So, you’ve got exceptional coffee roasting talent, don’t hide it – we dare you to show your skills off to the world and enter this year’s A Shot in the Dark Competition hosted by Coffee Magazine and sponsored by Genio Roasters.  

This is the biggest coffee roasting competition to challenge your skills in roasting and blending using YOUR OWN coffee roasting machine.  The rules for the competition were initially written by Neil Maree, CEO and Founder of Genio Roasters.  Shortly after that, the team from Coffee Magazine approached Neil to turn his dreams into reality: to have a coffee roasting competition that tests the skills of the roaster in their own roasting environment on their own machines.  Coffee Magazine now runs the competition with the help of some incredible sponsors and partners.

What is A Shot In The Dark really?

A Shot in the Dark (ASITD) is not just an academic exercise.  It is a coffee roasting competition to help grow your business. Competitors are judged on the flavour of their coffee as an espresso and through a formal coffee cupping.  This way, competitors can hone their skills in roasting coffee for actual use in their coffee shops (and they can sell the roasted coffee leftover from the competition entry too!).  ASITD is a practical competition aimed at increasing the skill of the roaster so that they can apply those skills in their roasteries and grow their businesses.

Here’s how the coffee roasting competition works:  

TL;DR We send you a specialty grade green coffee.  You roast it.  Send back a sample for us to judge and sell the remaining coffee in your shop.  If you’re the best, you WIN!

First Round

1. Entrants are sent up to 10kg of a secret specialty grade green coffee (along with plenty of other cool merch and goodies).  They even get the water by which to cup their roasts to keep everything consistent and stickers to brand their leftover coffee for selling.  The green bean origin is kept secret so that no one can practice on the coffee before the competition.
2. Entrants then roast the coffee to the best of their ability on their OWN coffee roasting machines in their shops.  With up to 10kg of green beans, you can do a few roasts and choose the best one.
3. Entrants submit 500g of their best coffee for judging by a panel of Q-grade qualified cupping professionals.  The rest of the 9.5kg of coffee that you roasted can be sold in your shop to recoup the entry fees for the competition.
4. The top 10 of the entries go through to the final round.  Every entrant is given their cupping scores so that they can improve their coffee roasting skills.

Final Round

1. The top 10 from the first round are each sent 3 different coffees.  One extremely high scoring specialty grade coffee and two more great quality coffees.
   1. Challenge 1:  Roast the high-quality coffee for judging in a coffee cupping
   2. Challenge 2:  Roast and blend the other two coffees together for judging as an espresso shot.  Hence, A Shot In The Dark.
2. Entrants send in 500g of their best coffee from each challenge for judging by a panel of Q-grade qualified cupping professionals.  The rest of the coffee can be sold in your shop as special edition coffees.  (hint: use this as marketing and tag #ashotinthedark).
3. Our Q-grade judging panel scores each challenge.  We usually get the country’s current SCA Barista Champion to prepare the espressos for tasting by the same panel.

Winners Announcement

The announcement of the winners is a big, splashy affair.  In 2021 we live-streamed the entire event during Creative Coffee Week, also hosted by Coffee Magazine.  During this event, the entire coffee roasting community (and local and international guest speakers) come together to learn, chat, debate and celebrate all things coffee.  

The coffee roasting competition winner from 2021 was Gegrond Coffee.  Their winning coffee has since brought them incredible exposure and has helped to cement their roastery as one of the very best in South Africa.

Being declared the winner of ASITD is the highest roasting honour in South Africa

What’s included in your entry fee?

• Competition speciality (80+) green coffee (Amount according to tier of entry you choose)
• Tier 1: R3500 – 10kg comp coffee
• Tier 2: R5500 – 20kg comp coffee
• Tier 3: R10000 – 40kg comp coffee
• The competition entry coffee bags
• A Shot in the Dark stickers for retail resale
• T-shirt for each team member (up to 3)
• Competition water provided by BWT Water
• All the important information on judging
• Feedback on your roasting skills from industry professional judges
• If you make it to the top 10, the coffee of the final round is free

Competition Partners:

You will be supported by the best sponsors:

• The Coffee Magazine – Official Hosts and Media Partner 
• Genio Roasters – Presenting Global Partner of A Shot in the Dark
• Sevenoaks Trading – Official Green Competition Coffee Sponsor
• BWT Water + more Africa – Official Water Filtration partner
• La Marzocco South Africa – Official Espresso Machine Partner
• The Coffee Bag Company – Official Packaging Partner
  

About Genio Roasters’ participation in the A Shot In The Dark competition

As a sponsor and partner to A Shot In The Dark by Coffee Magazine, we treasure our participation in this coffee roasting competition as a coffee roaster machine manufacturer.  However, we remain impartial to the competition’s entrants and results.  None of the sponsors are involved in the outcomes of the cupping scores.  The competition follows strict protocols to ensure the anonymity of entries and the fairness of the competition.  The competition is also not limited to Genio Roasters clients or those of any other sponsor.

Neil Maree

A rare mainstream international cargo shipping story reached a welcome turning point today as the skyscraper-sized container ship the Ever Given was finally dislodged from the banks of the Suez Canal in Egypt.

The nearly weeklong blockage of the canal — a vital trade route between Asia and Europe — will carry an economic impact extending into the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. Yet the Ever Given story is only the latest in a yearlong parade of shipping industry disruptions that have affected the global coffee industry.

Last week, Bloomberg issued a coffee-focused story with a headline depicting a “supply chain nightmare,” in part due to the ongoing shortage of shipping containers that began in the pandemic era and has worsened in recent months. Here’s the lead:

Coffee supplies in the U.S. are shrinking and wholesale prices are surging, with the hard-hit market bracing for further fallout from a global shortage of shipping containers that’s upended the food trade.”

While the Bloomberg piece is focused on the global coffee trade at large, DCN recently reached out to several coffee trading companies focused largely on the speciality coffee market, which is not immune to supply chain volatility, price volatility, and the realities of supply and demand.

“It is relatively common to have container availability shortages at certain origins and especially during ‘peak’ months throughout the year,” Jorge Cuevas, Chief Coffee Officer at Portland, Oregon-based Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers, told DCN. “The current situation, however, is systemic and worldwide. Compounding the issue are containers that may be stranded in trans-shipment ports half a world away, vessels cancelling stops along previously scheduled routes, and lengthy offloading times at destination ports. We have never witnessed anything quite like this before.”

Max Hurd, SVP of sourcing for Minneapolis-based green coffee company Cafe Imports, told DCN that there is generally “significantly more volatility in global shipping than there was pre-pandemic.”

However, in its own supply chain, the company has not yet seen major price volatility or availability issues for U.S. buyers outside of coffees from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, according to Hurd.

Nadine Rasch, director of Guatemala-focused coffee trading company Primavera Coffee, suggested shipping disruptions have affected buyers and sellers in similar manners.

“We are seeing some disruptions in our shipping this year, with container ships being cancelled or rescheduled more frequently than in the past,” Rasch said. “We still expect coffee to land in good time, but this is a logistical challenge that our small team spends a lot of time correcting. It’s just a lot harder and more time-consuming to get coffee to a port on time compared with previous years.”

