Hopefully it's alright to ask this here...

I've done lots of research on roasting, have done 4 years of home roasting and blending, and now have an opportunity to help start up a new roasting company. I've been asked to do some homework and I've found much of the information I need except a couple of things, including this:

Does anyone have any information on how many pounds of coffee new roasters might sell in the first month, first 6 months, etc...

I know there are some professional roasters around here somewhere. I'd appreciate any info at all, no matter how ballpark the numbers.

VS_DoubleShot wrote:Does anyone have any information on how many pounds of coffee new roasters might sell in the first month, first 6 months, etc...

A little. A lot. Who knows?

No one can answer this question for you. It will depend on the market you are entering, how competitive it is, how good your coffee is, how good and extensive your sales staff is, the training and support (including equipment rental) you can offer customers who demand or need it. How imaginative and energetic will your marketing campaign be? And don't discount good luck.

Have you thought of working for someone else first to learn the business?

Also the domain in your tagline doesn't seem to exist.

Agreed. You need a business plan.

Some people have made a side business of selling "semi-professionally" to their friends, neighbors, clubs, churches, and civic organizations, eventually branching out to selling over the web. These ventures are relatively disconnected from the specialty coffee world, and the quality standard is usually (with some exceptions) low. I don't think the chances of success are very great here.

The successful specialty roasters I know personally typically own cafes or at least have existing cafe customers at the outset. More importantly, they love coffee, all coffee; and are willing to spend all day making cold calls, brewing any takers a better cup than they are currently serving (I have heard this story maybe a dozen times, from just about every successful roaster I talked to for more than five minutes). They know enough about coffee in general (not just their favorite cappa blend) to pull this off almost all the time with every type of customer. They know how to do this because they order hundreds of samples every year; roast and cup them, preferably with anyone who's willing to sit own and taste, so that they know not just their own reactions, but those of all the sorts of people who like coffee.

Which of these sketches describes you?

If you would like a better feel for what issues working coffee roasters think about, you might monitor the Roasters Guild Forum: http://forums.roastersguild.org/. Getting a subscription to Roast Magazine would also be a good idea: http://www.roastmagazine.com/currentissue/toc.html.

Coffee roasting is a very competitive, though gratifying, business. It is very, very different from roasting as a hobby.

another_jim wrote:The successful specialty roasters I know personally typically own cafes or at least have existing cafe customers at the outset. More importantly, they love coffee, all coffee; and are willing to spend all day making cold calls, brewing any takers a better cup than they are currently serving (I have heard this story maybe a dozen times, from just about every successful roaster I talked to for more than five minutes).

This is a really important point. If you're roasting really good specialty coffee you really need a venue for showing it off.

the_trystero wrote:This is a really important point. If you're roasting really good specialty coffee you really need a venue for showing it off.

If by "venue" you mean the company cupping room (or table), sure. But, some of the favorite roasters on this forum don't run a single coffee bar. And some who do, ran successfully for years without one.

Yep, I'm including more than just a coffee bar in "venue". But I also think increased competitive pressure will make it harder and harder for roaster-only operations to compete unless they start out with well-known and well-respected coffee folk in your operation.

the_trystero wrote:Yep, I'm including more than just a coffee bar in "venue". But I also think increased competitive pressure will make it harder and harder for roaster-only operations to compete unless they start out with well-known and well-respected coffee folk in your operation.

Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is certain. A coffee shop is a huge diversion of time, attention and money for people who really just want to get a new roastery off the ground.

Thanks for responses, everyone.

As far as I know there is no plan to open a shop to serve drinks. We may wind up doing a very small espresso service in the large building we rent space from. There are at least 30 other businesses and no place to get good coffee.

I do know sales can vary wildly. There is a business plan and a Social Enterprise guy putting the whole thing together. I was asked to find out some numbers, not so much to predict but to compare what other roasters might have done in their first month and first six months and year.

The plan is espresso blends and other blends with a couple of single origins in either 12oz or 1lb bags marketed through internet and magazine ads. Product will be aimed at espresso nuts, like us, looking for excellent stuff.