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Coffee Processing Plants
Starch, Flour, Edible Oil & Food Processing

Coffee Processing Plants

A coffee processing plant takes green coffee and turns it into something a buyer can sell: cleaned and graded green beans, roasted whole beans or ground coffee in bags and pouches.

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Coffee Processing Plants

The feed is green coffee in sacks, washed or natural, and its moisture and defect level decide how it roasts and how long it keeps. A buyer has three things to settle first: whether the project is a green-bean dry mill, a roast-and-grind line or both, how many kilograms of green coffee must be handled each hour, and which roast range the market expects, from light filter roasts to dark espresso roasts. Those answers fix the roaster type, the size of the exhaust and afterburner, the cooling and grinding equipment and the pack format. Soluble and liquid coffee is a different plant, built around extractors and evaporators, and sits under coffee extraction and concentration.

Green coffee arrives with stones, sticks, broken beans and black or sour defects, and its moisture must be checked before it enters the plant. A cleaner with a destoner and a sorting stage remove foreign matter and defects. In a dry mill, a huller first strips the parchment or dried cherry husk from the bean, and a grader sorts by size and density. Roasting is the heart of a roast-and-grind plant: the beans are heated in a rotating drum or a stream of hot air until moisture leaves, the bean swells and its sugars and amino acids brown, which creates flavour and colour. Drum roasters are normally batch machines and give the roaster close control of the profile. Hot-air roasters suit continuous output at larger volumes. Roasting must stop at once, so a stirred cooling tray follows, with a cyclone to draw off the chaff, and the smoke goes to an exhaust, usually through an afterburner or catalytic unit. Roasted beans release carbon dioxide for days, and ground coffee releases it faster, so they rest before packing. Grinders use rollers or burrs, set to the grind the brewing method needs. Sealed bags with a one-way valve or a nitrogen flush protect the aroma.

Indicative Capacity Range

  • 100–3,000 kg coffee/day

Key Specification Inputs

Roast level, extraction ratio, aroma retention, concentrate solids.

Technical Specifications

TechnologyRoast-and-grind processing of green coffee, with an optional dry-mill stage for cleaning, hulling and grading ahead of the roaster
FeedWashed or natural green coffee in sacks or bulk, with moisture and defect level agreed at receiving
Roaster TypeRotating drum (batch) or hot-air (batch or continuous), chosen by volume and the profile control wanted
Heat SourceLPG or natural gas, diesel or electricity, chosen by local fuel cost and supply security
Roast ControlBean and exhaust temperature probes with profile logging, manual, semi-automatic or PLC-driven
Exhaust TreatmentChaff cyclone plus afterburner or catalytic unit for smoke, sized to the roaster
CoolingStirred cooling tray with air draw, sized so each batch is cool before the next is dropped
GrindingRoller or burr grinders, with the grind range set by the brewing methods sold
PackingWeigh-and-fill into bags or pouches, with one-way valve or nitrogen flush as the product needs
Contact MaterialFood-contact stainless steel in hoppers, chutes and packing parts
UtilitiesElectric power, roaster fuel, compressed air for pneumatics and packing, and building ventilation

Typical Process Route

1

Define Product, Origin and Throughput

Settle whether the plant mills green beans, roasts and grinds, or does both, how many kilograms of green coffee it must take each hour and which roast and grind range the market buys. This fixes the machine types and the size of exhaust and packing.

2

Receiving and Moisture Check

Each lot is sampled for moisture, defects and smell at the gate. Rewetted or musty lots are kept out of the roasting schedule, and accepted coffee goes to ventilated stores that keep moisture off the bags.

3

Cleaning, Destoning and Sorting

A cleaner, destoner and sorting table or colour sorter remove stones, sticks and defective beans. A stone in a roaster or grinder causes damage, and one black bean can taint the cup.

4

Hulling and Grading (Dry-Mill Option)

Parchment or dried cherry coffee goes through a huller to remove the husk, then a grader splits the beans by size and density. This step is left out when clean green beans are bought in.

5

Roasting

Beans are heated in a drum or hot-air roaster while the operator follows a roast profile of temperature against time, and the batch is dropped at the target colour. Chaff and oil make fire the main hazard, so burner and exhaust settings are watched closely.

6

Cooling and Chaff Removal

Hot beans drop into a stirred cooling tray where air draws heat away quickly and stops the roast. A cyclone collects the chaff, which is dry and flammable and must be emptied on a fixed routine.

7

Resting and Degassing

Roasted beans rest in bins or hoppers while they release carbon dioxide, before grinding and packing. The length of rest depends on the product and on the bag used.

8

Grinding

Roller or burr grinders are set to the grind for filter, espresso or local brewing methods. Grinding releases gases and fine dust, so the room needs its own extraction and sits apart from offices.

9

Packing

Ground or whole-bean coffee is weighed and filled into bags or pouches, sealed against air and moisture, with a one-way valve or nitrogen flush where the product calls for it.

