If you are trying to work out whether a coffee roaster pays for itself, you will find online calculators that give you an answer in six months — in US dollars, at US wholesale prices, for a US cafe. Your numbers are different. So instead of a calculator, here are the four numbers that decide payback, where to get each one for your own business, and the three things that make real payback slower than the calculators say.
Number 1: Kilos of Roasted Coffee You Sell Per Week
Everything starts here. If you run a cafe, count the bags you buy from your roaster. If you are starting out, add up your own counter plus the wholesale accounts that have actually said yes. Be honest and be small — this is the number you will buy a machine against, and the sizing guide uses the same figure.
Your number: ______ kg roasted per week.
Number 2: Roasting Loss
Coffee loses 14–20% of its weight in the drum — light roasts less, dark roasts more. Use 16–18% unless you know your profile. It matters because you buy green by the kilo and sell roasted by the kilo, and the loss sits between them.
Green needed per week = roasted kilos ÷ (1 − loss). At 18%: roasted ÷ 0.82.
Number 3: What You Save — or Earn — Per Roasted Kilo
For a cafe that currently buys roasted coffee: saving per kilo = price you pay your roaster − (green price ÷ 0.82) − gas and power per kilo. Green coffee at wholesale is commonly a third to a half of the price of roasted coffee from a roaster, which is why the industry figure for in-house roasting is "half or more off your coffee cost". Put your own two prices in; the running costs guide gives you gas and power per kilo by machine size.
For a roastery selling to others: contribution per kilo = your selling price − green cost ÷ 0.82 − gas and power − packaging.
Your number: ______ per roasted kg.
Number 4: The Machine, Landed and Running
Not the quote — the total. Machine price plus freight, duty, exhaust, connections, spares and a learning allowance for green coffee. The price guide explains the three numbers a quote can mean; the startup costs guide lists every line that sits outside the machine.
Your number: ______ total to first saleable batch.
Where the Margin Sits — and Why the Machine Price Matters Less Than You Think
Two ideas from the trade's own ROI pages are worth taking, even though their numbers are not yours.
The roaster keeps the biggest slice. In the wholesale chain, the roaster who turns green into roasted keeps the largest share of the gross margin of anyone between farm and cup — which is what the Number 3 arithmetic above is quietly measuring. When you roast in-house you are not saving on coffee; you are taking over the most profitable job in the chain. That is why line B is usually large, and why a cafe that already sells 40–60 kg a week rarely finds the answer is "no".
A price difference is measured in weeks, not dollars. If two machines are 3,000 apart, divide that by your line C. At 480 a week the more expensive machine costs six extra weeks of payback — and if it roasts more evenly, holds value or saves you a burnt batch a month, six weeks is cheap. The same arithmetic runs the other way: a cheaper machine that costs you two failed batches a week is not cheaper. Our factory prices sit well under the brands the calculators are built around, so for most buyers this sum shortens the payback rather than lengthens it — but do the division rather than assume it.
Either way, the machine price is the denominator's smallest moving part. Your kilos and your saving per kilo move the answer far more than a few thousand on the quote.
The Payback Template
| Line | Formula | Your figure |
|---|---|---|
| A. Roasted kilos per week | from Number 1 | ______ |
| B. Saving or contribution per kilo | from Number 3 | ______ |
| C. Weekly gain | A × B | ______ |
| D. Total landed and running cost | from Number 4 | ______ |
| Payback in weeks | D ÷ C | ______ |
A worked example in real numbers: a cafe selling 60 kg a week that saves USD 8 per kilo by roasting in-house gains USD 480 a week. Against an SD-3 at USD 4,599 ex-works, landed and installed at roughly USD 7,000 with a month of practice green, payback is about fifteen weeks; against an SD-6 Pro at USD 12,999 landed at roughly 16,000, about thirty-three. Change any one input and the answer moves, which is the point of doing it with your numbers.
Three Things That Make Real Payback Slower
The calculators leave these out. Our customers do not get to.
1. The learning period. You will not sell your first twenty batches. Budget green coffee for a month of practice, and push your first "real" week out by that month. On a 3 kg drum that is a modest cost; on a 12 kg drum it is real money.
2. Wholesale payment terms. If your gain comes from wholesale accounts, you deliver in week one and get paid in week five or nine. The roaster is paid for before the first invoice clears. Payback in cash terms is later than payback on paper.
3. Buying a size too big. A drum running at 30% of its capacity costs the same to buy and nearly the same to heat as one running at 70%. If you bought for the dream instead of the number, your line C is smaller than it should be for years. Size against Number 1, with one step of growth — the batch size guide shows why 60–80% loading matters.
When Payback Is Not the Point
Two situations where the maths is secondary:
- A cafe that wants its own coffee as a product. The bag on the shelf with your name on it earns margin and loyalty that do not show up in line B. Roasting is the story as much as the saving.
- A roastery that already has accounts. If you are toll-roasting or buying in and the accounts are yours, the machine is not a bet — it is capturing margin you are already generating for someone else. Payback is usually fast and the decision is about capacity, not whether.
In both cases, still fill in the template. It tells you which size to buy — and the SD series and DY series pages list each machine with its factory price, so line D is not a guess.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I count the resale value of the machine in the payback?
As a footnote, not a line: a well-kept drum roaster holds real value for years and a lender will take it as security, but a payback that only works if you sell the machine later is not a payback. Run the template without it; if the answer is good, the resale is a bonus, and if it is bad, resale will not rescue it.
Does roasting in-house change what I pay for green coffee?
Yes, in both directions. You buy green at importer prices instead of roasted at roastery prices — the saving the template measures — but you now hold stock: a month or two of green in a conditioned room, bought in sacks or pallets, with your cash in it. Put the stock into Number 4 as working capital, not just the machine; the green storage guide sizes it.
How do I present the payback to a lender or a partner?
As the template, with your four numbers and the three adjustments written in, plus the machine's quotation and a sensitivity line: what payback becomes if weekly kilos are 30% lower than planned. Lenders trust a payback that survives a bad quarter more than a fast one; the price guide gives them the machine line in a form they can check.
What is the fastest payback you actually see?
A cafe already selling 40–80 kg a week of roasted coffee it buys in, moving to a 3 or 6 kg drum: the volume exists, the saving per kilo is large, and the machine is cheap relative to it — months, not years. The slowest is a roastery starting from zero accounts on a 12 kg drum bought for the plan rather than the number, which is why Number 1 comes first.
Can you help me fill the template in?
Yes — send us your weekly kilos, what you pay per kilo for roasted coffee now (or your target selling price if you roast for others), and your country, and we send back the template completed with a machine size, its factory price and a landed estimate to your port. It takes a day; most buyers find the machine they need is one size smaller than they assumed.
Final Thoughts
Coffee roaster ROI comes down to four numbers you can find in your own accounts, and three honest adjustments the calculators skip. Fill in the template with your figures before you compare machines, and buy the size the number supports. Send us your weekly kilos and your current cost per kilo and we will complete it with you. Talk to our engineers.
Get a Quote → WhatsApp +86 184 0771 4607Last updated: September 17, 2026
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