Bellwether Coffee has launched the Bellwether Shop Roaster, a compact, ventless commercial roaster that costs less than an espresso machine. The product aims to make on-site roasting accessible to more retailers, allowing them to serve fresher, sustainable coffee while cutting costs and carbon emissions.
The small-format, high-throughput electric roaster fits into any retail space, enabling businesses to roast hundreds of pounds of coffee weekly. The automated system, available as a countertop model or with a Continuous Roasting Upgrade, includes access to the Bellwether Green Coffee Marketplace, a library of sourced coffees with custom roast profiles.
CEO Ricardo Lopez says the roaster empowers retailers to deliver the freshest coffee from farm-to-cup, lowering the barrier to entry for on-site roasting. Electric roasting offers a greener alternative to gas-powered roasting, which accounts for 15% of the industry’s carbon footprint.
The Bellwether Shop Roaster halves wholesale coffee costs and reduces the carbon footprint of a pound of coffee by 87%, at a quarter of the cost of the Bellwether Series 2 Electric Roaster. They aim for the system to be easy to install and operate, requiring no gas lines, vents, construction, or training.
Bellwether developed the lower-cost roaster in response to growing demand for electric coffee roasting worldwide. The company saw significant growth in 2023, expanding to Japan and Europe with partnerships including Japanese retailer MUJI, The Hagen Project, and High Grade Coffee in the UK.