Effects on Roasters

A host of factors beyond shipping are widely believed to be affecting global coffee prices, including reduced production in Brazil due to the biennial cycle and extended periods of drought, stable or increased demand, foreign exchange rates, and other macroeconomic factors.

All these factors have the potential to affect prices paid by even the smallest speciality coffee roasters.

“Roasters might see a lot of challenges with this situation,” said Rasch. “Roasters hoping to compete in 2021 will have to deal with this challenge in addition to all the challenges leftover from last year’s pandemic and economic slowdowns. Small roasters that prefer to keep lower inventory might also be frustrated by shipping delays, so keeping inventory on hand during the 2021 year might be a worthwhile investment for roasters that are able to do so.”

Sustainable Harvest’s Cuevas said that growth in consumer markets as COVID-19-related restrictions are eased may make existing supply issues for some roasters even more pressing.

“Planning and logistics have become paramount as you have twice the pressure: expectations for growth and sales from economies reopening, combined with supply tightness and logistical disruptions,” Cuevas said. “Both of these occurring simultaneously make for a very stressful time for coffee buyers.”

Hurd said that ocean freight costs tend to represent a smaller percentage of the total price of green coffee sold to roasters in the speciality market as opposed to the conventional coffee market.

Effects on Producers

“For example, doubling of ocean freight costs would be reflected in the roaster’s price of coffee by 5-10 cents per pound, on the high side,” Hurd said. “However, most shipping lanes haven’t seen increases of this magnitude. The exception to this is the West Coast (USA), which is clogged with incoming containers from Asia.”

While price runs both ways in the speciality or conventional coffee markets, so too does volatility. Coffee traders interviewed said shipping disruptions have the potential to affect farmers’ cash flow.

“If there are delays and they can’t get the coffee out of the country it means they have to wait longer to get paid, as payments tend to be made once the coffee is in a container and loaded on a boat,” said Cafe Imports’ Hurd.

Through its export operations in Guatemala, Primavera makes a practice of paying producers the full price within a week of delivery of the coffee, which accepts some financial risk. However, that’s not always the case with other coffee exporters.

“Sometimes we see exporters that buy coffee at low prices and promise to pay the producer a high ‘quality premium’ upon sale of the coffee,” said Rasch. “These prices can be very good for farmers, but when the exporter uses the producer to finance their coffee, it also creates a highly uncertain situation for the farmer who doesn’t know when they will be paid.”

Sustainable Harvest’s Cuevas said that cash flow issues due to shipping delays may simply be compounding existing logistical challenges for producers.

“Coffee today is more costly to produce, process, and handle than ever before,” Cuevas said. “Lockdowns and workplace restrictions have been successfully implemented at source, but they are not free.”

Most traders expect shipping disruptions to continue for at least a period of months, although there’s no true compass when navigating a years-long pandemic.

“Things can still change, of course,” said Hurd. “I would imagine that if things get significantly worse the news coverage on container shipping woes will amplify quite a bit.”

This article was first originally published by www.dailycoffeenews.com by Nick Brown | March 29, 2021

Jacolene

Smoke and odours are natural by-products of roasting coffee beans. Filtration devices can reduce smoke by up to 90% depending on various circumstances. Educate yourself on the pros and cons before you accept the quote from the manufacturer and make the capital investment.

We as roasters, our clients, governments and our communities are now more sensitive about climate-impacting activities than ever.  While coffee roasters make up the tiniest of fractions of carbon emissions around the world, we are still part of our local communities and want to bring our part in providing a sustainable future for our children. 

There are two major parts of smoke removal: Visible and odorous.  Visible smoke can be seen from afar and it can quickly turn a community against you if that smoke lingers around or is seen to enter the homes or offices around you.  Smoke is of course carcinogenic, so it is not something that anyone wants to have pumped into the living rooms or offices during the day.   Odour on the other hand is something that many new roasters think of as a romantic, coffee flavoured scent.  But this is far from the truth.  Coffee roaster smoke smells nothing like real coffee and is considered an irritating odour by most.  Especially if you have to smell it day after day.  Both visible smoke and odour need to be treated, but some methods are better than others at treating one or the other.

Roaster Compatibility of Filtration Devices

It is very important to remember that a filtration device, such as an afterburner or an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) filter, is compatible with any roaster. You do not have to buy a manufacturer’s specific unit. It is like a trailer for a car. Any manufacturer’s afterburner or ESP filter can work on any roaster. So, when a manufacturer quotes you on an afterburner, it does not have to be used on that particular manufacturer’s roaster; It can be used interchangeably.

There are currently 3 ways to reduce smoke during the roasting process – with an Afterburner, an ESP filter or a Wet Scrubber.

The cost, maintenance, and efficacy of these devices require careful consideration

What is an Afterburner?

The more traditional way of minimising smoke in a coffee roastery is with an afterburner. An afterburner is essentially an insulated tube with a high power gas burner.  Smoke enters the chamber and is incinerated by the burner into carbon.  Nearly all of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and smoke particles are reduced to carbon, leaving virtually no visible smoke or odour.

Catalytic Afterburner or Catalytic Converter

A catalytic afterburner or catalytic converter is the modern upgrade to an afterburner. One of the main advantages of a catalytic converter is that they reduce the operating temperature of the afterburner. Afterburners require about 700 to 800°C to reduce smoke to carbon. By using a catalytic converter, you can reduce the temperature to about 350 or 400°C, which means that you also use far less gas.  

Reticulating Afterburner

These unique devices reuse the hot air from the afterburner for roasting.  After the smoke and odour are burned off, the hot air is fed back into the roaster to roast the beans.  This is by far the most energy-efficient smoke abatement system on the market and Genio Roasters is investing heavily into getting technology to market.  Companies like Loring and IMF have already implemented such systems to good effect although the cost for such systems can still be prohibitive to most.

Capital Investment and Gas Usage

The initial capital investment for an afterburner is high and if you add a catalytic converter to that it is even higher (but a cat almost halves your gas bill). By increasing your initial investment, you can decrease your running cost on the afterburner by using a catalytic converter. Catalytic converters do have a shelf life, so they do have to be replaced at some point and the manufacturer of the unit can give you some indication of when that should happen.

Efficacy and Sustainability

Afterburners can reduce 90-95% of the visible smoke and odour from your roastery. However, from an environmental and sustainability perspective it is unfortunately not as ideal, because it is simply displacing your carbon footprint from one point to another. You are reducing your own smoke, but the gas usage also creates a carbon footprint, and you are simply displacing that to whoever supplied your fossil fuel to create the gas which you used to reduce your own carbon footprint.

We cannot get away from the sustainability issue, but we can at least reduce the impact that smoke has on our immediate community by filtering out the smoke that our coffee roasters produce. Just remember that a coffee roasting machine in itself does not produce smoke. It is the coffee that you put into the roaster that produces smoke.

Bear in mind that afterburners can be susceptible to fires.  Because of the high operating temperatures, any buildup of coffee oils in the pipes or chaff that is blown into the unit will immediately be set alight.  So while the afterburner itself is low maintenance, the system around it still needs to be maintained, although this is always the case for any roaster.

What is an Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP)?

The second way of reducing smoke is through an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). An ESP works by producing an extremely high voltage current that passes on the electrons to the smoke, charging the smoke negatively and allowing magnetism to do its magic in filtering out the ions.

