Updated 29 September 2026 · Science Brewing, Halmstad
Selling your own coffee in bags: buy ready-made or roast it yourself?
Short answer: Your guest is not buying a bag of coffee. They are buying proof that the café they just sat in is the real thing, and they want to take it home. Ready-made bags with your logo give them the packaging but not the proof. They are stock: roasted somewhere else, at some point. Roast it yourself and you print the roast date, roast what sells and let the guest see and smell that it happens on your premises. The saving on the coffee you brew pays for the machine. The bags are the reason to do it.
The key points in 30 seconds
- Your name can go on the bag whoever roasts the coffee. The difference does not show on the bag. It shows in the café.
- A bought-in bag says “our brand”. A bag you roasted says “roasted here on Tuesday”. Only the second can be checked.
- Bought-in bags tie up money in a minimum order and age on the shelf. Roasting your own ties up money in green coffee, which keeps.
- Seven ways to sell more bags are listed below. Four of them work whoever roasts.
- If you sell few bags and do not plan to push it: buy ready-made. That is the right choice.
Your guest buys proof, not a bag
Every bag sold at your till has passed four questions in the guest’s head. Nobody asks them out loud. Everybody asks them.
| The guest’s question | Ready-made bags with your logo | Roasting your own |
|---|---|---|
| Does it taste like what I just drank? | If you brew the same coffee, yes | Yes, it is the same batches |
| Can I trust that it is fresh? | You can say so. You cannot show it | Roast date on the bag, and “Roasted here” |
| How long ago was it roasted? | Neither you nor the guest knows without asking the roastery | You know. It is on the bag |
| Is this something I can only get here? | No. The same coffee may be sold by others under other names | Yes. Nobody who buys in their coffee can write “Roasted here” |
Both pass the first question. The other three decide whether the guest takes the bag or just thinks they ought to.
Two words nobody can take from you
Roasted here.
Those words are either true or not. A café that buys bags with its logo can put its name on the bag. It cannot write that the coffee was roasted there.
A bakery that bakes its own bread and roasts its own coffee does something few do. A bakery that buys in coffee with its logo does something anyone can do. The same goes for the restaurant that already makes everything from scratch, except the coffee.
The machine does not even have to be seen. It can stand in the kitchen. The claim on the bag is enough, as long as it is true.
The difference does not show on the bag
EU labelling rules require the name and address of the business under whose name the coffee is sold. That can be your café. The roastery does not have to appear.
So you can already have your own coffee brand without roasting. That is what white label sells, and it works.
But your name is on someone else’s coffee. The roastery decides which coffee, how it is roasted and when. If they change green coffee, the taste in your bag changes. If they drop a coffee, so do you.
White label is the roastery’s regular coffee with your label. Private label is coffee developed for you, usually exclusively. Either way someone else roasts, and you carry the stock of finished bags.
Stock or production
Freshness you can show. A large roastery roasts, packs and ships in rounds. The bag then sits in their warehouse, in transit and on your shelf. Most roasteries reckon coffee is at its best from a few days to a few weeks after roasting. Roast your own and you print the roast date on the front. It is the strongest selling point a bag of coffee can have, and it costs nothing.
No stock that ages. Printed bags are often bought in a minimum order. If they sell worse than expected, they stay, and the money stays with them. Roast your own and your stock is green coffee, which keeps much longer than roasted. You roast what sells, at the pace it sells.
A coffee only you have. The coffee your neighbour sells under their name may be the same as yours. Roast your own and you choose the green coffee and the profile. Then the coffee in the bag exists only with you.
Three numbers to find before you decide
You do not need averages from us. You need three numbers from your own books.
1. What you make per bag today.
Selling price excluding VAT − what you pay per bag, including label and shipping.
2. What you would make per bag if you roasted.
Selling price excluding VAT − (bag weight × 1.2 × your price per kilo of green coffee) − bag − label.
1.2 because coffee loses about 16 percent of its weight in roasting. A 250 gram bag takes about 300 grams of green coffee, a 500 gram bag about 600.
3. How many bags you sell a month. A cautious number. Not a hopeful one.
The difference between numbers 1 and 2, times number 3, is what the bags contribute. Add the difference on the coffee you brew. That is what has to pay for the machine and your time. Work out your volume if you do not know how many kilos it comes to.
If the sums only work with the hopeful number: buy ready-made for a while longer and sell more bags first. Then you know what you are calculating on.
Seven ways to sell more bags
The first four work whoever roasts. Start there, even if you never buy a machine.
- Bags at the till, not on a shelf behind it. Guests buy what they are standing next to when they pay.
- The same coffee in the cup as in the bag, and say so. “What you are drinking comes in a bag” is one sentence, and it sells more than a sign.
- One sentence from the barista. Write it. Practise it. The same sentence every time.
- Grind for the guest. Someone without a grinder at home will not buy whole beans. Ask how they brew.
- “Roasted here” and the roast date on the front. Needs your own roasting. A best-before date far in the future says nothing. “Roasted here on Tuesday” says it all.
- Roast when the café is busy. Needs your own roasting. When the batch is done, the café smells of fresh roast. The barista only has to point at the machine.
- A new coffee in a small batch. Needs your own roasting. “New this week, only twenty bags” sells out. That does not work with a minimum order from a roastery.