Process & Equipment Modules

  • Green-coffee receiving hopper with sample point
  • Cleaner and destoner
  • Colour or density sorter
  • Huller and grader (dry-mill option)
  • Drum roaster or hot-air roaster
  • Stirred cooling tray
  • Chaff cyclone and afterburner
  • Resting bins or silos
  • Roller or burr grinder
  • Weigher and bag-filling machine
  • Control panel with roast-profile logging

Plant Output

Roasted whole-bean coffeeGround coffeeCleaned and graded green coffeeChaff and husk for fuel or compost

Applications

  • Roasted whole-bean coffee for retail bags, hotels and cafés
  • Ground coffee for filter, espresso and local brewing methods
  • Cleaned and graded green coffee sold on to other roasters
  • Single-origin lots for specialty cafés
  • Roast-and-grind blends for supermarket shelves
  • Contract and private-label roasting for other brands
  • Roasted beans as feed to a soluble coffee plant

Key Features

  • Roaster Matched to Volume

    A batch drum roaster gives close profile control at modest output, while a hot-air or continuous roaster suits larger, steadier volumes. The choice sets the rest of the line.

  • Exhaust and Chaff Handling

    A cyclone for chaff and an afterburner or catalytic unit for smoke are part of the roaster, not extras. Chaff and oil residue burn, so cleaning access matters.

  • Moisture Control Before the Roaster

    A moisture check at receiving and dry, ventilated stores keep rewetted coffee out of the line. Damp beans roast unevenly and can carry mould.

  • Separate Grinding and Packing Zones

    Grinding releases carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and aroma compounds. Extraction at the grinder, and walls between these rooms and the roaster hall and offices, keep exposure down.

  • Fuel Chosen Locally

    Gas, diesel and electric roasters all exist. Local fuel price and supply security often decide the heat source more than the roaster's list price.

  • Roast Records

    Bean and exhaust temperature probes with logged profiles let the same roast be repeated from batch to batch.

Country Pages for Coffee Processing Plants

This product is listed on the pages of the countries below, each with its own enquiry route. Where Kadali has no office in a country, enquiries are handled from the Accra office.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What information is needed to size Coffee Processing Plants?
Start with the kilograms of green coffee to be handled each hour and the hours the plant will run. Then state whether it mills green beans, roasts, grinds or does all three, whether the beans are washed, natural or still in parchment, their moisture on arrival, the roast and grind range and the pack formats. Roaster size follows batch weight and batches per hour, and grinding and packing are sized to what the roaster can deliver.
What capacity range does Coffee Processing Plants cover?
The indicative capacity range is 100–3,000 kg coffee/day. It is stated on a coffee basis per day, so restate your own volume on that basis and say how many hours a day the plant will run.
Should the roaster be a batch drum or a continuous machine?
A batch drum roaster gives the roaster close control of each profile and suits specialty and mixed-origin work at modest volume. A hot-air or continuous roaster suits one or two products run steadily at higher volume, where consistency matters more than flexibility. Batch size and batches per hour decide the matter, so the roaster is sized to the volume you need.
How does roast level change the plant?
A darker roast takes longer, makes more smoke and chaff, and brings oil to the bean surface, which coats chutes and grinders and needs more frequent cleaning. A light roast loses less mass but needs tighter control to avoid underdeveloped beans. If both are planned, the exhaust, afterburner and cleaning routine should be sized for the darkest roast.
Why does green coffee moisture matter before it reaches the plant?
Coffee that has been rewetted or stored damp is prone to mould and mycotoxin formation, and it roasts unevenly. Set a moisture limit at receiving, test each lot, and store sacks in a ventilated, dry building off the floor. Lots that have taken on moisture are better kept out of the roasting schedule than blended in.
Does grinding and packing need separate ventilation from the roaster?
Yes. Grinding roasted coffee increases the surface area for off-gassing, so it releases carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and volatile aroma compounds after the roaster. Extraction at the grinder and a separate, ventilated grinding and packing room are cheaper to build into the layout than to add afterwards.
What must the site provide for a roasting line?
A roaster needs a fuel supply or enough electric power, a stack that carries exhaust above the roofline, a floor with space around the machine for cleaning, and a cool, dry room for green and roasted coffee. Chaff and dust are a fire risk, so fire protection and a regular emptying routine belong in the building plan.
Can the same line make instant or liquid coffee?
No. Soluble and liquid coffee need extraction, concentration and drying, which is a different plant from roasting and grinding. Roasted coffee from this line can feed one, and the options are described under coffee extraction and concentration plants.
How do I request a proposal for Coffee Processing Plants?
Use the Request a Quote page and describe your project. Define the product (roasted beans, ground coffee or extract), the origin and volume of green coffee and the markets you will serve.

Enquire about Coffee Processing Plants

Send your raw material, target product and capacity to Kadali Africa Ventures for a technical proposal.

Request a QuoteWhatsApp