Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491356
STiR tea & coffee industry international 31 428 Roasters has something in common with Loring. The inventors behind the processes built into both machines took some inspiration from the Sivetz fluid bed roaster first patented in 1981. Sivetz is no longer building roasters but Mark Aspin, one of the partners in 428 Roasters, said his company's product engineer, Colin O'Callaghan, worked for a time with Michael Sivetz at Sivetz Coffee Inc. O'Callaghan later applied that expe- rience and his mechanical engineering background to creating a better fluid bed roaster. According to Austin, Ludwig improved on the Sivetz design and was awarded a U.S. patent for his Fla- vor-Lock Roast Process in 2000. 428 Roasters has not generated near the industry buzz that Loring has achieved. The reason for that is the company has yet to invest much in marketing. Apsin said, "We're still very new. We get an order, we build it, we ship it out. Colin only started working full time in our business about eight months ago." That not-quite-on-the-radar presence is something shared by the makers of Roastaire, which also manufacturers a closed- loop fluid roaster. Rostaire was invented by Jaromir Friedrich and Raymond Lemaire. The pair licensed their technology to Jim Townley who founded Fresh Cup Roastery and represents the brand in Canada. "For the first 8-9 years we had a pretty steep learning curve. We spent a lot of time fixing things as they broke. In the end, we have a completely closed loop system for 85% of the roast cycle and we only go to atmosphere for the last minute and a half to cool the beans," said Townley. The availability of these products should be welcome news to boutique operations, especially roaster-cafés. The Roastaire runs on electricity and uses 24,000 BTUs to roast 30 pounds of coffee in an hour. A traditional drum roaster of comparable size that relies on natural gas for the roast process uses 20 times that amount of BTUs. Loring also boasts of energy savings, though these roasters rely on natural gas as a heat source. Still, reducing both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% has been enough to win over customers in five countries. 428 Roasters is still making improvements to its design. While the partners like the idea of closing the loop, they have yet to build that feature into their machine. According to Aspin, any reduction in energy consumption in models available now would be a direct result of not having to wait to heat up a drum to start roasting. Budget-conscious buyers are more likely to purchase used equipment at launch but Townley made his case for the roaster- café model: "Our roaster can roast 150 lbs of coffee a day. Even if you're only roasting five days a week anyone with a calculator can figure out the going rate of a high grade organic coffee — in Canada we're selling it for around $16/lb. When you're selling raw to retail the margin is very, very strong. You can make a very strong business case for this approach." Austin responded with this: "We kiddingly tell people, 'When you buy a Loring, it's free because over a reasonable life- time, it will pay for itself in reliability, low maintenance, and particularly energy savings but you'll pay a little more up front.'" Manufacturers estimate mid-sized roasters cycling 15-30 ki- los will cost $85,000-$100,000 installed.