batches of coffee that match demand to avoid creating waste, optimize resource utilization, reduce operating costs, and improve production times.” Working with equipment manufacturers like IMF can provide valuable insights, especially for customers planning to scale their businesses.
Roasters also need to consider batch size requirements. For instance, if a roastery needs to roast 1,000kg of coffee per week, it must calculate how many hours it would take to fulfill orders using a 3kg-capacity machine. Additionally, roasters should avoid exceeding 75% of the machine’s capacity per batch to maintain consistency and quality. Manufacturers also recommend limits on how many batches should be roasted per week, which varies by machine.
While the roaster itself is crucial, there are other important considerations beyond power supply and batch capacity. “You need to think about how to best position your machine within your facility,” Giorgio says. Proper placement can optimize energy consumption, reduce emissions, ensure safe product handling, protect workers, and prolong equipment lifespan.
Once the roaster is installed, operators can focus on other key pieces of equipment they want to upgrade. Needs will vary by roastery, so working closely with equipment manufacturers and distributors is valuable. Giovanni emphasizes, “When designing and creating a new or updated facility, we must take into account key information about how the roaster operates. It’s important that we can customize the experience for every client based on their business needs.”
Correct installation and fitting of equipment are critical, and expertise from equipment manufacturers is invaluable. “Working with IMF technicians can help avoid careless mistakes that could cause serious damage to the equipment or the facility,” Giorgio explains.
Once machinery is installed, it can be time-consuming and expensive to rearrange or adjust equipment. Therefore, designing the space to prioritize efficiency and workflow is essential from the start.
Most roasters will eventually need to upgrade their facilities and equipment, and many factors must be considered to do this successfully. Working with equipment manufacturers and distributors can be one of the most effective ways to plan and design an upgraded roasting space. By doing so, roasters can better understand how to prioritize their needs and make informed decisions that support their growth and operational efficiency.
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