Sharing Coffee Roasting Facilities

[Meztisa]

Evening guys! Been following the forums for a now but have only joined and taking the plunge of posting!

Is there such a thing as sharing coffee roasting facilities, ie sharing the warehouse, roasting equipment etc. in Sydney rather than contracting? Hubby and I have been thinking about starting our own coffee roasting company but the start up costs are out of our range at the moment. The ideal goal in a few years time is to be in a warehouse with our own equipment and conquer the world (ha!).

Cheers :-)

[LeroyC]

Sharing Coffee Roasting Facilities

I know nothing about how things work in Sydney, but I know of a few small roasters that have started out roasting here in NZ on other people's roasting equipment. Generally the 'new' roaster has rented or leased time on the roaster from the established company. Getting access to all the other facilities might be harder, but I don't see why in theory you couldn't look to lease time on an established roaster.

[MrFreddofrog]

I know a roaster in Perth who shares a shed/very small warehouse with 2 other roasters. They share the premises but each have their own roasters. So it's sort of done here so I'd hazard a guess someone is doing it in Sydney.

[Meztisa]

I know nothing about how things work in Sydney, but I know of a few small roasters that have started out roasting here in NZ on other people's roasting equipment. Generally the 'new' roaster has rented or leased time on the roaster from the established company. Getting access to all the other facilities might be harder, but I don't see why in theory you couldn't look to lease time on an established roaster.

Thanks LeroyC. A few phone calls it is! Im hoping some SydneySiders will reach out and tell me it happens here 😀

[Meztisa]

I know a roaster in Perth who shares a shed/very small warehouse with 2 other roasters. They share the premises but each have their own roasters. So it's sort of done here so I'd hazard a guess someone is doing it in Sydney.

I hoping so!!

[snedden9485]

I think anyone that will be sharing their equipment and or space is going to want some decent financial reimbursement for this, much like contract roasting. The main issue i see, is that the person is likely going to want to supervise the process (any decent business person would IMO as roasters are expensive and can be dangerous if not operated correctly). This sort of supervision takes time and time costs money (which may put you into the same $$$ as contract roasting).

It's worth a shot, but it could be somewhat difficult IMO. Not trying to be negative, just real about it. I think the lines of contract roasting are more likely starting out if you dont have the capital for your own roaster.

Anyway, best of luck in your new venture.

[Meztisa]

I think anyone that will be sharing their equipment and or space is going to want some decent financial reimbursement for this, much like contract roasting. The main issue i see, is that the person is likely going to want to supervise the process (any decent business person would IMO as roasters are expensive and can be dangerous if not operated correctly). This sort of supervision takes time and time costs money (which may put you into the same $$$ as contract roasting).

It's worth a shot, but it could be somewhat difficult IMO. Not trying to be negative, just real about it. I think the lines of contract roasting are more likely starting out if you dont have the capital for your own roaster.

Anyway, best of luck in your new venture.

Thanks for the advice! Our only concern about contract roasting is not having much control and not learning along the way if that makes sense... I think if we contracted the worry is that once we are out in the world by ourselves, it would almost be like starting again, learning how to use the machine, how much time it would consume etc. So def a lot of thinking along with research and hopefully we can get on the right path and enjoy the journey :-)

[snedden9485]

Another option is to start on something like a 1kg roaster and slowly build and learn.