Are Countertop Machines Making Roasting Extra Accessible?

Estimated studying time: 7 minutes

Key takeaways

Countertop roasters like Mikafi want no further air flow or devoted house.
Thermoplan acquired countertop roaster undertaking Mikafi, which can debut at WoC Brussels from 25 to 27 June 2026.
Predefined roast profiles let any barista roast with out specialist coaching.
Compact designs match normal café counter tops, making in-house roasting viable wherever.

Roasting your personal espresso used to require important capital. Full-scale roasting amenities value 1000’s of {dollars} to construct and function, which made in-house roasting a practical possibility just for bigger companies with the funds to match.

However the barrier to entry is now decrease. Because the variety of micro and nano roasters continues to develop, demand has risen for tools that smaller operators can truly afford and use, together with countertop roasters. These compact machines permit espresso retailers and hospitality companies to roast on-site, including a income stream and giving them a reputable level of distinction.

“Espresso retailers need to provide their prospects a novel expertise and stand out from opponents,” says Andrea Della Zoppa, Challenge Supervisor for Thermoplan, which acquired compact tabletop roaster Mikafi in August 2025.

“Because of the large glass drum, you possibly can actually display the roasting course of, which builds belief and brings prospects nearer to the espresso,” she provides. “Even the sensory impression can’t be ignored. Individuals stroll into the shop, scent roasting espresso, after which see the machine – enhancing the entire expertise.”

You might also like our article on how super-automatic espresso machines are altering.

The rise of in-house roasting

For a very long time, roasting in-house meant opening a separate facility. Cafés wanted massive industrial roasters, gasoline air flow methods, and sufficient house to accommodate them. For smaller companies on tighter budgets, working a devoted roasting web site was merely not possible.

The numbers mirror this. A Specialty Espresso Affiliation (SCA) examine discovered that launching a roasting enterprise requires a minimal of US$120,000 in start-up prices, earlier than accounting for ongoing operational bills, which places in-house roasting out of attain for many impartial cafés.

This started to vary within the early 2010s, when smaller-scale roasting tools made it attainable for extra operators to start out roasting, without having the capital to construct a full roastery from scratch.

The expertise itself has matured significantly. Fashionable countertop roasters now characteristic space-saving designs, improved convection roasting methods, and software program that reduces the training curve for much less skilled roasters. For espresso manufacturers, this implies sustaining constant high quality without having a devoted roasting web site, whereas additionally leaving room to extend output as demand grows.

Andrea Della Zoppa, Project Manager for Thermoplan, fills a bag with roasted coffee.

Why extra cafés are roasting their very own espresso

Roasting in-house allows a café to promote retail luggage and construct a model id that may’t be replicated by companies shopping for espresso from wholesale roasters.

The enterprise case for roasting in-house has grow to be more and more compelling. Espresso retailers that roast their very own beans obtain revenue margins of 8.79%, in comparison with 6.86% for non-roasting espresso retailers, in line with information from the SCA. The fee differential between inexperienced and roasted beans is a serious driver.

“A kilo of roasted espresso prices round 20 to 35 Swiss Francs (US$25.40 to US$44.50), whereas a kilo of inexperienced beans prices round 7 to 12 Swiss Francs (US$8.89 to US$15.25),” Andrea explains. “If you happen to roast round 5 kilos per day, it actually begins to repay, and if you happen to roast much more, you repay the machine sooner.”

Past value discount, in-house roasting additionally builds provide chain resilience. Inexperienced espresso costs reached their highest recorded ranges in early 2025, exceeding US$4.40/lb, and companies that rely solely on wholesale roasters are uncovered to these fluctuations. Roasting in-house offers operators extra management over sourcing selections, inventory ranges, and the flexibility to pivot when provide chains tighten.

Countertop roasters have been pivotal in making roasting accessible. Mikafi, now a part of Thermoplan’s bean-to-cup ecosystem, is 60cm deep and 50cm broad, making it appropriate for all normal café counter tops. The machine’s built-in exhaust air filtration system means no further air flow set up is required, making it viable for smaller areas.

Thermoplan will showcase Mikafi at World of Espresso Brussels from 25 to 27 June at sales space 6637, the place guests can expertise dwell roasting demonstrations alongside Thermoplan’s Black&White4 Competizione machines.

Green coffee in a Mikafi countertop roaster hopper.

What do espresso retailers have to know earlier than they begin roasting?

For a lot of operators contemplating in-house roasting, the priority is much less about value and extra about data. What do you truly have to know earlier than beginning?

One space companies are inclined to underestimate, in line with Andrea, is sourcing inexperienced espresso. “Everybody is aware of the place to get roasted espresso, however inexperienced espresso is historically bought in 60 to 70kg luggage by specialist importers, a procurement mannequin that may be inaccessible for brand spanking new entrants,” she says.

Andrea explains that Mikafi addresses this instantly by an built-in inexperienced espresso market, permitting operators to buy inexperienced espresso in versatile portions instantly through a portal.

Publish-roast stock administration is one other space value understanding earlier than beginning. “After each roast, it’s good to let the espresso sit for round seven to 10 days to degas,” Andrea explains.

Green coffee being roasted in a Mikafi machine.

Countertop machines provide help

Past these concerns, the machine itself should bear the burden of the training curve. Mikafi provides full flexibility: learners can begin with predefined roast profiles to attain constant outcomes, whereas skilled roasters can manually regulate all related variables, create their very own profiles, and experiment with flavour and roast degree.

In follow, this implies a barista with little expertise can load inexperienced espresso into the machine, choose a predefined recipe on the contact show, press play, and perform different duties whereas the machine heats, roasts, and cools the beans robotically. “The barista doesn’t want roasting data; they simply choose the predefined recipes,” Andrea says.

In the meantime, an skilled roaster can log in to the Mikafi portal to create customized profiles, regulate roasting curves, and save them to the machine for anybody to make use of.

The Mikafi portal extends help past the machine itself. The cloud-based platform permits operators to remotely entry all gadgets, handle roasting profiles throughout a number of areas, observe dwell roasting curves with real-time temperature information, and evaluation roast historical past.

This allows comparability of various profiles over time. For a espresso chain or multi-site hospitality group, this implies constant high quality could be maintained throughout each location from a single centralised platform.

A person pushes a button on a Mikafi countertop roaster.

In-house roasting is transferring from a distinct segment follow right into a mainstream enterprise technique. Margin stress, the demand for differentiation, and a rising shopper urge for food for contemporary, high quality espresso are all driving the shift.

Countertop roasters display that accessibility is central to supporting these efforts. The chance is now not restricted to established roasters, however extends to any café operator able to take step one.