Let’s put our science hats on for a moment: Think of creating tiny little magnets from each and every smoke particle, and then introducing a ground plate (usually an aluminium plate) that is positively charged (Earth is seen as “positive” in this scenario since it is not “negative” as such). The electrons are negative, the ‘ground’ is positive, and the little magnets that you have created, that is the smoke that passed through this super-high voltage area, charges the little smoke particles negatively, and they then stick to the earth plate. 

In other words, an ESP device is a big box with wires inside, typically tungsten wires, through which a super-high voltage is run, that creates a high-density electron field (called a corona). When the smoke passes through it, the electrons attach to the smoke, charging the smoke negatively, and they stick to the ground plates – meaning that all the smoke and volatile organic compounds and all the dirt that goes into the smoke, stick to the plates and thereby filtering out the smoke.

Maintenance and backpressure

Firstly, there is a lot of maintenance required to keep the ESP filters clean. The plate that now has all the smoke particles attached to it, needs to be washed and can be very time-consuming and labour intensive. Your maintenance schedule will depend on your roasting load and frequency. Again, your ESP manufacturer can give you advice on how often this will be required.  A pressure washer is ideal for this, but you will need to put in the time and effort to make it work.

The second problem is that an ESP filter creates backpressure, and normally roasting machines don’t like backpressure. Think of it as a resistor that has been placed into your chimney system. We want to get the smoke away from the coffee to avoid a smoky flavour. If we introduce a resistor into the smokes’ pathway, we create resistance against this smoke, and it pushes some of that smoke back.

Lastly, ESP devices are not nearly as effective as afterburners on larger coffee roasters.  While a 6kg machine may still get away with 2x ESPs in series, a 15kg will need 4x ESPs in a 2×2 grid configuration to be as effective as an afterburner.  Even 4x ESPs will still be cheaper than a single afterburner, but the time that it will take to clean out the ESPs with a pressure washer may well be worth the additional investment.

To get past the backpressure problem, you may need to install an inline booster fan after the ESPs to help the roaster’s fans to get the air past the resistance introduced by the ESPs. 

What is a Wet Scrubber?

The third way of reducing smoke is with a wet scrubber. When the hot air from the coffee roaster enters the wet scrubber filtration system, it flows through a chamber containing atomized water that flash-evaporates on contact, cooling the contaminants to a temperature low enough that they condense from vapour into droplets. The centrifugal force inside the cyclone then draws the droplets to the walls where they are caught by a flow of water and flushed downward.

The wet scrubber’s main claim to fame is the handling of gaseous emissions, which are assumed to be the primary culprit of odour transmission. They also reduce the risk of fires by maintaining a clean cyclone and stack.

A well-known roasters’ forum describes wet scrubbing as follows: “It is basically a device that takes air pollution and turns it into water pollution”. By only trapping the pollutants in the water, you run the risk of contaminating the wastewater system with corrosive and harmful partials, which requires further treatment to meet wastewater regulations.

All of the science and all of the theory behind volatile organic compounds and smoke prove that wet scrubbers do not work. It is my professional opinion that they do not work and cannot do the work that is required to effectively reduce smoke.

Bringing it all Together

Afterburners are expensive considering the initial capital investment, and they are also expensive to run, because of their high gas consumption; they typically use twice as much gas as the roaster itself. Therefore, your gas cost is high, and your initial capital investment is high. If you go with a catalytic converter, your initial capital investment is even higher, but your running cost is far lower. The result: your efficiency of reducing smoke in your roastery is very high, between 90 – 95%.

An ESP, on the other hand, has a lower initial capital investment, it has a very low running cost, but it requires regular maintenance and cleaning. It is not as robust or as effective as an afterburner.

I urge you to speak to your manufacturer and compare the initial investment, together with the running cost and maintenance, before deciding which filtration device is the best for your business.

In closing, accept your responsibility in reducing pollution, and stay mindful of eliminating smoke during roasting.

Jacolene

Mid-way between Madrid and Barcelona, in the city of Zaragoza you will find Ezequiel Garces, head roaster aka the captain and Jano Cabello, responsible for marketing and branding at San Jorge Coffee Roasters. 

San Jorge has recently ordered a Genio 30, and Neil Maree, fascinated by their unique business model and social media following, spoke to the team in Zaragoza online from Durban, South Africa, during the Creative Coffee Week.

Genio: Tell us about the San Jorge team and where it all started and how you built up your company?

San Jorge: We started the company in 2015-2016, which is roughly five years ago. We started with the intension to be a small local roaster for the people of Zaragosa, being far from the major centers in Spain. There wasn’t any real good coffee culture then. So, that was one of the main reasons why we started. It was quite a tough start because in the beginning there was no real demand for that kind of coffee in Zaragosa, but after working very hard we managed to make people want good coffee. 

There are still very few roasters, but we hope there will be more and that it will change the way people see coffee in Spain. Fortunately, we have an advantage in the sense that Spain is already well known for good food and drink, especially wine, and now also coffee.

San Jorge Coffee Roasters is based on a crowdfunding model – Tokens for Warriors. What made you decide to use crowdfunding to fund your business and not bank funding?

“Tokens for Warriors” came about because we do not want to do business with the same people who finance the bad coffee.

There is another reason, which is that banks do not really like us that much. Our social media videos are very real, and they are fun, but sometimes it is hard to come across as a serious company with the banks. But there was absolutely no doubt that there were so many people involved in this and they were all willing to help us and co-operate with us. So, we decided to marry this whole crowd of people who decided to support us with our business.

People are encouraged to invest in San Jorge by buying tokens, but how do these tokens benefit them?

As an investor in “Tokens for Warriors” you have access to many benefits, not only financial, but also moral in the fight against bad coffee. There are different ways in which we organize this. Our standard benefits which all investors receive, include: a lifetime discount in the shop; an invitation for coffee on your birthday; access to exclusive San Jorge merchandise; a personalized mug so you can have coffee when you visit us; and more. We want our investors to participate and share in our company.

By investing in more tokens, you can unlock larger additional rewards until you reach the biggest rewards. Depending on the amount invested, you will receive direct rewards ranging from free special edition coffee, free San Jorge Coffee merchandise, roasting your own coffee with our roaster, to joining the San Jorge team on the annual Trip to Origin with expenses paid.

How did you adapt your business model during the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions — what did you change about your business to get to your customers?

Before the pandemic and Covid-19, we were working about 80% for coffee shops and hospitality businesses. In March 2020 in Spain, as in the rest of the world, the coffee shops closed, and we had to rethink our business model and we had to make another plan. This was the beginning of our videos – training videos as well as funny videos, and the beginning of our subscription program, “Coffee Masters”, where people receive coffee every month. And even now our business model represents 60-70% homes versus coffee shops at only 20% of our business.

With Covid-19 and people avoiding public spaces and buying coffee out of their homes, is it important for businesses to grow a stronger social media presence to get more sales from coffee subscriptions?

With the pandemic we all had to rethink the way we do business and there was a big change in how people consumed coffee. A lot of people started ordering coffee at home. Humor is a very important part to maintain people’s brains and people’s mental health. The restrictions were very limiting. No consumption was allowed inside the coffee shop. So, when we think what type of content people would want from us on social media, we think they would want to see a funny video or an inspirational video to lift their mood… then we would make it for the people. Maybe the channel was launched at just the right time. Maybe it would not have worked so well as a different time.

