coffee business strategies

Ahhh, the smell of freshly roasted coffee; the intrigue of a giant coffee roaster – looking not unlike the business end of a steam locomotive; the money that you save buying and storing green coffee rather than sourcing roasted coffees elsewhere… everyone should be roasting coffee in their own retail shop, right? Well, maybe.

“To buy from others or to roast our own?” is a question of increasing popularity among new and prospective coffee shop owners today. To them (you), I offer this advice:

You may wish consider either roasting or opening a retail coffee shop rather than both at the start. The disciplines and equipment required to do both well can be prohibitive for the typical new coffee business owner. Any cost benefit that the novice roaster may obtain by roasting-their-own will likely be offset by the lack of sales volume in the coffee shop from roasting-it-badly. Not to mention, it can be tricky to find a good location that will accommodate both operations.

If a retail coffee shop is your business focus, I recommend that you select a roaster-partner that can work collaboratively with you and supply you weekly with good, high quality product. There are any number of very good full-time small artisan roasters around the country that will gladly work with you to produce your own private label signature blends. Consider contacting the SCAA Roasters’ Guild or your coffee business consultant for a referral to a local roaster that will be best suited to your business approach and style.

However, if roasting is your true calling, dedicate yourself to learning as much about roasting as possible, make it a full time profession and do it well. Be aware that any retail storefront is going to absorb a significant portion of your time, and you should be staffed and funded accordingly.

There is no reason that a coffee shop cannot also be their own successful roaster, look at any of a number of retailer-roasters around the country that are outstanding successes (you were expecting a link, weren’t you! Sorry, for every one I roaster mentioned, there would be 10 others overlooked); it just may be more effective at the onset of a new business venture to fully understand one craft before taking on two single handedly.