Latin America sends us more inquiries than any other region outside the United States — Colombia alone accounts for around 70 of them, with Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador close behind. And the buyers are different from the ones we deal with in Asia or the Gulf. They are not importing green coffee. They are standing on it.
If you are looking for a coffee roaster in Colombia or anywhere in Central America, you are probably a producer, a cooperative or an exporter deciding to stop selling raw green at commodity price and start selling roasted coffee under your own name. That changes which machine you should buy — and there is one technical factor unique to this region that most suppliers never mention until after your gas burner underperforms.
The Altitude Problem Nobody Puts on a Quotation
Bogotá sits at 2,640 m. Medellín at 1,495 m. Guatemala City at 1,500 m. San José, Costa Rica at 1,170 m. Quito at 2,850 m. These are the same altitudes that make your coffee excellent — and they make gas burners weaker.
Air density falls with altitude, so a naturally aspirated LPG or natural gas burner delivers less heat at 2,000 m than the same burner delivers at sea level. The rule of thumb used in burner engineering is a loss of roughly 3–4% of rated output per 300 m of elevation. A burner sized for a coastal roastery can arrive in Bogotá delivering barely 70% of its nameplate power.
| City | Elevation | Approx. burner output loss | What we change at the factory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cartagena / Barranquilla | Sea level | None | Standard build |
| San José, Costa Rica | 1,170 m | ~12–15% | Larger gas orifice, re-set air shutter |
| Medellín / Guatemala City | ~1,500 m | ~15–20% | Orifice change + one burner size up |
| Bogotá | 2,640 m | ~26–33% | Oversized burner, high-altitude orifice set, revised air ratio |
| Quito | 2,850 m | ~29–36% | Oversized burner; electric model often the better answer |
What this means in practice: tell us your elevation in metres when you request a quotation, not just your city. We size the burner and supply the correct orifice set before the machine is crated. Retrofitting an orifice after the machine has cleared customs is possible but slow, and in the meantime your roasts will drag through the drying phase and flatten out exactly where you need control.
Above roughly 2,200 m, we often recommend an electric roaster for machines up to 6 kg. Electric heating elements are unaffected by air density, and at that altitude the gas premium plus the LPG logistics usually cancels out the cheaper running cost. Our comparison of both options is in gas vs electric commercial roasters.
Voltage and Frequency: 110 V, 220 V and Why 60 Hz Matters
Electrical supply across the region is 60 Hz, which is good news — our machines are built to the grid you specify, and 60 Hz builds are routine for us. The complication is voltage, which varies by country and often by building.
| Country | Common supply | Three-phase available | Plug types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | 110 V / 220 V, 60 Hz | 220 V 3-phase in industrial zones | A / B |
| Costa Rica | 120 V / 240 V, 60 Hz | Yes, 240 V | A / B |
| Guatemala | 120 V / 240 V, 60 Hz | Yes, 240 V | A / B |
| Honduras / El Salvador | 120 V / 240 V, 60 Hz | Limited outside cities | A / B |
| Ecuador | 120 V / 220 V, 60 Hz | Yes, 220 V | A / B |
| Panama | 120 V / 240 V, 60 Hz | Yes | A / B |
Two practical rules. First, a gas roaster still needs electricity — drum motor, exhaust fan, cooling fan and control panel. A 12 kg gas machine typically draws 1.5–3 kW. Second, above about 6 kg capacity on an electric model, single-phase 120 V is not realistic; you need 220/240 V, and above 15 kg you need three phase. Confirm what your building actually has before you choose a capacity, not after.
One question we get from this region constantly: “Where are the plugs for the machines?” Larger roasters ship with flying leads for hard wiring rather than a plug, because plug standards vary and a licensed electrician must make the final connection anyway. We label every conductor and supply the wiring diagram in Spanish. The full grid-by-grid explanation is in our coffee roaster voltage guide.
Choosing Capacity as a Producer, Not a Café
Origin roasters size machines differently from café roasters. A café roasts what it sells that week. A producer roasts a fraction of a harvest that arrived all at once, and often wants to keep selling green for the rest.
| Your situation | Suggested capacity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Farm cupping lab, quality control only | 100 g – 600 g sample roaster | Fast, repeatable sample roasts for lot selection and buyer samples |
| Farm brand, local sales + tourism | 1–3 kg | Low capital, roasts to order, doubles as a visitor attraction |
| Cooperative serving member farms | 6–12 kg | Enough throughput for regional retail without an industrial building |
| Exporter adding roasted-value contracts | 30–60 kg | Container-scale roasted output, PLC profile repeatability required |
The most common mistake we see is buying too large. A 30 kg machine that runs three batches a week will never give you a consistent product, because the drum never reaches thermal steadiness and your operator never builds a rhythm. Two thirds of the origin roasters we supply in Latin America end up on 6 kg or 12 kg. Our batch size guide explains why the minimum batch matters as much as the maximum, and the 6 kg and 12 kg pages give the full specifications.
Roasting Your Own Origin: Two Things That Surprise Producers
Fresh crop is wet crop. Coffee at 11–12.5% moisture straight after milling behaves very differently from the 9–10% green a European roaster receives after months in transit. Higher moisture needs more energy through the drying phase, which is exactly where a high-altitude burner is weakest. This combination — fresh, high-moisture beans at 2,000 m — is the single biggest reason origin roasters end up under-powered.