Your Instagram show “The Daily Roaster” comes with the following disclaimer: Warning, all the images you will find are one hundred percent real, we do not use a script. We are that greedy. Nor are we responsible for the atrocities that certain characters may say 

How do you use social media to make people excited about specialty coffee?

There are no scripts for our videos, and we really act stupid behind and in front of the cameras. We do not hide our personalities. We show who we are at that moment and the people from home love to see us enjoying, fighting, and playing. There is no script, and everything just happens because that is the way we are.

You have built a social media following of 22,000 people, that is a lot of people. Is there any advice you can give on how to build a social media platform?

First, it is important that you work with a professional that loves your marketing, your brand, and your coffee. Second, is to be yourself. It is very important to be yourself and not a snob trying to be too fancy. It is important for your audience. And thirdly, to have a unique brand purpose. So, basically the most important is if you see everybody goes towards one direction, just go the opposite way!

You post a lot of crazy social media content; would you see that as something that complements your sales, or do you see it being a challenge for people to take you seriously?

That is a good question. Some people in our community does not mind how we film the videos, they like our coffee. They know we are ‘clowns’ and ‘happy’ people, and they do not mind… ‘it is okay that you are funny, because I am more interested in your coffee’. On the opposite side of the videos, we are trying to teach people how to make coffee and this is done by Ezequiel. He is very professional, very polite as he teaches people about coffee. Different personalities of the brand.

What does it take to put a show together like “The Daily Roaster” with sponsors and a captive audience of 22,000 followers?

We spent all our money financing the videos because we have a special person doing that for us. That is one of the main reasons why banks do not like us, because we spend our money on social media. It is necessary to go above and beyond to keep people engaged. And people love that. People love watching our daily videos. They text us and send us DMs on Instagram and on social media, telling us how funny they think we are. At the end of the day we are not pretending, it is just the way we are. 

It sounds as if we are just crazy people trying to make coffee, but we are serious as well. There is a balance, and that is the key part.

You have a coffee subscription program called “Coffee Masters”. How does it work?

So, we started four months ago. Basically, we try to add value to our customers by offering them three different types of coffee every month. We also train them to better understand what cupping is. The name is “Coffee Masters” because they are supposed to learn how to prepare coffee and about the different types of coffee. To enhance the added value, we combine the subscription with more merchandise to promote the brand. 

You also have a coffee beer, “Birras with Coffee”. Tell us about this concept?

Basically, we love beer, and we just could not help it. It just happened. We joined with some friends that also make beers and we created different ones, and we are working on different kinds of beers with coffee. There are only two types of beverages: coffee and beer. That is all you need. 

… and then you have a siesta in the afternoon? 

Off course we do! 

oOo

A pandemic disrupted coffee consumption patterns around the world, because of social restrictions in public spaces. The San Jorge team seized the opportunity to re-think and to re-package their brand. A unique business model and innovative engagement on social media, paid off. Earlier this year they received an overwhelming number of orders following a special offer. It took hours and hours of work to get the orders out, to a point of near collapse. It was then when they knew they had to step-up their business to maximize growth from being a small local roaster. They decided to upgrade and invest in the Genio 30 to deal with increased demand in the roastery.

Jacolene

There seems to be a massive misconception between tipping, scorching, blowing, and burning.. Part of the problem is there is no naming convention – does “roaster” refer to the person or the machine; is “dropping” taking the beans out or putting them into the drum? Is “tipping” and “scorching” the same thing and how do we spot the difference?

Well, I don’t know who decides on the exact naming conventions, but here is my take on it:

Tipping

The word “tipping” most likely refers to the phenomenon where the “tip” of the bean burns black. That makes sense to me, at least.

How to “spot” Tipping

Tipping happens when the beans experience any temperature too high for the bean’s heat-transfer coefficient. i.e., there is so much energy (heat) around a specific part of the bean that the bean cannot absorb/conduct/disperse the energy fast enough. The only choice left is to burn in that area.

An analogy can be found in any form of meat grilling. A simple lamb chop on the grill has tipping around the edges. This is caused by too much heat at any one time, causing the meat to char instead of cook. This is exactly what happens to the beans: there is too much heat for the bean to take up, so it burns.

What causes Tipping?

So, when does tipping occur? Truth is that we don’t know exactly. The definition above tells us that it can happen at any time, whenever the temperature is too high during the roast. It can happen because of too high a charging temperature (the starting temp), too high a ramp during roasting…too much heat anywhere!

The next question is whether this is caused by convection or conduction heat? In other words: is the drum too hot or is the air too hot? The answer is: either. Tipping is a factor of the beans, not the environment, the roaster, the drum, or air temperature. The fact is that the coffee bean cannot handle it.

Look at the image below:

Photo Source: www.sciencedirect.com

The colours show the difference in temperatures inside the beans. It is clear from the image that, if anything should burn, it would be the tips of the beans! But this changes depending on the bean: try finding tipping on peaberries. Because the peaberries are round and has almost no distinct “tip”, the chances of tipping happening are much smaller in peaberries.

What is the effect of Tipping on you roast?

So, is tipping a bad thing? That is a question only the drinker can answer. Allow me, as I cannot stress this enough:

TASTE YOUR COFFEE!

In other words, if the coffee tastes bad, then tipping is bad. If your coffee tastes good but you have tipping, then surely tipping is not a bad thing! Is the “tipping” on the lamb chops a bad thing? No, we all love a little char-grilling on our chops. But surely this is per definition a burnt chop? Well, possibly so, but it still tastes great!  The chances of tipping affecting your roast to the point of having to dump it all is very slim.  Chances are that your chosen profile or roast degree is way off, and that tipping is only a very small part of the problem.

Scorching

So, if tipping is a burnt spot on the tip of a bean, then what is scorching? To me, scorching is bad practice. Not necessarily a bad tasting bad practice, but one that points to inexperience on the side of the roast master.

Scorching happens when the bean touches a surface that is too hot for the thermal conductivity of the bean. The same as for tipping, but almost exclusively caused by conduction heat. In layman’s terms: your drum was too hot! Try a cooler charge temperature or reduce the ramp-time of your profile to negate any scorching. You should not need to scorch the beans to achieve your preferred roasting profile.

Scorching is different from tipping in that it typically presents on the flat side of the bean. It is a larger spot that is burnt black.

Here is what scorching looks like:

Photo Source: www.perfectdailygrind.com

Cratering

There is a lot of confusion between craters and tipping. The two are VERY far apart. Cratering happens near or into second crack where the pressure inside the beans is released at such a high rate that the bean’s surface cannot handle the release. This is per definition “second crack”, but in the case of cratering, the second crack was brought on so much that it affects the structural integrity of the bean and literally blows a piece off when the bean releases the built-up gasses inside the bean.

Photo Source: www.fullcoffeeroast.com

What is the solution?

If you decide that tipping, scorching, or cratering is the cause of any unwanted flavours in your bean, here’s what to do:

Tipping: Reduce your charge temp and do a slower, gentler roast.  Increasing your convection heat should also help, as well as increasing the batch size and drum speed.  The best would be to roast longer and gentler to allow your beans enough time to absorb and distribute the energy that you are trying to force into them.

