Every roastery plan has a line for the roaster and a line for the machine, and the roaster is usually one person. That is where the plan goes wrong, because the hours in a roastery are not spent roasting. They are spent moving green, cooling, destoning, weighing, filling, sealing, labelling and boxing. This guide gives staffing bands by weekly output, shows where the hours go, and names the equipment that removes a person at each step.
Where the hours actually go
Take one 15 kg batch, roasted to medium. The roasting itself occupies the operator for the length of the roast — call it fifteen minutes of attention, during which they cannot leave the machine. Around that batch sit the other jobs:
- Weighing 15 kg of green from a bag, checking it, charging the hopper: a few minutes.
- Cooling, then moving 12.7 kg of roasted coffee off the tray into a bin: a few minutes.
- Destoning if you run the destoner post-roast: a couple of minutes.
- Resting and then packing 12.7 kg into 250 g bags: fifty-one bags. Filled, sealed, labelled, boxed by hand, that is easily an hour.
- Cleaning between coffees, recording the batch, stacking finished stock.
So one batch generates roughly fifteen minutes of roasting and one to two hours of everything else. Packing is the job that consumes people, and it scales with the number of bags, not the number of kilograms. A roastery selling in 1 kg bags packs a quarter as many units as one selling in 250 g bags for the same output.
That is the single most useful fact in staffing a roastery: count bags per week before you count kilograms.
Staffing bands by weekly output
These are the bands we see across customers. They assume retail-sized bags and a semi-manual packing line; adjust for your bag size and equipment.
| Roasted output per week | Roasting | Packing and handling | Typical headcount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 100 kg | A few hours, one or two days | A few hours | One person, part-time, usually the owner |
| 100–300 kg | One to two roast days | Two to three days of packing | One full-time person, plus part-time packing help at the top of the band |
| 300–800 kg | Three to four roast days on a 12–15 kg machine, or fewer on a 30 kg | Daily packing | Two people: a roaster who also packs, and a packer who also handles green and dispatch |
| 800–2,000 kg | Full-time roasting on a 30 kg machine, or two machines | A packing line with a filler and sealer | Three to four: roaster, packer, production assistant handling green, QC and dispatch, plus part-time support |
| Over 2,000 kg | Shifts, or a 60 kg and above line with loader and conveying | Semi-automatic packing, two people | Five and up, organised by shift; roasting is now one role among several |
Two things move a roastery down a band. A larger batch size — a 30 kg machine does in one batch what a 12 kg does in two and a half, and the roasting hours fall accordingly, though the packing hours do not. And packaging equipment, which is the subject of the next section.
The equipment that removes a person
Each piece of ancillary equipment in a roastery takes a specific job off a specific person. The order in which they pay for themselves follows the hours above.
A filling machine is first, because packing is the bottleneck. A weigh-filler with presets turns fifty bags from an hour's hand-weighing into fifteen minutes, and a continuous band sealer does the same for sealing. This is the equipment that lets a two-person roastery reach 800 kg a week without a third person. Options by throughput are in coffee packaging equipment.
A green bean loader is second, and its threshold is physical rather than financial: once the daily green charge is a few hundred kilograms, lifting it to the hopper is a health issue and a second pair of hands at every charge. The loader removes both. When it becomes worthwhile is covered in when a roastery needs a destoner, loader or afterburner.
Automated roasting control is third. A PLC machine replaying a stored profile does not remove the operator, but it removes the operator's undivided attention: during the roast they can be packing the previous batch or charging the loader. Across a day that recovers an hour or more, and it lets a packer cover roasting on the roaster's day off. The trade-offs are in manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic coffee roasters.
Silos and conveying come last, at the point where green and roasted coffee are moved by the tonne rather than the bag. Below that volume they solve a problem the roastery does not yet have.
Roles, not just headcount
At the two-person stage and beyond, the roles matter more than the number.
Roaster. Profiles, roast days, quality, green stock. At small scale also the packer, the cleaner and the dispatcher.
