I Started a Micro Coffee Roasters in the UK

[@TheArgetho]

Great Video !

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you 🙏🙏

[@NickWattsOregon]

So happy to have found your channel, this will be helpful as I hope to start a micro roasting co soon. Thank you for sharing!

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

You are very welcome nick! I THINK you were my 1000th view on this video so thank you too 😁 feel free to post any questions on the vids too, happy to answer what I can!

[@narellefindlow6231]

Just finished the video and that's a pretty good result! And a whole new customer base

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya yup for sure, I think that's the challenge for us as we don't have a physical store for people to visit it's really important to get the name out there in front of people. I think when people know we exist they tend to want to buy with us

[@LykeDarylBasilio]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

You are very welcome 🤗 what do you want to see next?

[@mrzsmusiclessons]

Looking forward to the content!

[@DeThaey91]

Awesome, looking forward to more videos like this!

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you! Going to try and get one out weekly so stay tuned!

[@nischa]

Super cool, all the best!

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you! 🙏 Also we love your channel! ☝️the best financial advice for anyone else that sees this

[@allenzirkle5272]

Super pumped!

[@narellefindlow6231]

Good to see an insight! Subscribed! Hope the gala went well

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

🙌 thank you!

[@626nla]

Awesome video that i came across by, cant wait to watch the rest of the videos you have and future content......Subscribed 🙌

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you so much!! I've got a day in the life video I'm trying get out the door this week but been waylaid by a big country fair show today! Then I've also got some coverage of that coming too so stay tuned 😉

[@ToolsnTechvids]

Pumped!!

[@scottforest8811]

Hey guys, great video! so very useful and great to see the behind the scenes life of a small independent coffee roasting business. I'm on a similar journey myself, and have a couple of questions from the video if you wouldn't mind? - The storage boxes for bagged coffee - What a great idea, what are these called or who made by please? - Weighing Scales - what scales are you using there please? - Those floor pad things that you keep the green coffee on, what do you call these please / where do you get them from - such a great idea as with the blue tub storage for green! - Label printing, where do you get these printed? Thanks, look forward to seeing more on your journey!

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya great questions! -Storage boxes are from a company called Solent Plastics and we opted for those (rather than the blue ones) for roasted coffee because they are smaller and stackable which is better as the beans dont stay in there very long. -Scales are Brecknell Electronic Scales which seem to be very common in the industry from what I can see. They're good because they take a lot of weight which you need when weighing the beans after roasting (e.g. could be up to 5kg worth in our case). -Floor pads are known as 'dunnage' which is a typical environmental health recommendation for keeping food storage pest free and lowering risk of exposure to spills etc. we did actually have a spill once (knocked a mop bucket over) and I was super glad we had these! -Label printing, we currently use a company called Labels Interantional. We originally were printing our own labels but this takes so much time and overhead for lower quality output versus using a company! Thanks for the comment and questions!

[@harikisadewaputra7708]

@@ForgeValleyRoasters that's true, anyway I like your packaging looks exclusive

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you! We worked really hard on the packaging and did it ourselves rather than a graphic designer (though we will revisit this when we have the cashflow!)

[@lyonsmik]

Would love to see a video about sustainability, recycling chaff etc.

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

AHH yes me too if I'm honest! We're somewhat limited on the sustainability side as we use LPG to power the roaster currently and while there's tech out there it's currently beyond our budget. The chaff we simply compost (great for that!) but I've also wondered about making firelighters out of it as a by-product.

[@dang88100]

Hi Chris, i just discovered your page, i want to say i think it's brilliant that you have started this, there is a fair bit of content out there, but i find its mostly American channels. Nothing wrong with that! But great to see a channel that is more directly relatable to me. My personal circumstances are that i have found a great love for coffee and all things related over the last year. Im currently a buolder and looking for a more sustainable future job so im considering coffee roasting. Your advice is invaluable. Ive got loads of questions, but ill leave it here for now. Just know, this page is brilliant! Congratulations, keep it up! 🥳

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

That's kind words thank you and very happy that you find it useful! I think it's a wonderful hobby, craft and business and everyone should get the opportunity to learn about how wonderful the product is that so many of us consume on a daily basis. I'm learning more every day myself!!

[@dazmug]

Hi Chris. Thanks for posting your videos. They are very informative. I am looking to get into roasting. I have soaked up lots of the information that is on KZbin, and have visited a couple of roasters. I am self employed and have a business that is only part time so I have spare time and motivation to start a new business. I am just researching roasters, and have looked at the Cormorant (who are based very near to us) and the Aillio Bullett. If you were starting over again with the benefit of hindsight would you start with a 600g roaster, or something a bit bigger? I am getting conflicting advice. regards Darren

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Hey Darren you are very welcome and glad you are enjoying the content!! Really helps to know it's helping! It's a tough question because I think it depends on personal circumstance and ambition/risk level. There's no doubt that you cannot run a production roasting business above even a few kilos per week on something like the Cormorant (unless you are extremely patient!). That being said I don't regret what we did and wouldn't change it if starting again because it's a great sample roaster now alongside our bigger one and it also allowed us to get started with practically zero risk attached. Also you have to get over the hump of learning the basics of roasting and it's easier to do that wasting only 500g a time rather than 3+ kilos 😅

[@dang88100]

This question is great! I'm torn between what to go for. Based in Cornwall, I'm considering the cormorant off your recommendation. I've mainly only looked at the Allio, but you've turned my head. 😅

[@Shareghzadeh]

Great content. How did you learn coffee roasting?