Scorching: Reduce your charge temp and increase your drum speed.  The less time the bean spends on the side of the drum, the less scorching you will have. Try to maximize your convection heat and minimize your conduction heat, i.e., transfer your energy by means of hot air instead of a hot drum.

Cratering: Increase the time from first to second crack and take a gentler approach will help to prevent cratering.  Dial back on your gas pressure once you reach first crack and let the beans carry themselves into second crack.   If you force more and more energy into the batch, it stands to reason that “something’s gotta give”. In this case, the whole bean is splintering apart because of your need for burnt coffee!

The Genio Academy, together with Shaun Aupiais from We Roast Coffee produced a brand-new online Coffee Roasting 101 course on our Genio Hub, available to all Genio customers, where he discusses common roasting defects in depth. Click on the link to view this specific module.

#GenioForLife

Neil

First posted on www.genioroasters.com

31/01/2014

Jacolene

Making the right choices in stepping up your coffee business

The growth of your coffee business is close to my heart because I am an entrepreneur and business owner, and I can talk to you from personal experience. Genio Roasters has, in the past 12 months, grown in leaps and bounds.  We have been faced with big decisions on all levels of our business, and believe me, at times this was very scary.

From the moment you decide to set up a business, you commit to the business lifecycle, and if you want to see the journey through, you will have to make some tough decisions. Along our 10-year journey, we had to figure out what the business needed, and how we were going to gear ourselves to take the next big step.

Questions you may grapple with in your roastery or coffee shop may range from buying a bigger roaster, or rather adding a destoner, or perhaps a green bean loader, and what the financial and logistical implications would be for your business.

Knowing where you are in the business lifecycle

We are going to talk about stepping up and expanding your business but let us see where you are in the business lifecycle:

Business idea and ready to go

The business lifecycle starts here. You want to start a coffee business and you need to determine how viable it will be. You do as much research as possible, engaging with specialists in the coffee industry, potential suppliers, business partners, mentors, family, and friends.

You look at what your competitors do, and you assess whether you have what it takes to make a success, whether there is space in the market for you, and whether you have enough financial backing to launch your business.

Start-up your business

Your business idea is viable, whether it is a roastery or a coffee shop, and you are ready to open your doors. You need to listen to the feedback you get from your customers, as you may have to adjust your product. Gross mistakes during the start-up can cost you down the line. The key is to stay focussed as this is an important stage to get through.

Grow and establish your business

At this stage, your business should be generating a consistent income with a regular stream of repeat and new customers. Your cash flow is starting to improve as your income is taking care of your monthly expenses. Your business is showing a profit.

A big challenge for business owners during this stage is how to manage their time. The demands of the business are changing. Suddenly, you have more customers to attend to, and you need to roast more coffee to meet the demand. But take note, you may be making a lot of money, but because you are not in front of your customers anymore, they are disappearing one by one. You can no longer do everything yourself and you need to appoint the right people to join the ranks; you need to set up systems to support the business; you need to keep an eye on the competition. You need to put the necessary support in place otherwise you will keep falling back.

As the founder of the business, appointing skilled people has now become a priority if you want to make the most of the growth phase. You will come to accept that your highly qualified team will be taking over responsibilities that were previously controlled by yourself. This can be challenging, ask me! I soon realised I could not do everything on my own, and I had to learn to let certain things go. Because if I did not, you would have succumbed to the entrepreneur’s/founder’s trap!

Expand your business

You may feel that your business is running smoothly. You have a skilled team on board to handle the work that you do not have time for (and should also not be doing anymore!). Your business has developed its presence in the industry. You may be in a position where you can rely on a stable business, and at the same time look at opportunities to actively expand your offering and seek new markets. It is time to step up!

The blueprint for your business has been established and your net profit (total earnings after subtracting all expenses) indicates that you have a measure of financial safety that will allow you to commit capital to growth and expansion.

In business there are only three ways to go – you either move forward and step up your business, or you move sideways without little or no growth, or you stagnate by remaining in one place and then you gradually fall behind.

You almost need that nervous energy and desire to grow and expand, to keep the momentum going, and fight complacency. Complacency can often hinder expansion.

There will always be a word of caution as risk is implied whenever business owners expand without following a clear business plan. Always secure your business and do not bite off more than you can chew.

Your business reaches maturity

Your business is stable, and you are reaping the benefits from the expansion stage. Some businesses may even continue to expand further, going through similar planning done for previous expansion.

Recognising when the time has come to expand your business

Opportunity knocks

During its lifecycle, your business will go through normal growth, but at some point, you will need to take a big step forward, which will pose a challenge. There may be an opportunity for you to do contract roasting. But to do so, you will need to upgrade to a larger coffee roaster, move to your premises, or purchase a delivery truck to service your clients. In most cases, this step will require large capital expenditure.

However daunting, you are faced with a massive opportunity for your business. It requires you to push the boundaries, and cross the line you are afraid to cross, but the problem is that you keep walking into the same wall by not taking that step – you cannot make your business grow, you feel stuck, and nothing is moving forward during this time.

Choose to step up and not sideways

As a business owner, you need to be prepared for this step if you want your business to remain healthy. It will include having the systems in place and appointing the right people. But more so, you will have to calculate whether this step will enable your business to grow. In other words, will it be a step up or will it merely be a sideways step?

Buying a foot sealer in favour of a conveyance sealer to save a few bucks (not speeding up any process or increasing productivity), or buying a 15kg roaster to boost your output (not having yet optimised your packaging requirements), are both examples of taking a step to the side. So, beware of being drawn into a sideways step because you are too scared to make a significant commitment, or you are just not using your common sense.

Here are several scenarios explaining the difference between a step up and a sideways step and the reasons why:

Calculating your step up

Your decision to step up your business requires a balanced approach as there are many variables to consider. Knowing how much coffee you intend to sell per month is crucial. It will determine your projected profit margin, and more importantly, what size coffee roaster you will need.

Investing in a roaster that is too big can be as counterproductive as investing in a roaster that is too small. Roasting coffee takes time. If your roaster is too small, you will spend too much time roasting coffee, and it will be impossible to grow and expand your business, as there will be no time left in the day to look after your customers, pack your coffee and take care of deliveries.

A step-up will not only have a financial implication and return on investment (ROI) is not only determined by how much money you put behind expanding your business.

Since the industrial revolution, businesses have been using the 5 Ms in decision-making and management to evaluate efficiency and profitability:

Man: right man in the right job – recruit or upskill

Materials: good quality of materials – responsible sourcing

Machines: increased production and consistency – trustworthy suppliers in it for the long run

Method/Minutes: efficient use of time by man and machine

Money: investment – maximise all operations

Your step up should make optimal use of each of these elements, for you to reap the full benefit of your business growth decision.

Genio has developed a Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator that will allow you to play around with different variables to achieve your business goals.

Let us know whether you have found the ROI Calculator helpful. We would love the opportunity to continue the conversation (and do the math together!).

Good honest advice from experience

With enough preparation and support from the right people (never be afraid to ask for help!), and sticking to your business plan, you are bound to make game-changing decisions. It may well happen that after a big step forward, you need some adjustment, so allow for that. You will soon regain your balance as you build up reserves, knowing that you had the confidence and the guts to make the right choices in stepping up your business.