You will roast lighter than the local market wants. Specialty buyers abroad want light-to-medium. Domestic Latin American retail often still expects darker, sometimes very dark. If you plan to serve both, ask for a machine with genuine burner modulation across a wide range, and a cooling tray that pulls the batch below 40 °C in under four minutes so your light roasts do not carry on developing in the tray.
Shipping, Ports and Customs
Sea freight from our port to the region runs roughly 30–45 days depending on routing and transhipment. Common discharge ports:
- Colombia: Cartagena and Buenaventura (Cartagena is usually faster for Atlantic routings)
- Costa Rica: Puerto Limón / Moín, or Caldera on the Pacific
- Guatemala: Puerto Quetzal (Pacific) or Santo Tomás de Castilla (Atlantic)
- Honduras: Puerto Cortés · El Salvador: Acajutla · Panama: Colón / Balboa
- Ecuador: Guayaquil
Points worth planning for:
- China has no free trade agreement with Colombia or the CAFTA-DR countries. Regional trade agreements you may know from US or European suppliers do not apply. Budget for the standard import duty on industrial machinery — commonly 0–15% depending on tariff classification — plus VAT (IVA 19% in Colombia, 13% Costa Rica, 12% Guatemala). Your customs broker should confirm the HS code before shipment; roasting machinery normally falls under 8419.81 or 8438.80.
- ISPM-15 heat-treated crating is mandatory. We stamp every crate; ask for photographs of the stamp before departure.
- Small shipments are not always cheaper. Several buyers have asked us for “a quick channel for packages under 50 kg” to avoid formal customs entry. That works for spare parts, not for a roaster. Machines from 3 kg upward travel as LCL or FCL sea freight with full documentation — trying to split a machine into express parcels creates more customs problems than it solves.
- Nominate the incoterm early. CIF to your nearest port is the usual choice; DDP is possible but customs clearance in the region is generally faster and cheaper with a local broker you already trust.
Our complete freight walkthrough is in shipping a coffee roaster from China.
Support in Spanish, and What Happens When Something Breaks
Distance is the real objection, and it is a fair one. What we do about it:
- Wiring diagrams, control panel labelling and the operating manual supplied in Spanish.
- Video-call commissioning support — free, scheduled around your time zone, with an engineer watching your first roasts.
- A spare parts kit shipped inside the crate: thermocouples, drive belt, contactors, gaskets. Air freight of a replacement part to Bogotá or San José takes about a week; having the common wear items already on your shelf turns a week of downtime into an hour.
- One-year full-machine warranty, and parts available for the life of the machine.
Our Spanish-language buying guides cover the same ground for colleagues who prefer to read in Spanish: Máquina Tostadora de Café para América Latina and ¿Cuánto cuesta una tostadora de café?.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a special coffee roaster for high altitude in Colombia?
For gas models above roughly 1,200 m, yes — the burner needs a high-altitude orifice set and often a larger burner, because a naturally aspirated burner loses around 3–4% of output per 300 m of elevation. Tell us your elevation in metres with your inquiry and we configure it before the machine is crated. Electric models are unaffected by altitude.
What voltage are your coffee roasters for Colombia and Central America?
We build to your grid. The region runs 60 Hz, with 110/120 V single phase common in small premises and 220/240 V single or three phase in industrial areas. Machines up to about 3 kg can run on 120 V; from 6 kg upward you should plan on 220/240 V, and from 15 kg upward three phase. Confirm what your building has before choosing capacity.
Can I import a coffee roaster from China into Colombia without an FTA?
Yes. There is no free trade agreement, so standard import duty applies — commonly 0–15% on industrial machinery depending on HS classification — plus 19% IVA in Colombia. Have your customs broker confirm the tariff code (usually 8419.81 or 8438.80) before shipment so the entry is not delayed.
What size roaster should a coffee farm or cooperative buy?
Most origin roasters we supply in Latin America settle on 6 kg or 12 kg. A 100 g–600 g sample roaster is right if you only need quality control and buyer samples; 1–3 kg suits a farm brand with local and tourist sales; 30–60 kg is for exporters with roasted-coffee contracts. Buying oversized is the most common and most expensive mistake.
How long does shipping take to Cartagena or Puerto Limón?
Roughly 30–45 days of sea transit from our port, plus production lead time and local clearance. Add a week or two if your routing transhipes through Panama. We quote production and shipping separately so you can plan around your harvest calendar.
Get a Quote
Send us three things and we can size a machine properly for your site: your elevation in metres, your electrical supply (voltage, phase, 60 Hz), and how many kilograms per week you expect to roast in your first year. We will come back with a configuration, not just a price list.
We have built drum roasters in our own factory since 1990, from 100 g sample machines to 300 kg production lines. Browse the full roaster range, the YS Series with Siemens PLC control for repeatable profiles, or the SD Series for classic drum roasting. Then use the inquiry form on our contact page — we reply in Spanish or English.
WhatsApp / Cotización — +86 184 0771 4607
WhatsApp: +86 184 0771 4607 · Escríbanos en español. Video de fábrica y llamadas de puesta en marcha sin costo. One-year full-machine warranty.
Last updated: August 25, 2026