Bellwether Debuts New Shop Roaster as Data Shows Cafés Can Cut Coffee Costs in Half by Roasting In-House

Café owners who made the switch to Bellwether report saving an estimated $2,000 a month, as wholesale roasted specialty coffee prices approach $15 a pound

BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Bellwether Coffee today introduced a new Shop Roaster that is more durable, easier to install and simpler to run, alongside new data showing the economic and business value cafés can unlock by bringing coffee roasting in-house.

An analysis of more than 1,000 U.S. entries to Bellwether's roasting calculator in the third quarter of 2026 found that buyers of wholesale roasted specialty coffee pay a median of $14.80 per pound, and more than a third pay $18 or more. Roasting in-house would cut that cost roughly in half, with a median modeled payback period of five months.

A new survey of Bellwether customers in October shows what happens after the switch. Among businesses that replaced purchasing roasted coffee with their own roaster, the average reports saving an estimated $2,000 a month. The benefits go beyond cost: 93 percent now sell coffee under their own brand, and 72 percent have added new revenue from roasting, led by retail bag sales.

"Coffee costs keep rising, but there is a ceiling on what customers will pay," said Ricardo Lopez, founder and CEO of Bellwether Coffee. "Roasting in-house gives operators greater control over their costs while creating new opportunities to grow revenue, strengthen their brand and give customers a reason to come back."

That pattern shows up at Mission House Coffee of Lynchburg, Virginia, which roasts more than 200 pounds a week and saves over $5,000 a month by roasting its own coffee.

"Roasting in-house creates three opportunities you would not have otherwise," said Tommy Clark, owner of Mission House Coffee. "First, you are going to save money. Second, it opens up sales through wholesale and retail. Third, and most importantly, it gives you an identity."

Among surveyed customers, 76 percent said equipment appearance factored into how they designed their space. The new Shop Roaster was designed with that in mind:

• More durable. The new Shop Roaster has a metal enclosure built for busy front-of-house spaces. It is available in classic white or deep bronze, a new finish designed to suit a wider range of interiors.
• Easier to install. The Shop Roaster is electric and smokeless. It needs no gas line, ductwork or venting, and ships fully assembled, ready to roast.
• Simpler to run. The new Bellwether app lets operators build and adjust their own roast profiles, review a log of every roast, track green coffee inventory, plan what to roast and when, and reorder from the app.

Every Shop Roaster can be paired with Bellwether's coffee program: more than 50 coffees on its U.S. and European marketplaces. Each Bellwether Coffee comes with four roast profiles already dialed in, plus coffee advisors and a packaging program for selling retail bags.

The new Shop Roaster will make its public debut at Coffee Fest Dallas, October 17–18, 2026, at booth #210. It is available to order now, with first customer deliveries beginning in Q1 2027.

Learn more at bellwethercoffee.com.

About the Data

Bellwether's wholesale price analysis is based on 1,193 U.S. entries to its online roasting calculator between July 1 and September 30, 2026, de-duplicated to one entry per visitor session. Entries that left the price at its default value were excluded; entries at the calculator's former $30-per-pound maximum were counted as $30 or more. Savings and payback are modeled from user-reported prices and volumes. The customer survey was distributed to Bellwether customers October 2-9, 2026 and drew 122 responses. Savings were reported in ranges; averages count each range at its midpoint and "over $5,000" as $5,000.

About Bellwether Coffee

Bellwether Coffee makes the world's only smokeless commercial coffee roaster, paired with a curated green coffee marketplace and full-service coffee program. Bellwether roasters operate in 26 countries and 40 U.S. states and have roasted millions of pounds of coffee over more than a decade of development. Bellwether is headquartered in Berkeley, California.

SOURCE Bellwether Coffee