How Can You Design Your Coffee Roastery with Efficiency and Appeal?

Whether roasting specialty coffee on smaller scales or producing commercially, maximizing your coffee roastery’s efficiency may be more essential than its aesthetic appeal.

Designing an efficient and appealing coffee roastery requires some planning, and it deserves your energy and time!

When you invest in your attention from the beginning, setting up your coffee roastery with maximum efficiency can lead to higher output, lower risk of injury, and boost the potential for growth, alongside other long-term benefits.

So, what should you consider when designing your coffee roastery?

Delivery & Storage

When designing an efficient coffee roastery, the first point to consider is the delivery and storage of your green beans.

Any experienced roaster will advise you to designate ample space for the arrival and clearance of your supply to anticipate inopportune moments of delivery throughout the day. Ensuring a smooth in and out process is good to minimize the impact of these interruptions to your day to day operations.

Storing away your green beans can be time consuming and labor extensive. For this reason, try to keep the distance from where you receive your green beans to where you store them away as short, and the space as seamless as possible. Green coffee beans can stay fresh for up to 12 months when stored correctly, while roasted coffee has a shorter shelf life. It’s important to take into account the conditions in which you store both types of beans; ideally, in a clean, cool, dry, dark environment with minimal oxygen. This is a crucial consideration when first designing your roastery.

Size

Size is another consideration. By this we don’t only mean the size of your coffee roasting machine, but also the anticipated roast volume. Ensuring the space caters to the level of production will also help you set long-term goals. You may be tempted to build a smaller space to be more cost effective, but consider the implications for efficiency, such as venting runs and other factors you will be working with in a smaller space.

However, a spacious facility does not directly equate to efficiency. You will need to implement a system that allows you to work smoothly and seamlessly throughout the day. A 2017 article published in Roast Magazine showed that creating a flow chart for operational efficiency will map out your day to day process. The chart illustrates the life stages of your product, from the delivery of green beans to coffee roasting, packaging, and distribution. This way, you can pinpoint exactly where each process occurs in your facility.

Packaging & Distribution

Professional roasters will advise you to keep the coffee roasting and coffee packaging areas separate to enable the efficiency and productivity of more than one person without getting in the other’s way.

For specialty coffee roasters, packaging and distributing their product requires careful planning. According to Espresso & Coffee Guide, packaging coffee is the process of enclosing roasted coffee to protect it from sunlight, moisture, and oxygen to preserve the taste and aromatic characteristics.

Coffee is a sensitive product that needs gentle treatment. When designing an efficient coffee roastery, make sure your space is conducive to the process of coffee roasting to coffee packaging, from start to finish.

Should you also create a visually-appealing coffee roastery?

Efficiency is the biggest priority here, but some roasteries are customer-facing. You may want to bring clients or customers into your space for tours and educational events. Create the kind of atmosphere you want them to immerse in; well-designed roasteries can leave a lasting impression forever!

As a specialty coffee roaster, it’s worth taking the time to properly design your workspace with maximum efficiency and appeal to establish a productive working environment that is safe and secure for your coffee, too.

Do you have your roastery space already? Consult with our team to find out which one of our roasting machines will fit your roastery space best. In the meantime, browse the variety of roasters we have available!