The Business of Roasting Report — Survey Insights Into Roastery Business Operations
By Danielle Ewalt
In an industry as dynamic as specialty coffee, roasters must constantly seek ways to stay competitive while balancing growth and profitability. It’s no easy task. To shed light on the best business practices, RoasterTools, a company whose software organizes and automates sales, operations and inventory for roasteries, conducted an in-depth survey of coffee roasters in February 2024. The results, supplemented with anonymized data from RoasterTools’ software platform, offer a comprehensive look at the practices, challenges and opportunities facing coffee roasting businesses today.
Methodology
More than 200 roasters across the globe participated in this anonymous survey distributed via social media, email marketing, pop-ups within RoasterTools’ software, and other marketing channels. The majority of responses were concentrated within the United States, with other responses coming from Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
Survey and app data results were analyzed using the following segments to identify trends and correlations:
Annual Revenue:
Less than $100,000
$100,000 to $500,000
$500,000 to $1 million
$1 million to $5 million
$5 million to $10 million
$10 million to $20 million
Pounds of Coffee Roasted Annually:
Less than 120,000 pounds
120,000 to 300,000 pounds
300,000 to 600,000 pounds
600,000 to 1 million pounds
More than 1 million pounds
Profitable (in 2023):
Yes
No
Survey questions covered a wide range of topics including product pricing, cost of goods sold, overall business profitability, tools and software used at a roastery, marketing practices and more.
This article will explore some of the most insightful findings from the survey. (To download the RoasterTools report, click here. To read the full article in Roast magazine, click the button below.)
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Danielle Ewalt is the head of operations and marketing at RoasterTools, a software company for coffee roasters to organize and manage sales, operations and inventory at roasteries.
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