Our advice to you is honest and transparent. We want you to take that next step – not only for us but also for yourself. It happens that our customers do not always follow our advice, but even then, because we believe in the strength of the community, we will look for ways to help. We are part of your story.

#GenioForLife

Neil

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962). Former First Lady of the United States.

Jacolene

Roasting speciality coffee is simple math: We apply heat to green coffee beans to develop the tastes and flavours. Or is it? Different roasting methods transfer heat in different ways. The specific heat transfer method as a function of time determines which flavours, aromas and unique attributes are developed. Let us explore these differences by discussing the types of coffee roasters available, how heat is transferred, and what the roasting process does to the bean.

Coffee roasters: drum, electric and fluid bed roasters

Drum Roasters

This type of coffee roaster consists of a rotating drum that agitates the coffee beans. The drum rotates while the beans inside are heated, typically by means of a gas burner, while a fan draws hot air through the beans. Drum roasters with thin-walled drums may supply more heat to the beans that may distort the taste, whereas a double-walled drum may result in a more softer, more even application of conduction heat to the beans. In most drum roasters, around 30% of the energy is transferred via conduction heating (more in single-walled drums), while the remainder and majority of the energy are transferred to the beans by means of convection heating.

Significant to note, is that the cooling-down process is quick and controlled through a dedicated fan and a stirring motion of specially designed agitators.

Electric Roasters

Electric roasters are not typically suited as industrial machines. They are more focused on home or sample roaster machines.

From a practical standpoint, getting an electric roaster up and running can be quite easy. You do not require a gas fitter and permits. when you have the ventilation done and sorted, it is plug and play. The key benefit with an electric roaster is obviously not having to have a gas installation.

Another major difference is the heating and cooling time of an electrical roaster: on an electric roaster the heating element needs time to cool down when you lower the temperature. This is because the electric supply to the heating element is cut, but the element itself is still hot. The same goes for the increase in temperature; an electric element needs time to heat up to reach your temperature setpoint.

Electric roasters, therefore, is slow to respond to inputs, making them less ideal for profile roasting.  More often than not, electric roasters have a 30 minute batch turn-around time from start to finish, while gas-powered roasters should be able to roast a batch in less than half that.

Fluid-bed roasters

Fluid-bed roasters relies on large fans to suspend the beans in a stream of hot air. Even though air roasting methods have been around since the 1970s, only a small percentage of coffee served around the world today is air roasted.

As the hot air flows through the roaster, the force lifts the beans into the air, causing them to “float”. This effectively means the coffee beans are resting on a “bed” of heated air, which is where fluid-bed roasting gets its name from.

Since the hot air is blowing from beneath, there is no direct heating of metal. However, the beans have to be in some form of container, and its sides will get as warm as the circulating air. Therefore, it is not purely convection roasting, but it is definitely more convection heating compared to drum roasting. Air roasters can use electric elements or gas for heating the air.

According to an article from Coffeetech.com “Air roasters require a high-pressure flow of air…In air roasters, the air has to physically lift the coffee to get through. This means that air roasters require blowers that can deliver high pressure. “The result, a very loud roasting environment not suitable for in-shop roasting. Operators often work with ear protection to prevent damaging their ears from the noise of the roaster.

Heat transfer and getting to the umph!

Electricity or gas

As previously mentioned, electric roasters are slow responding systems; they take longer to heat up or cool down and have limited controllability during roasting. Think about an electric stove plate: it takes a while for it to heat up, and when you turn it off, it takes a while for it to cool down. The distinct benefit of roasting with gas is therefore the amount of control it offers the roast master.

Having said that, there are all kinds of new roasters coming out with halogen lamps which are much better at faster responding. Halogen lamps give you instant heat output, whereas electrical elements do not achieve that. With a bigger coffee roaster, you will also need a 3-phase electricity supply.

If anyone tells you that electric roasters do not produce smoke, think again! It is not the element that produces smoke, but rather the coffee beans. Green beans contain 11-14% moisture and, when roasted, create significant amounts of visible smoke, odour and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).  As with a gas stove, the burner itself produces almost no emissions and most professional machines will have low NOX burners to boot.

Convection versus conduction heat

In the roasting process, convection heat is from air to bean, and conduction heat is from surface to bean.

For example, if you fry meat in a pan, your meat will become crispy on the surface with a smoky, robust taste. This is an example of conduction heat transfer: you have a high heat transfer in a short period of time as the heat is directly transferred from the hot pan to the meat.

On the other hand, if you cook that same meat in your convection oven, it will have to stay in the oven for longer because convection heat is a softer, more even application of heat. This results in more evenly cooked food with no burnt spots as we see when grilling meat in a pan.

We already know that air is a bad heat conductor. To illustrate this, think about the difference between putting your hand into convection over for one second vs touching a hot pan on a stovetop for the same period of time (kids, do not try this at home). The pan is far hotter to the touch because heat is transferred via conduction.

Now, let us apply this theory to coffee roasting: even though air may not be a good heat conductor, it envelops the entire bean surface, as it roasts the bean from all sides at the same time. It

At Genio, we use the best of both worlds and a combination of convection and conduction heat in our coffee roasting process to achieve a more layered coffee profile in a shorter time frame.

Acidity-Body Curve

Back in the 1980s, they used ultra-fast roasting, sometimes within a few minutes only, to roast coffee beans from green to brown. This practice was driven by the concept of the industrialisation of processes, where they wanted to finish the roast as quick as possible. The quality took a back seat during this era. The result: a bitter cup with high solubility but little flavour or aromas because the Maillard Reaction had no time to develop flavours and aromas. The industry soon came to realise that the taste did not appeal to coffee drinkers and this method of roasting fell away.

Refer to the Acidity-Body Curve (Figure 1). The curve explains that the roast will first peak for acidity and thereafter it will peak for body. When you light-roast beans you have a more acidic coffee, and when you dark-roast beans you have more body.

Remember that, in the coffee world, acidity is not bad. According to numerous sources acidity is not a sour sensation, which is a taste defect, nor should it be excessively drying or astringent. “At best it (acidity) is a sweetly tart vibrancy that lifts the coffee and pleasurably stretches its range and dimension. Acidity can be delicate and crisp, lush and rich, powerfully tart but sweet, or backgrounded but vibrant, to cite only a few positive ways to characterise it” (source: Interpret Coffee).

The holy grail is to get that combination of acidity and body. Because, even the most delicate beans also need some form of body. One solution is to blend coffees with more body together with coffees with floral notes so to get the best-of-both-worlds. As a footnote, there is nothing wrong with blending as long as you do it for the right reasons – another story for another day.

The best way to achieve the balance between acidity and body is to have more control over your heat transfer, both convection and conduction heating. Using sensitive heat and sensors positioned in critical areas inside the roaster’s drum, the roastmaster takes back the control of the profile roasting and achieve a more desired end product.

Profile roasting: the proof is in the cupping

So, what is the difference between fluid-bed roasting and drum roasting?  Which one is better, and can you tell the difference?  The answer is: quite likely yes, you will taste the difference.  Depending on the temperature profile, the flavours will be different in the cup because the heat transfer profile is different.  And, ultimately, the cup profile is the only real proof of the best roasting style for your preference. In my experience, most people prefer a more balanced cup with acidic, more fruity flavours as well as body present in the cup.  Drum roasters will always have a more balanced cup because of the fact that both convection and conduction heat transfer was used to develop the flavour profile.  Don’t believe me?