The last three are the difference between selling a bag and selling the café in a bag.
Five questions for your roastery
Ask them whatever you choose. The answers make the comparison concrete.
- Is there a roast date on the bag, or only a best-before date?
- How long is it from roasting to delivery?
- What is the minimum order for bags with our label?
- Do you sell the same coffee to others under other names?
- What do we pay per bag, including label and shipping, at the volume we actually sell?
Good answers to all five: your ready-made bags are a good choice. Unsure about two or more: work out the alternative.
What it takes to roast your own
This stops more people than the price.
- Tell your food authority. Starting to roast and pack is a change to your food business, and in the EU and the UK such changes have to be reported to the competent authority.
- Your food safety plan is updated with roasting and packing. We have written a food safety plan template for coffee roasteries, in Swedish. You get it with the premises test, free of charge.
- You are responsible for the labelling. Coffee does not need a nutrition declaration.
- EUDR, the EU rules on deforestation-free commodities, applies to coffee from December 2026 for larger companies and June 2027 for smaller ones. If you buy green coffee within the EU, your obligations are simplified.
- A few weeks of running in before the coffee tastes the way you want.
- Your premises decide which machine is even possible. What your premises must handle.
None of it is difficult. But it is work a roastery does for you today.
When ready-made bags are the right choice
- You sell few bags and do not plan to push it.
- You do not want the roasting to be visible in the café.
- You do not have time for running in right now.
- Your volume is too small for a machine to pay for itself. Work it out.
- Your roastery answers the five questions well.
It is better to sell a good roastery’s bags than to roast your own half-heartedly.
What it looks like with a machine on its own 10 A circuit
We build the Science Brewing Roaster, a coffee roaster for cafés, restaurants and hotels that want to roast where their guests are.
| What sells the bag | How it works with our machine |
|---|---|
| Roast date on the front | You roast when you like, 1 kilo per batch. The smallest batch you can run is 500 grams |
| A new coffee in a small batch | Roast 500 grams, see if it sells, roast more. There are ready-made roast profiles for coffee from our partner roasteries |
| The guest sees it happens on your premises | The machine stands on the counter. When the batch is done it smells of fresh roast, and the exhaust shows as a plume of water vapour |
| Your premises | 230 V on a dedicated 10 A circuit. No chimney, because the smoke is cleaned inside the machine without an afterburner. All requirements |
| The work | Fill it and start it. The machine finishes, cools and empties the batch itself. You can start it from the app |
| Food safety | A food safety plan template for coffee roasteries, written for Swedish conditions and in Swedish. You get it with the premises test |
We plan on 4 kg of green coffee an hour. Work out your volume.
Compare with other machines: Bellwether · Roest · Aillio Bullet · electric or gas roaster
Two ways to go further
1. Book a review, 15 minutes
Bring an invoice from your roastery. We work out your three numbers together, go through what your premises can handle and tell you straight if your ready-made bags are the better choice.
2. Check your room first
Take the premises test and reply to the email with a photo of your fuse box. We will tell you what your circuit can handle. It costs nothing.
This is not for you if
- You sell no bags and do not plan to start
- Your brewing equipment is on loan from your coffee supplier against volume
- You pay less than about €14 per kilo for your coffee today
- You need wholesale volumes from a single machine
- You have no stable connection where the machine will stand
Frequently asked questions
How do you sell coffee in bags in a café?
Put the bags at the till, brew the same coffee you sell in bags and say so, and give the barista a ready sentence. Grind for anyone without a grinder. If you roast your own: roast date on the front, and roast when the café is busy.
What is white label coffee?
Coffee that a roastery roasts and packs and that is sold under your name. Usually the roastery’s regular coffee with your label, so the same coffee may be sold by others under other names.
What is the difference between white label and private label?
With white label you choose from the roastery’s range. With private label the coffee is developed for you, usually exclusively. Either way someone else roasts and you carry the stock of finished bags.
Does the roastery have to be on the bag?
Not under EU rules. The bag has to give the name and address of the business that sells the coffee under its name. That can be your café.
What has to be on a bag of coffee?
Among other things the name of the food, net weight, best-before date and the name and address of whoever sells the coffee. Coffee is exempt from the nutrition declaration requirement. The roast date is optional, but it is what the guest looks for.
Does it pay to roast your own instead of buying ready-made bags?
Find three numbers: what you make per bag today, what you would make if you roasted, and how many bags you sell. Add the difference on the coffee you brew. If it only works with a hopeful number of bags, buy ready-made for a while longer.
Do I need to tell the authorities if I start roasting?
Yes. Starting to roast and pack is a change to the business that has to be reported to your food authority. Your food safety plan also has to be updated.
How much green coffee goes into a bag?
About 1.2 times the bag’s weight. A 250 gram bag takes about 300 grams of green coffee, a 500 gram bag about 600. Coffee loses about 16 percent of its weight in roasting.
Can I start with ready-made bags and switch later?
Yes, and it is often wise. Then you know how many bags you sell before you work out the numbers for a machine. Sell through the minimum order first.
Who we are
Science Brewing exists to do away with bad coffee. We sell green coffee, build the Science Brewing Roaster coffee roaster and a grinder for whole beans. We roast our own production on the machine described on this page, in Halmstad, Sweden.