Should roasters sell coffee equipment on their website?

Carefully sourced beans and innovative roast styles are often at the heart of what a roaster offers customers.

That said, offering customers who already purchase beans on your website an additional range of brewing equipment and accessories has its benefits.

Choosing to sell coffee equipment on your website can help customers gain a better understanding of not only your roast coffee, but also the specialty coffee industry.

More so, by selling equipment alongside roast coffee, you may be able to increase your income significantly without having to invest time in additional customer relationships.

Read on to discover the pros and cons of an extended product range and whether you should sell coffee equipment on your website.

An image of coffee equipment on display in a coffee shop, such as Chemex, V60, coffee grinder, in an article on whether roasters should sell coffee equipment on their website.

What kind of equipment can you offer customers?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the sales of coffee equipment such as espresso machines, French presses, and cold brew makers grew by double-digits in the year ending May 2021.

Additionally, coffee accessories, such as temperature-controlled mugs and milk frother wands, also experienced double-digit growth.

While the growth of at-home gourmet coffee preparation existed before 2020, it was further accelerated by the pandemic.

Therefore, it is clear coffee roasters can profit by offering consumers equipment options alongside the sale of roast beans.

Developing and refining the ecommerce side of a coffee roastery can often bring customers closer to your product by making it more accessible.

More so, offering customers suggestions on how to brew coffee can quickly add value to their purchase. Some roasters opt to custom-print brewing instructions on coffee bags but can take it a step further by duplicating this information across their website.

An image of a home coffee consumer brewing coffee at home using a Chemex in an article on whether roasters should sell coffee equipment on their website.

Furthermore, offering equipment you are familiar with will help when a customer has detailed questions about the brewing process.

One consideration to keep in mind is that the range of equipment must match the needs of all experience and interest levels.

This can help lower the possibility of alienating customers who are looking for something simple and easy to use.

For instance, one of the main challenges for those brewing coffee at home is access to grinders that are capable of producing the correct particle size for optimum brewing.

Providing information on what to look for when grinding coffee beans can benefit your customers, ensuring your coffee tastes as it should, regardless of how it is brewed.

Additionally, items such as a French press require a coarse grind size and minimal steps. Providing step-by-step instructions on your website could help several customers understand the method better.

Other brewers, such as the Clever Dripper and Aeropress, are also noted for their ease of use. However, they too will require a competent grinder to get the best brew.

Those with a more dedicated interest in brewing equipment may appreciate a recommendation for a pour-over brewer, such as a V60 or a Kalita.

An effective way to integrate equipment that caters to certain levels of interest on your website is to offer them in bundles.

Usually, specialty coffee bundles would comprise two or three coffees, each with distinctive properties such as roast profiles, tasting notes, or different origin countries. This allows the recipient to experiment and take note of what makes each coffee unique.

Roasters can also offer newcomers a cost-effective bundle to help them with at-home coffee brewing. Coupled with the coffee selection, these bundles can include a V60 and filter papers.

Alternatively, if roasters wish to offer a bundle at a higher price point, they could include a small coffee grinder, a French press, standard pour over equipment, or even a Chemex.

These bundles, or even individual equipment orders, can be packaged in custom-printed coffee boxes to help further increase brand recognition and loyalty.

An image of a multilayer LDPE coffee bag next to coffee scales and a coffee grinder with a goose neck kettle in an article on whether roasters should sell coffee equipment on their website.

How can equipment complement what a roaster has to offer?

Along with brewing equipment, offering additional kit items, such as scales, grinders, and filter papers, can provide customers with the option of levelling up their coffee set-up.

In turn, this may help raise a consumer’s perceived quality of your coffee offerings.

Specialty coffee often works within finer margins than most are familiar with when brewing coffee. For instance, an under-extracted cup may be enough to put someone off a light roast.

So, having easy-to-access educational content that lowers the risk of ruining a brew will help consumers better enjoy your beans.

Additionally, it may help you generate an authoritative voice as a roaster within the community.

That said, fully understanding the intricate details that professional baristas and roasters work with is unlikely to happen overnight. The skill set and knowledge base can take months to become comfortable with.

However, passing on your experience and brew recipes allows customers to match your style of coffee in the comfort of their own homes.

This can not only add value to your product but also put your company in first place as a one-stop shop when customers have further coffee needs.

An image of a V60 on coffee scales next to an aeropress in an article on whether roasters should sell coffee equipment on their website.

What are the pros and cons of selling coffee equipment to customers?

Deciding to expand your online product range to include coffee brewing equipment can seem like a risky venture, especially when you consider the initial financial investment.

That said, having options for customers to embrace new methods of brewing can help elevate the level of trust they have in you as a roaster, particularly when it is accompanied by educational content.

Becoming a “one-stop” shop makes it more likely for a customer to return to your website when needing anything coffee-related.

Even if they are running low on paper filters, impulse buys of your new or limited edition coffee offerings can lead to higher customer spending that helps the business grow.

As mentioned, one of the larger cons to introducing coffee equipment to your website is the initial investment needed for stock.

An image of a barista handling white multilayer LDPE coffee bags with degassing valves in an article on whether roasters should sell coffee equipment on your website.

However, with the right marketing, roasters can easily find success by selling coffee equipment on their website.

Custom-printing QR codes onto coffee bags can help inform customers about this additional offering, and provide instructions on how to get shopping.

At MTPak Coffee, we are able to custom-print QR codes onto sustainable coffee packaging, with a fast 40-hours turnaround time and 24-hours shipping.

Our QR codes can contain as much information as you require, and can be designed to fit seamlessly into the look of your custom-print coffee bags. Our design team is available to help you create the ideal coffee packaging.

Our line of coffee packaging options is made from renewable materials, such as compostable kraft paper, and rice paper, as well as multilayer LDPE coffee bags with an environmentally friendly PLA lining, all of which minimise waste and contribute to a circular economy.