12/26/2025
So here's the state of this tiny hobby roaster going in to 2026.
There are three major things I have learned about coffee.
1. The quantity sold it takes to be profitable as a true coffee roasting business is WILD. I'm talking close to a literal ton of coffee sold per month between wholesale + retail.
2. In order to sell said amount you need an incredible amount of equipment, a special facility, and inventory on hand.
3. There is no middle ground to step up to this over time. It's an all in prospect -a huge leap of investment.
The reality is: I'm not going to go in to debt to fund some distant hope of a profitable coffee roastery. I think a small roastery might work as a neat addition to a coffee shop, but what a stand alone roaster requires is perhaps beyond what setx can support right now, but certainly beyond the risk of investment I'm willing to take.
The other difficulty is -if this hobby page grows, I simply can't keep up. I had around 40 bags of coffee ordered for Christmas. Thats both a LOT for me in terms of production, and I'm thankful for everyone enjoying the coffee. It's also nearly nothing in terms of an actual business.
So I'm left in a spot of buying and roasting coffee as a hobby and barely breaking even, but more likely I loose money with the time involved to produce the small amount I can. Getting more orders doesn't actually help because of scaling. It makes the hobby difficult, and takes me away from my main work and family.
So where do we go?
I have two options:
1. I price the coffee MUCH higher. Coffee prices for high end green coffee is around $10 per pound at non whole-sale quantities. When I roast, there is weight loss so the cost of ROASTED coffee is even higher. I'd have to start looking at pricing coffee near the $25-30 per 12oz bag (maybe more) and I think that might just be way too much for daily coffee with most people.
2. I finish up this stock of coffee on hand, and call it for now. I'd keep the coffee page, but likely would roast rarely in special batches that I source in small quantities. No more regular roasting, just a few instances per year when I can make a window of time for a roasting batch. These bags would still be priced higher overall, and the pre-orders would have a longer lead time, so I can order green coffee once I know how many are interested in a roast. This is likely what I'm leaning toward right now. It's more boutique-like overall, but it allows me to revisit roasting from time to time.
Thanks to everyone who has ordered from me the last couple of years. It's been a ton of fun, and it has allowed me to really work on a skill I enjoy. There's a lot of great coffee out there to be had even if I'm not available locally to roast all the time! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and we'll see what 2026 brings!
-Kyle
