How to Choose the Right Roaster Capacity for Your Business

The most common sizing mistake is buying for the volume you hope to hit in three years, and running an oversized roaster at 20% capacity every day until you get there. A roaster that's too big is harder to profile consistently at low batch weights than a roaster that's slightly undersized and simply run more often.

Start from your current weekly kilos

Work out your average weekly green coffee usage over the last three months, then size the roaster to cover that in four to five roasting days, running two to three batches a day at 70–80% of the drum's rated capacity — that's the range most machines profile most consistently in.

• Under 60kg/week — a 6kg or 12kg drum, run daily
• 60–200kg/week — a 15kg or 30kg drum
• 200–600kg/week — a 30kg or 45kg drum, or two smaller machines for flexibility
• 600kg+/week — 60kg upward, typically with a second machine for redundancy

Plan one size up, not two

If you're growing fast, it's reasonable to buy one tier above your current need — but buying two tiers up because it might save a second purchase later usually costs more in inconsistent small-batch roasting than it saves in avoided upgrade costs.