A leader in pricing, strategy, and operations for specialty coffee roasters.
Rarely is it coffee that holds a roastery back. More often, it’s a lack of structure in three critical areas of the business.
People
Incredible coffee, top-of-the-line equipment, and beautiful branding without the right people to bring your vision to life leaves you running in place.
Process
Roasteries are both product companies and factories. Both need bulletproof processes to succeed in an incredibly competitive landscape.
Profit
The phrase, “The coffee business is tough,” is both common and a misunderstanding of the industry. In reality, our business is quite simple — it’s just tough without profit.
We developed the Core 7—a framework that helps roastery owners build smarter, more profitable businesses by focusing on People, Processes, and Profit. In the last 8+ years, it’s helped roasters double net profit, turn losses into gains, and make strategic business decisions.
The roasters who master the Core 7 don’t follow the pack—they lead it.
What’s It Like to Work With Pomelo
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The Pomelo Book is slated to be released this summer 2025!
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Industry Folks Are Saying
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With the coffee market in the midst of a seismic change this book is a must read for all coffee roastery owners!
Luke does a fantastic job in this book of providing business owners with the reality & resources for what it takes to run a sustainable coffee roastery. Whether or not you are just starting out or have been in the game for years this book provides you the framework to build, evaluate or evolve your coffee roasting business to survive in this new era for the coffee industry.
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Coffee roasting or any business, for that matter, can always be looked upon as a child and will always need great parenting, guidance, and TLC. This is such a great resource!
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Luke Waite has written a master class in operating a coffee roasting business. A must read for all specialty coffee professionals. He presents strategic theory as well as functional examples for coffee roasters to understand both what is important and why it is critical to manage. His use of real data examples will help personalize the information and contextualize it for your business allowing you to learn from others mistakes.
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It’s easy enough for a roaster to find great coffees, but building a sustainable business is a challenge for many. The Owner’s Manual cuts through the noise and gives real, practical advice on how to make a roastery work long-term without sacrificing quality or your core values. Luke's breakdown of pricing, sales, and process optimization is an incredible resource, and it’s refreshing to read a guide like this written specifically for coffee roasters. Even as I build my own business, this book has been a great reminder that sustainability is about creating the right structure to support your goals. If you want your roastery to thrive and need help putting the right systems in place, read this book!
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Roasting coffee is simple, but running a roastery? That’s where the real trip begins. Luke is candid, laying it all out for you—the tension, the grind, the beauty of crafting something built to last. This book is essential as it is uplifting.
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Too often, roasters trust their gut more than their calculators. Luke understands this and provides clear, practical guidance for running a successful roasting business.
This isn’t a book about roasting—you already know how to do that. It’s about building and sustaining a roasting company, with a sharp focus on sales and numbers. Through hands-on exercises, Luke helps you navigate the business side, knowing not every roaster has a formal education in it.
What Luke gets right: you are not alone. Roasting is a team effort—it’s about people, and it’s about you.
He doesn’t just give advice—he challenges you to think critically. Leave emotions at the door (hard, since we all love coffee). Drawing from other industries, Luke reminds us that while roasting is about coffee, it’s still a business.
Witty yet demanding, insightful yet practical, Luke pushes you to rethink your approach. By the end, you won’t just roast—you’ll run a thriving roastery.
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A timely work on key features of a sustainable and thriving roastery. This book fills the gap for roasters in need of a solid growth plan for their sales and operations.
Twice a year, we facilitate a 6 month owners-only cohort of 4-6 owners serving as a sanctuary for camaraderie, candid feedback, and personal and professional development.
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