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya I'm still learning!!! But I got started first just home roasting and enjoying it myself and then I started trying to sell locally and that went well so I made the leap at doing as a business. Besides reading (Scott Rao was my main source of reading material) and practicing I also took a 2 day course that really helped accelerate my understanding. Truly ive found that starting this YT channel and trying to explain it all has been helping me too as it forces me to check info and validate assumptions etc Are you thinking of starting roasting or already going at it yourself?

[@Shareghzadeh]

@@ForgeValleyRoasters I’m thinking about it to give it a try myself but I don’t want to rush into it as a business, I’m scared of falling if i start it as a business.

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

@@Shareghzadeh I did a video on getting started and the small roaster I began with, you might find that one useful. I'm just scheduling some YT Shorts from that video to go up tomorrow through to Sunday too if you don't wanna watch the whole thing :D but ultimately I think if you can be sure you'll home roast you can start small and low risk by making your money back over time by avoiding buying supermarket beans. Don't suffer in anticipation!!

[@jackpatterson-p3y]

Good video! What licences or permits are required to start a roasting company in the UK? (if any)

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

You asked at a good time! About to record a video for today so I'll answer this in that!!

[@federicoponcedeleon983]

Hi Chris, excellent video and congratulations on your coffee business! You mentioned at some point getting the relevant permits/approvals to set up your roastery from home. What did you need here in the UK?

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya I made a video to answer this, check it out and let me know if you've any other questions! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqPQeXerj8ejf5Isi=555KYM7vIWQVj8H4

[@federicoponcedeleon983]

Thanks Chris!

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

You bet!!

[@boxoffisa]

You should partner with sellers of those products and put link below for those who can to buy in exchange for commission.

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Yes!!! I did do an Amazon affiliate setup and later videos I've added links but I should retrospectively add them here given how many views this video seems to be racking up now!

[@thenativeson2822]

👏

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

🙌

[@Usmanasghar-iq2os]

Like mentorship

[@msfuturist1]

Great video!! 💗Looking to relocate for Selby from London😊 been to Scarborough to do a chocolate course at Andrew Thwaites school its a lovely town! We are looking to open a small shop in York and would really love some help with the roasting. How can I get in touch with you? 🙏

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya 👋thanks for reaching out. Drop me an email at [e-mail] 🙂

[@DaYa-cj3wz]

Hi I'm from India... I'm willing to start a roasting business here... Could you please help me with the details of pricing, equipment required etc...

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya 👋 welcome to the channel! If you check out one of my earlier videos I covered all our startup costs with a breakdowm too!

[@harikisadewaputra7708]

Hi.. I'm hariki from Indonesia, I interested with cormorant coffee roaster how's your review?

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Heya 👋 yes it's great and perfect for sample roasting or smaller personal use. I have the electric model which uses heat lamps instead of a gas flame. This makes it easier to use in some ways as you just plug it in and away you go. However it's slightly different to gas roasting in that temp changes aren't so instantaneous. All in all a great piece of kit and I would buy it again if I needed to.

[@harikisadewaputra7708]

@@ForgeValleyRoasters thanks, I look forward your next upload, I would like to know while you're at rush hour 😄

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you! Going to try and get another video out this week and aim for once a week. I'd do more but honestly takes so long to edit and put them together it's tough making the time for it all!

[@Usmanasghar-iq2os]

I also want to learn and start my own coffee roasting business. Would you provide me an internship or job under you so i can learn it being there physically ????

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Honestly I'd love to offer this one day but I just don't think we are big enough to be able to support such a thing yet! First I'll probably try to record some dedicated educational content/lessons for people to access, is that something you'd be interested in perhaps?

[@Usmanasghar-iq2os]

@ForgeValleyRoasters and i would probably like to be your first ever physical student and would be the the one who would start my own coffee business one day. You are truly awesome . I used to think I have to buy very big industrial roasters and used to think that buying raw material on small scale can't be profitable. You taught me a lot of stuff. God bless you SIR

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

@@Usmanasghar-iq2os thats so kind thank you very much for saying this! And I'm really glad you feel this way too because I think it's a craft that is kept needlessly mysterious when in reality it's been something people have been doing for such a long time and only recently (in the grand scheme) that we added all this industrial complexity!

[@Usmanasghar-iq2os]

Hey that's great . Do you need a business partner ?

[@ForgeValleyRoasters]

Thank you that's kind but we are a dream team of husband and wife 😅