Production assistant / packer. Packing, labelling, boxing, stock rotation, the daily clean, receiving green. This is the role that grows first and the one most often under-planned.
Quality and admin. Cupping every batch, retained samples, batch records, orders, invoicing. Below 800 kg this is folded into the two roles above; above it, it becomes a person, because a wholesale or private label roastery lives on its records. The routine is in cupping lab and quality control.
A useful test for any plan: for each of the three roles, name the person who does it on the roaster's day off. If the answer is "nobody", the plan is one illness away from missed deliveries.
Labour per kilogram, and why it falls with utilisation
Roastery labour is mostly fixed: the two people are there whether the machine runs three days or five. So labour per kilogram falls steeply as output rises toward the machine's capacity, and a roaster running most of the week costs far less per kilogram to staff than one running two days. Industry figures put production labour at a modest sum per kilogram in a well-utilised roastery and several times that in an under-used one.
The practical lesson is to size the machine so that it will be well used within a year — not so large that two people wait for orders around an idle 30 kg roaster. The sizing method is in our batch size guide; the fixed costs behind labour are in coffee roaster running costs.
A quick planning method
- Weekly roasted kilograms → bags per week, from your bag mix.
- Bags per week → packing hours, at your line's speed (hand: roughly a bag a minute including sealing and labelling; with a filler and sealer, three to four times that).
- Weekly kilograms → batches → roasting hours, including preheat and between-batch time.
- Add green handling, cleaning, QC and dispatch at a percentage of the above.
- Divide by the hours one person actually works. That is the headcount, before holidays and illness.
- Look at which equipment purchase reduces the biggest line — it is almost always packing.
FAQ
How many people do you need to run a small coffee roastery?
Under about 100 kg of roasted coffee a week, one person part-time — usually the owner — covers roasting, packing and dispatch. From 100 to 300 kg, one full-time person with part-time packing help. The packing, not the roasting, is what pushes the second person onto the payroll.
How many hours does it take to roast and pack 100 kg of coffee?
Roasting 100 kg on a 12 kg machine is about ten batches — three to four hours including preheat and between-batch time. Packing 100 kg into 250 g bags is 400 bags: six to eight hours by hand, two to three with a filler and sealer. Packing takes longer than roasting at every scale.
What is the first piece of equipment to buy to reduce labour?
A filling machine and a band sealer. Packing is the roastery's largest labour line, and weigh-filling with presets cuts it by two-thirds or more. A green bean loader comes next once daily charges reach a few hundred kilograms, followed by automated roast control to free the operator's attention during the roast.
Does a bigger roaster reduce staffing?
It reduces roasting hours — a 30 kg batch replaces two and a half 12 kg batches — but not packing hours, which depend on bags produced. A bigger machine lets one roaster cover more output; it does not remove the packer. Size the machine to be well used, since staff cost is mostly fixed.
When does a roastery need a dedicated quality or admin person?
Around 800 kg a week, or earlier for wholesale and private label work, where every batch needs cupping, retained samples and records that customers may ask for. Below that the roaster and packer share the tasks; above it they become a role, often combined with dispatch and ordering.
How does labour cost per kilogram change with volume?
It falls steeply as the machine is used more, because staff are a fixed cost. A two-person roastery running five days costs far less per kilogram than the same two people running two days. Plan the machine size so that it will be well utilised within a year rather than idle waiting for orders.
Can one person run a 30 kg roaster?
One person can operate it, especially with a loader and a PLC control that frees their attention during the roast. One person cannot also pack 30 kg batches into retail bags at production pace. A 30 kg machine is normally a three-person operation once packing and dispatch are counted.
Final Thoughts
Staff the packing line, not the roaster. Count bags, plan the roles, and buy the filler before the second machine. If you are sizing a roastery, tell us your weekly output and your bag mix and we will map the machine, loader and packaging together — from a two-person 12 kg set-up to a shift-run industrial line.
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Get a Quote → WhatsApp +86 184 0771 4607Last updated: September 17, 2026
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