Try it for yourself by contacting Genio Roasters for a demo today!

Jacolene

When the commitment to quality control is greater than the sum of its parts

I think as a business owner you can relate to the ups and downs that are associated with the quality of your services and products as well as those of your suppliers.  With the rapid growth Genio has experienced over the last few years, we have been forced to increase our focus on quality control. Due to a much higher output to local as well as international markets, we now not only have to meet our standards, but we also have to meet different sets of compliance standards for industries across the world.  At Genio, we not only tick the boxes for compliance, but we also tick them to better our service and look after our customers.

Why is quality control important?

Quality control involves maintaining a level of consistency in quality across the entire value chain. Everyone in your business should contribute to the quality control process in everything they do. One weak link can cause a major delay or even failure in the entire system. Just think about your own business and how a faulty delivery or miss communication between departments can upset the entire business environment. My advice is to first find the cause of a problem and then put measures in place that will prevent it from happening again. Internationally recognised systems like ISO 9001:2015 can help companies to achieve and maintain such goals.

I would like to share some insights and valuable lessons that the Genio Team has learned over the past few months. Hopefully, it will help you to navigate your quality control processes and procedures.

Learning from the best

We have set ourselves the highest quality manufacturing standards. We draw inspiration from the motor vehicle industry and others to help guide our efforts in manufacturing and communicate this quality through our products to our customers. Genio is fortunate enough to have a Procurement Manager, Industrial Designer as well as a Quality Inspector with experience in this specific industry. We are striving to achieve the same quality as a premium car product, and that is why we are bringing in this specific experience from outside to augment us and sharpen our skills.

As in the motor vehicle industry, our quality control checklist is our inspection criteria for every component and process that goes into building a Genio coffee roaster. We currently have 243 checkpoints that need to be adhered to. In the final inspection, the quality control checklist is there to ensure that the standard of the product meets the customer’s expectations. But long before we get to the final inspection, each and every one of our parts has stringent quality standards that they must pass.  These standards set the tone for the final product, and get updated continually as living documents that grow with ourselves and with our customer expectations.

Recently, the Genio Team also implemented our system which complies with BPMN 2.0 (Business Process Model and Notation), to define our business process workflows as a means of identifying potential improvements. We brought in a team of consultants to assist us with the initial system and to verify the steps that have been implemented against that of the BPMN model.

But quality does not stop at Genio ticking the boxes on a checklist. Quality must be upheld throughout the whole value chain. Our suppliers need to adhere to our quality standards, and these standards are followed across every department in Genio; from the welding bay right through to our Customer Experience Team. We refer to it as the Genio life cycle – the entire value chain from end to end.

Meet Kingsley

“What I bring to Genio is the ability to assess the quality of incoming materials as well as the quality of the outgoing product by ensuring that production standards are met. As part of the Quality Team, we continuously stress improvement with a no-compromise approach. It is ‘the person behind the machine’, that makes all the difference.”

Quality is a collective effort

Whether it is the sourcing of material and parts from reputable suppliers, state-of-the-art tools and even our internal production processes, we are continuously working towards improvement. Similarly, we want to pull this mindset through to our customers’ experience, as we want them to share the same high standards with us. So, we preach it forward by educating our customers on quality control for their businesses. We include free training to all Genio clients in coffee cupping, sensory development, site preparation, basic and advanced coffee roasting and more.

A transparent relationship with your suppliers is imperative. We conduct regular meetings on order updates, feedback on quality issues and management of expectations from both parties. When our suppliers share the same values and quality standards as us, we know it is a relationship that will grow from strength to strength. Even through tough times in the heat of the ongoing Covid battle, we ensured that we paid our suppliers timely and even split orders to those who were more in need to ensure that they can grow with us.

Innovation, innovation, innovation

Creating a culture of innovation within a business can be challenging. However, looking at a problem or situation with a fresh set of eyes can spark new ideas and solutions.  Genio recently invited a chemical engineering student to spend a whole day at the Genio factory. His task was to, from a customer perspective, work on each coffee roaster before it was shipped to the customer. We aimed to counter any form of bias when testing the performance of a new machine ourselves. The goal was to give Genio a report on the workmanship, operation, and user experience from his objective view as if he is the customer. And the result: priceless feedback that will translate to an enhanced overall customer experience. And for the record, he is now a permanent addition to our Quality Team and tests each and every roaster for an entire day before we sign off on the production.

The buck stops with me

Each Genio employee is accountable for their work, and this adds to our overall quality output. One person is assigned to a machine. The person performs all the tasks in the manufacturing process of that particular machine. It means the person has a good grip on everything that happens on the quality control of the machine because the individual is accountable for every part and every process.  The difference: personal commitment and pride – the individual starts something and takes it up to the finished product.  Again, it is the life cycle, where people are involved in everything about a particular phase in the life of a Genio.

Technical support: our lifetime commitment 

In terms of our accountability, we stand up to say that, yes, we do make mistakes and, yes, we have had quality issues. However, we own our problems and we admit that they exist. We do not run away from glitches and will go as far as to recall a machine for in-house repairs if that is what it takes. We have done so in the past and we will do so again if it means giving our customers the assurance that we stand by our products, and by our customers, for life.  We appreciate the fact that people’s livelihoods rely on our machines. To stand by this claim, the leaders of Genio unanimously agreed to offer up to 3 years of warranty on our machines without even thinking twice.  Our commitment to quality on every level of our business runs in our DNA and we challenge you to evaluate your own business and see where you can work smarter and be more productive when it comes to your products and services.

Jacolene

Don’t you just love opening a new pack of speciality coffee? It almost becomes a ritual, a crucial part of your coffee drinking experience. The way the packaging feels; the sneak whiff through the valve (we all do it); the specific way you have to open the pack; and then, of course, the explosive aroma that fills the room…bliss!

While coffee packaging was once viewed as mainly useful to store and transport a product, packaging design has developed into an important marketing tool. It is often the first contact a customer will have with your brand. It carries your brand identity and emotionally connects with consumers.

If you are a roaster, we suggest you take a closer look at your own packaging and make sure it ticks all the boxes when it comes to the holistic customer experience.

Deconstructing specialty coffee packaging

Speciality coffee packaging has a dual value. On the one hand, it preserves the freshness of your coffee and on the other, it has the potential to tell your brand story in the most appealing way: through the use of shape and material, fonts, images, colour combinations, textures and patterns.

Package design and its sensory aspects impact the customer journey at different stages. For the purpose of this discussion, I will look at speciality coffee packaging from a sensory experience (outer and inner layers) and from a functional dimension (freshness and quality mechanisms).

Sensory Experience

It is said that customers buy packaging based on their first impression of the bag.

Use your packaging to tell your brand story, because people identify with stories. Share yours on your pack and it will be read. Be descriptive. People enjoy information when they are really interested in their subject; as speciality coffee drinkers are. Tell your customer about your brand values, your contribution to transparency and sustainability in the coffee industry. Also, use the opportunity to explain flavours and roast profiles. Coffee packaging has an informative, and often an educational role to fulfill.

