Guides
Starting a roastery
Business plans, startup costs, premises, registration, food safety and insurance: what to sort out before the first bag is sold.
- How to start a coffee roasting business in the UKEleven steps from idea to first wholesale invoice, in the order that saves you money: what to decide first, what the law requires, and where most new roasteries lose time.9 min read
- Writing a coffee roastery business plan that a lender will readA roastery plan lives or dies on four numbers: kilos sold per week, price per kilo, cost per kilo and fixed costs. Here is how to set each one out, and what a bank or investor will test.8 min read
- How much does it cost to start a coffee roastery?The roaster is the biggest line, but installation, extraction, stock and three months of running costs usually add as much again. A line-by-line budget, with a worked example you can copy.8 min read
- Roastery premises: planning use, smoke, odour and the leaseThe questions to settle before you sign a lease on a roastery unit: what the planning use allows, whether smoke and odour will be a problem, and whether you can get gas, power and a flue where you need them.8 min read
- Registering a coffee roastery as a food businessRegistration is free and quick, but it has to happen at least 28 days before you trade. Here is the process, what the first inspection looks at, and how the hygiene rating applies to a roastery.6 min read
- A HACCP plan for a coffee roastery, hazard by hazardCoffee is a low-risk food, which is exactly why roasters underestimate the plan. Here are the process steps, the hazards that genuinely apply, the controls an inspector expects and the records that prove them.9 min read
- Insurance for a coffee roastery: what you need and whyOne policy is compulsory as soon as you employ anyone; the rest are what your landlord, lender and wholesale customers will ask for. What each covers, and the roastery-specific questions insurers ask.6 min read
- Sole trader, partnership or limited company for a roastery?The structure decides who is liable when something goes wrong, how profits are taxed and how easy it is to bring in a partner or sell. A plain comparison for roastery founders.6 min read
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.