Bellwether Coffee

Bellwether Coffee is an American coffee-equipment company based in Berkeley, California, that designs and manufactures all-electric, ventless commercial coffee roasters. The company sells its roasters and operates a digital green-coffee marketplace. Bellwether’s first model was released in 2018, followed by the Series 2 in 2022 and the smaller Shop Roaster in 2024.

History

Bellwether Coffee was founded in 2013 in Berkeley, California, by Ricardo Lopez. In 2018, the company previewed its first electric, ventless coffee roaster and began offering it for commercial availability later that year.

Bellwether announced its Series 2 model in February 2022 and, in 2024, introduced the smaller Shop Roaster aimed at countertop installation in cafes and other retail settings. The company expanded distribution in North America and reported deployments in additional markets, including Japan and Europe.

In February 2025, Bellwether said it had tripled its customer base within nine months of the Shop Roaster launch, expanding to 12 countries across three continents and 20 U.S. states. Later reporting stated that Bellwether machines were operating in approximately 40 U.S. states and in more than a dozen countries.

Products

Technology

Bellwether’s roasting platform centers on an all-electric, ventless machine that uses a “closed-loop” heat system. The company designed it for in-shop coffee roasting without gas lines or external ventilation. It can be paired with Bellwether software that automates roast profiles, tracks inventory, and connects to a company-run green coffee sourcing program.

Original model (2018)

The first Bellwether roaster was released in 2018. The model integrated a tablet interface with roasting software and access to a green‑coffee marketplace. It handled batches of about 2–7 pounds.

Series 2 (2022)

Introduced in 2022, the Series 2 model updated the original model with a 24-inch touchscreen, an improved armless cooling tray, and new roasting software while retaining an all-electric, ventless design. The model was manufactured in Berkeley and could roast roughly 6 pounds of coffee beans per batch, or about 3–4 batches per hour, depending on roasting profile.

Shop Roaster (2024)

In 2024, Bellwether introduced the Shop Roaster, a smaller-footprint electric and ventless coffee roasting machine. The Shop Roaster is a countertop unit measuring roughly 25 inches wide, 28.5 inches tall, and 27.5 inches deep. It operates on a 30-amp circuit, featuring a 3.3-pound batch capacity and an optional continuous-roasting kit that converts it for floor use. The standard Shop Roaster configuration can meet an estimated demand of 100 pounds per week, while the continuous-roasting upgrade supports an estimated 400 pounds per week and includes a mode that enables 44 pounds in a single extended operation, consisting of about 13 roast cycles.

Operations

Bellwether Coffee sells its ventless, electric roasting systems. As of June 2025, the company had about 50 employees.

In 2019, Bellwether sold its original model roasters for $75,000, with marketplace access likewise included. In a 2025 interview with the San Francisco Business Times, Bellwether’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ricardo Lopez stated that the company’s third-generation Shop Roaster, launched in 2024, was offered at a lower price than the original model. In the same interview, Lopez stated that Bellwether operates a “living income pricing” program, under which the company collaborates with green coffee bean farmers to determine the cost of living and production costs, and then pays above those figures.

The company’s green-coffee marketplace enables retailers to source beans directly, offering tools to filter coffees by attributes such as farm location, organic certification, and women-owned farms, as well as an option for direct tipping to farmers.

Public programs

In July 2023, the California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded Red Bay Coffee and Heirloom Coffee Roasters approximately $1.8 million through its Food Production Investment Program to fund the deployment of 24 electric Bellwether Coffee roasters in Oakland, California.

Collaborations and deployments

In September 2023, Bellwether announced its entry into Japan and appointed Woody Deguchi as vice president of international development; its first installation in the country was at MUJI’s Grand Front Osaka flagship store.

Bellwether expanded into Europe in December 2023 through a collaboration with London-based chain Hagen, installing its first European roaster.

In June 2025, Bellwether, along with James Hoffman’s London-based Square Mile Coffee Roasters, debuted a Burundi coffee called “Heza Hills” at the World of Coffee Geneva event, with a broader release scheduled for July 2, 2025.

Media coverage has cited Precipice Coffee in Ellsworth, Maine, as one example of a U.S. shop operating an all-electric, ventless Bellwether roaster integrated with a clean-energy system.

Awards

At the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston on April 13, 2019, hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), Bellwether’s original model roaster received the Best New Product award in the “Commercial Coffee or Tea Preparation and Serving Equipment” category, and the company’s exhibit received the “Best Booth – Inline” award.

At World of Coffee Copenhagen on June 27, 2024, also hosted by the SCA, Bellwether’s Shop Roaster won Best New Product in the “Commercial Coffee Preparation & Serving Equipment” category.

Reception

Coverage of electrification in commercial kitchens has cited Bellwether’s roasters as an example of lower-emissions equipment. Axios reported the company’s claims that replacing gas-powered roasting with Bellwether’s system can reduce on-site roasting emissions by about 87 percent and lower roasting-related operating costs for shop owners.