Try and be original in your design and capture the spirit of our brand. Pay attention to colour as people are psychologically drawn to colour. Colour plays a major role in the success of any marketing campaign. Colours tend to stir certain emotions, creating brand relevance and motivating purchases: red is the colour of power and gets people’s attention and holds it, and green is associated with health, environment and goodwill.

The finishing of your packaging material can add to your customers’ tactile experience of your brand, be it a matte or gloss, or textured and rustic. Keep in mind that finishes such as foil and spot-varnished elements can be very interesting but should be in line with your brand and the message you want to communicate.

With the aim to engage and tell their brand story, speciality coffee roasters often use a five-sided flat bottom pouch which will give them more space. Printing on the interior of the coffee pouch is another way to optimise space. Coffee packaging can therefore be totally customised to attract customers. The challenge is to create visual aesthetics that will translate into perceptions of flavour at an almost subconscious level.

Custom printed packaging has become popular all over the world, and this does not only refer to the exterior of the packaging. The customer experience lingers on throughout the after-purchase stage which can greatly influence the customer’s likelihood to re-purchase or recommend your coffee to others. The customer journey should be considered and maximised. Interior packaging design is an innovative way to extend the brand message and convey the desired perception of the taste of your coffee. Opening a coffee bag is an explosive multisensory experience that can now be amplified even further by your customised interior design.

Own your unique style

Packaging allows you to distinguish yourself from your competitors. Your uniqueness can set you apart from the rest as packaging possibilities are endless. Consider your own distinctive measurements of a shaped pouch, a zipper and valve integrated in your pack, an attractive design, different varnishes, and different colours from neon to metallic. Finally, a label on your pack can communicate different origins and batches, giving you all-year-round flexibility. Be sure that you understand your customer when you design the look and feel of your brand – this includes colours, font styles and sizes. Remember, there is no right type of packaging. Your packaging will be determined by your customer preference, the nature and size of your business, and how your coffee bags are filled. There are various coffee packaging experts that will be able to guide you along.

The ultimate aim for roasters is to set their products apart. A visually appealing package can go a long way in creating positive perceptions about the characteristics of the coffee you are representing.

Functional dimension

The best coffee packaging cannot only be visually appealing, but it also has to be functional. The number one requirement for any coffee packaging is that it should protect your coffee from the moment it leaves your roastery or warehouse.

As consumers are increasingly becoming more discerning coffee drinkers, there has been a growing need to provide fresher, higher quality roasted coffee beans.

The most important aspect of speciality coffee is its aroma and taste, which can be impacted by the packaging. Should the coffee be contaminated by foreign odours, the aroma and taste will be compromised, making it not desirable to drink. It is therefore crucial to choose an effective and high barrier coffee bag to maintain the freshness, flavour and aroma for a longer period of time.

Various types of coffee packaging are manufactured and supplied to specialty coffee roasters. Coffee packaging offers different functional features, including metallic layers, re-sealable zippers, clear oval windows, and one-way degassing valves.

Packaging should protect your coffee and keep out odours

Once your beans have been roasted, they undergo chemical and physical changes that must be taken into account when packaging them. The pore structure of coffee beans is affected by roasting conditions. The bean becomes more porous, the higher the roasting temperature. It then becomes more susceptible to absorbing moisture and unpleasant odours. To prevent this, your packaging should include a barrier that keeps out moisture, odours, direct sunlight, and oxygen, while enabling carbon dioxide (CO₂) to escape. While the material you use for the outer layer of your coffee packaging is often determined by your marketing needs, it is the inner layer that needs special attention as it comes into direct contact with the roasted beans.

Barrier properties and the filling process

It is very important that coffee beans stay fresh for as long as possible, and this means that the packaging has to be airtight.

Packaging needs a barrier as coffee is very sensitive to external factors that can affect the profile, through moisture and other bacteria. These barriers can range from metalised or pure aluminium to high-barrier polyester. Specialised advice to protect the roasted coffee beans can be provided by packaging manufacturers.

To ensure freshness and for coffee not to become stale faster than it needs to when on its way to your customer or sitting in their coffee shop, one can add a nitrogen flush vacuum sealer to the filling process. This vacuum sealer uses nitrogen gas to replace the oxygen in the bag and then creates a vacuum before sealing your bag of coffee. The absence of oxygen within the packaging helps to extend your coffee’s shelf life as long as the bag remains unopened.

Degassing valve

One of the most important chemical changes in the roasting process is the breakdown of sugars to form various compounds, including carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide, trapped inside the coffee beans, gradually leaks out after roasting, through a process called degassing.

Sealed coffee bags without a valve usually inflate and can even explode. The function of a degassing valve is to allow the carbon dioxide, released by roasted coffee beans, to escape from the sealed bag. It is designed to be a one-way valve. Carbon dioxide will flow out of the bag, but oxygen will not flow into the bag. This mechanism will only work when the bag is thoroughly sealed.

It is of utmost importance that the one-way degassing valve releases carbon dioxide from the coffee bag but does not allow outside moisture or air to penetrate the bag.

Storage

The convenience of your coffee bag can be enhanced with zippers or other easy-open mechanisms.

A re-closing feature such as a zipper will make a big difference in the lives of consumers who use and store their coffee beans in the original package – also more opportunity for them to enjoy and appreciated the design of the interior of your coffee package!

Trends that can influence specialty coffee packaging

Sustainable packaging has become very important. These forms of packaging are recyclable and biodegradable. Eco-friendly packaging is normally communicated on the pack, giving a guide on how it should be recycled and the benefits thereof to nature.

If there is one thing millennials around the world have in common, it is a taste for coffee. It is a generation worth taking note of as they make up a large percentage of the world’s coffee drinkers. Looking after our planet is important to them. They demand transparency and good ethics and this is something you should consider throughout the customer journey.

The subscription model is booming and various coffee brands are complimenting their business with a monthly subscription from their customers. Receiving a crafted subscription box will gain massive appeal for your brand. More so now that people are home-bound as a result of the pandemic and have become more comfortable with virtual shopping. You will, however, have to do proper research into your potential market, to determine whether there is a gap in the market, and indeed a market in the gap – but surely, it can be very exciting.

Your packaging supplier is there to support you through conceptualising, designing, manufacturing, printing, and delivery your packaging material. This can be a very rewarding relationship as they should keep you abreast of new developments in the packaging industry. It is important to choose an experienced packaging partner you feel comfortable with and whom you can trust with your brand for consistent and superior-quality packaging.

The Specialty Coffee Association, in 2016, launched the annual  Coffee Design Awards to honour and showcase the great packaging designs in the speciality coffee industry around the globe. This is a great platform to find new inspiration and keep up with the latest trends and technologies. Onyx Coffee, pictured below, won the 2021 Award for Packaging.

In closing, there are many aspects to consider when it comes to specialty coffee packaging: both in terms of aesthetics and functionality. If you can explore these, you have made good progress in setting up a successful specialty coffee brand.

Jacolene

Join Neil Maree and Tiaan Kilian for Genio’s first Online Tech Talk Session where we cover everything from drum size to the various modes on the ProRoast Software, and everything in between!

We will also announce ​the winner of the Lucky Draw who wins an entry into The Coffee Magazine’s A Shot in the Dark 2021 Competition worth R10 000. We would love to hear from you so please like, comment, and share this video.

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Jacolene