Importing 1kg Roaster from China

[saoye]

I think people get confused because it's somewhat arbitrary; I can tell someone to search for a very specific term or item number on ebay and that seems to be ok but providing the URL is forbidden (despite the end result being exactly the same), so the spirit/intent is not immediately clear and people tend to be very cautious as a result.

There's also a very strong message of "support the sponsors", so I think people are wary of advertising cheaper alternatives to local retail.

Exactly. In my case I am not linked in anyway to the seller, however my review will be specific for a roaster represented by a specific seller in China. It will deal with the whole experience from A to Z and not wanting to do any harm to the site sponsors was/is my intent. If by doing this review it inadvertantly gains the attention of potential home buyers that might otherwise purchase a site sponsor's home roaster then I guess I have not kept to my intent.
Not that I think everybody who was going to buy a behmor would turn around and import a 1kg commercial roaster from China by any means, but I went from popcorn popper to Corretto Roaster to 1kg commercial sampling roaster in a matter of 2 years. Was I ever going to buy a behmor or similar? Not likely since with the corretto I could get up to 600g roasts. Anyways, life goes on and I will be "unboxing" the roaster today!

[Dragunov21]

The other no-no are links to commercial pages/sites, especially to non-sponsor sites who compete with them. Such links will immediately be removed.

I think people get confused because it's somewhat arbitrary; I can tell someone to search for a very specific term or item number on ebay and that seems to be ok but providing the URL is forbidden (despite the end result being exactly the same), so the spirit/intent is not immediately clear and people tend to be very cautious as a result.

There's also a very strong message of "support the sponsors", so I think people are wary of advertising cheaper alternatives to local retail.

[Javaphile]

I have yet to post on the whole experience and will do so once I have done a few roasts. I am not sure if I will be making that post on this forum as I am quite aware that this is a sponsored site and don't want to be stepping on anybody's toes let alone break site policy.

Why do people have such a hard time understanding the sites posting policy? The rules are simple and straight forward. No where in them is there a rule against posting a discussion or review on any device or item. Just because an item isn't sold by a sponsor does not mean it can't be discussed/reviewed as thousands of posts here attest to. The exception to that is if you are plugging an item, service, or company that you or someone you know has a commercial interest in. That is, you/they stand to profit from the post. The other no-no are links to commercial pages/sites, especially to non-sponsor sites who compete with them. Such links will immediately be removed.


Java "Simple and straight forward." phile

[saoye]

Hi Guys,

Looking to get a 1kg roaster. Having shopped around Australia its difficult to find anything under $7000. Does this seem about right? Can anyone suggest something for under this price?

Has anyone here imported from China before or know someone who has?

I've been able to find a number of 1kg roasters through alibaba.com for under $3500 (including shipping). Would have to confirm if they're ready for use in Australia (just seen the info about this on coffee snobs).

Would anyone be able to shed some light as to going this route?

thanks in advance...

There are many available on the web but knowing which one is of a reasonable quality and with reasonable after sales support is important and can be hit and miss. I have bought one from China and so far it has been a positive experience in terms of dealing with the seller in China. Bear in mind the seller's "including shipping" price is to a nominated Australian port then you need to deal with Port charges and all the local Australian charges before it gets to your door (which has nothing to do with the seller). You can add up to 30% on top of the final seller's price to get it all the way to your door and in your hot little hands depending on your circumstance including if you get held up by customs. I have yet to post on the whole experience and will do so once I have done a few roasts. I am not sure if I will be making that post on this forum as I am quite aware that this is a sponsored site and don't want to be stepping on anybody's toes let alone break site policy.

[fruity]

I'm kinda with Draganov - plenty of snobs here put commercial coffee machines in at home (albeit small ones), but there would be almost none putting in commercial roasters due to the price difference.

Obviously low manufacturing volumes is keeping the price high. And that's why we have people building their own near-1Kg KKTOs for a tiny fraction of the cost of a comparable commercial machine.

[Dragunov21]

Commercial quality doesn't mean commercial-only; it depends very much on the kind of product you're talking about. Trade-quality drills, for instance, are perfectly accessible/affordable and suitable for non-commercial uses.

Fingers crossed for your friend; looks like an awesome operation he's got going there.

[Vinitasse]

[QUOTE=Dragunov21;504565]

Hmmm, I'd have thought there'd be be a market for a fair number of cafes; is 1kg-capacity really commercial/dedicated-roaster-only territory?

Engineering-porn in the metal. Thanks for sharing. That said, they appear to be very much the bleeding edge rather than the budget-minded but capable high-capacity offering I'm thinking of. Taking a curious stab, I'm gonna guess $12k-15k apiece?

