Production planning: from orders to a roast list
A roast plan answers four questions: what is ordered, what is already roasted, how much green that needs after roast loss, and how many batches fit the week. The method, step by step.
7 min read Updated 9 October 2026
Without a plan, roasting follows whatever order arrived last. That leads to half-empty batches, roasting the same coffee twice in a week, running out of a blend on a Thursday and coffee sitting too long before it ships. Production planning is a short weekly routine that prevents all four.
The weekly routine
- Collect demand by product and pack size: confirmed wholesale orders, standing orders, subscription renewals due, an online forecast from recent weeks, and any events.
- Subtract roasted stock that is within your freshness window and not already allocated.
- Convert roasted kilos to green kilos. Divide by (1 minus the roast loss for that coffee and profile). For a blend, split by component percentages first.
- Check green availability against the green required, by lot. Order or substitute before roast day, not on it.
- Round into batches. Each roaster has a sensible minimum and maximum charge. Round up to full batches and decide where any surplus goes (online, a spare for late orders).
- Sequence the batches to reduce changeovers: light to dark, decaf at a set point with cleaning, sample roasts at the end. See batch scheduling.
- Check packing capacity: bags per hour by size, and degassing time before sealing or shipping.
- Publish the plan so the person packing knows what is coming.
Worked example
| Step | Result |
|---|---|
| Orders and forecast, house blend | 86 kg roasted |
| Roasted stock available | 14 kg |
| Roasted kilos to make | 72 kg |
| Roast loss for this profile | 16% |
| Green required | 72 / 0.84 = 85.7 kg |
| Batch charge on a 12 kg roaster at 10 kg | 9 batches (90 kg green, about 75.6 kg roasted) |
| Surplus | About 3.6 kg roasted, held for late orders and the online shop |
Freshness and degassing
Most roasters set a window between roast date and dispatch: long enough for coffee to degas before sealing and brewing well, short enough that cafes receive fresh stock. Espresso roasts are often rested longer than filter roasts. Build the window into the plan so that each wholesale delivery day has a matching roast day.
Signs the plan needs work
Warning signs
- Batches regularly below the roaster's efficient charge
- The same coffee roasted on several days in one week
- Roasted stock older than your window
- Last-minute green orders or substitutions
- Packing overtime on dispatch day
Where Roastnet helps
Questions roasters ask
- How far ahead should a roastery plan production?
- A week ahead for roasting, with green stock planned two to three months ahead and longer for forward contracts.
- How do I plan production for a blend?
- Split the blend into components by percentage, plan each component's green and batches, and decide whether to pre-roast components separately or roast them together.
Read next
Batch scheduling: the order you roast in matters
The first batch of the day, the gap between batches and the order of coffees all change how a roast turns out. A practical approach to sequencing a roast day for consistency and throughput.
Stock control for green coffee, roasted coffee and packaging
A roastery holds three kinds of stock with three different clocks: green that ages over months, roasted coffee that ages over weeks, and packaging with long lead times. How to control each.
Roast loss and shrinkage: where your kilos go
Every kilo of green coffee comes out of the roaster lighter. How much lighter depends on the coffee and the roast, and it changes your cost per kilo more than most price negotiations.
Run the roastery from one place
Green stock, roast plans, wholesale orders and the green coffee market in one platform, with a free roast-logging app for your machine.