Coffee Roastery Production Day Checklist

Specialty roasters have grown from back-of-café setups into wholesale operations supplying cafés, offices and subscribers. As volume grows, consistency becomes the product: the same coffee should taste the same in March as in October. That depends on documented roast profiles, batch logs and quality checks. Roasting also involves heat, gas and combustible chaff, so safety routines matter just as much.

Before Roasting

• Review the day's production plan and open orders
• Check green coffee stock and pull the right lots
• Inspect the roaster: chaff collector emptied, exhaust clear, cooling tray clean
• Check gas supply and ventilation
• Confirm a fire extinguisher suitable for the roaster is in place
• Warm up the roaster according to the manufacturer

Fire Safety

Roaster fires are a well-known risk, usually from chaff build-up in the chaff collector, exhaust ducting or cooling tray. Industry insurers and roaster manufacturers recommend regular cleaning schedules for these parts, and the National Fire Protection Association publishes general guidance on fire safety for commercial cooking and ventilation that many roasters use as a reference.

• Empty the chaff collector at the frequency your roaster requires
• Clean exhaust ducting on schedule and log it
• Never leave the roaster unattended during a roast
• Know the emergency shut-off and the fire procedure

During Roasting

• Use the approved roast profile for each coffee
• Record batch details: coffee, lot, green weight, roasted weight, start and end time, roast notes
• Check colour or roast degree against the target
• Note any deviations and why

Quality Control

• Cup or taste a sample of each batch or each day's production
• Compare against the reference for that coffee
• Record results and flag batches that do not meet standard
• Hold flagged batches until a decision is made

Packing

• Allow beans to rest according to your degassing policy
• Pack into bags with valves where used
• Label each bag with coffee name, roast date and batch number
• Weigh bags to confirm net weight
• Seal and check seals

Labelling requirements for packaged food vary by country. In the US, net weight and manufacturer details are among the FDA's food labelling requirements; check what applies to your products.

Orders and Shipping

• Match packed coffee to orders
• Print shipping labels and packing slips
• Pack wholesale orders with invoices
• Hand over to couriers and record tracking numbers

End of Day

• Cool down and shut down the roaster according to the manufacturer
• Empty and clean the chaff collector
• Clean the production area and sweep floors
• Update green coffee inventory
• Log any maintenance issues

Traceability Is a Selling Point

Wholesale customers increasingly ask where coffee comes from and when it was roasted. A batch number on every bag that links back to a roast log and green coffee lot makes those answers easy, and makes recalls manageable if something goes wrong. See ensuring quality every time.

How MyTeamTasks Helps

In MyTeamTasks, the production day can be a checklist with text tasks for batch logs and cupping notes, and recurring safety tasks for chaff and duct cleaning. Every entry is timestamped, so when a café asks about a batch or an insurer asks about cleaning, the record is ready.