I would think that all equipment in a cafe should be commercial. You wouldn't consider equipping a cafe with a home or even a prosumer coffee machine so why would you expect to use anything anything other than a commercial coffee roaster?

As for the price, that's still a bit up in the air. Although Neil has now sold a few machines in South Africa and Europe, he has yet to send one downunder. He is also looking at building a 15kg machine in the near future and if he starts shifting a few of those and the 6kg machines as well he will have a better idea about what pricing will be ultimately set to stone. At this stage I guess it's still all about recouping development costs and hitting the breakeven point.

[Dragunov21]

[QUOTE=Vinitasse;504563]

More than offset by mass-production and volume sales, no? QUOTE]

There really isn't any mass production or volume sales to speak of in the commercial coffee roasting world. Other than limited showroom stock, roasters tend to be built to order... one at a time.

Hmmm, I'd have thought there'd be be a market for a fair number of cafes; is 1kg-capacity really commercial/dedicated-roaster-only territory?

Check out Genio Roasters of South Africa. My buddy has a very interesting blog all about how a uni engineering project took on a life of its own and how he has now designed and builds commercial coffee roasters for a living. Very cool machines too... and... as you will see from the blog... anything but simple, easy or cheap.

Engineering-porn in the metal. Thanks for sharing. That said, they appear to be very much the bleeding edge rather than the budget-minded but capable high-capacity offering I'm thinking of. Taking a curious stab, I'm gonna guess $12k-15k apiece?

[Vinitasse]

Of course, I'm assuming that is a relatively simple task. Maybe that's not true, does anyone have any experience with this stuff? (design/construction of roasters)

Check out Genio Roasters of South Africa. My buddy has a very interesting blog all about how a uni engineering project took on a life of its own and how he has now designed and builds commercial coffee roasters for a living. Very cool machines too... and... as you will see from the blog... the process has been anything but simple, easy or inexpensive.

[Vinitasse]

[QUOTE=Dragunov21;504561]More than offset by mass-production and volume sales, no? QUOTE]

There really isn't any mass production or volume sales to speak of in the commercial coffee roasting world. Other than limited showroom stock, roasters tend to be built to order... one at a time.

[Dragunov21]

Yes... you most likely could make something for under $3K... if you didn't factor in labour costs and time spent thinking up the plans in the first place. Then again, it's also possible to make a motor vehicle from some chromoly tubing and an old lawnmower engine... but would the net result still be comercially comparable? I doubt it.

More than offset by mass-production and volume sales, no?

As for being comparable to commercial offerings, it needs to heat a mass of beans evenly in a controllable manner and very little else; the car comparison isn't valid unless your chromoly crapcar is a target popper.

Of course, I'm assuming that is a relatively simple task. Maybe that's not true, does anyone have any experience with this stuff? (design/construction of roasters)

[TC]

Just make a bigger one and you're done

[Vinitasse]

If you were talking about something that does 10kg at a time I could see your point, but at the end of the day a roaster is a drum, a nichrome element, a motor, chain/bearings, fan, filter and a frame/case (plus a controller that you could use an Arduino for), right?

I suspect that you could build a one-off built to withstand a high duty-cycle for <$3k no worries? Maybe I'm just underestimating the costs involved but I might try pricing one up someday.

That said, a commercial oven isn't particularly complicated either... Just wondering where it all goes.

Yes... you most likely could make something for under $3K... if you didn't factor in labour costs and time spent thinking up the plans in the first place. Then again, it's also possible to make a motor vehicle from some chromoly tubing and an old lawnmower engine... but would the net result still be comercially comparable? I doubt it.

[Dragunov21]

If you were talking about something that does 10kg at a time I could see your point, but at the end of the day a roaster is a drum, a nichrome element, a motor, chain/bearings, fan, filter and a frame/case (plus a controller that you could use an Arduino for), right?

I suspect that you could build a one-off built to withstand a high duty-cycle for <$3k no worries? Maybe I'm just underestimating the costs involved but I might try pricing one up someday.

That said, a commercial oven isn't particularly complicated either... Just wondering where it all goes.

[Vinitasse]

Might be a dumb question, but why is there such a jump from a roaster like the behmor to an electric roaster with 2x the capacity?

Make it bigger, upsize the heating/blowing and stick a 15A plug on it and you're done, right?

That's a bit like asking why a home microwave costs so much less than a commercial oven. The Behmor was never designed or built to stand up to the rigours of commercial operation.