Roasters are companies such as Folgers, Starbucks, and Green Earth Coffee who import green coffee, roast it, and then sell it to the public.
The roasting process defines much of the flavor and aroma of coffee. Coffee is roasted in batch dryers which spin and heat the beans evenly at temperatures reaching 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Water boils off as the starches convert to sugars and caramelize. The coffee is roasted for a duration of between ten and fifteen minutes. A shorter duration results in a lighter roast, while a longer duration yields a darker French roast (or, longest of all, an espresso roast).
Although roasting is a pretty simple process, it is usually where most of the price markup occurs. Many roasters, for instance, will import green coffee at around $1.50 per pound, and then sell it to the consumer for $10 per pound or more. Green Earth Coffee, however, believes in spreading the profit margin back to the coffee growers and pickers who do the bulk of the work.
Photo at top was taken by Aaron Gustafson.
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