Column: Building a Sustainable Career in Coffee Roasting
By Kat Melheim
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
This is the final installment in a five-part series that addresses common and serious dangers in the roastery environment, showcases stories of roasters who have navigated some of these situations, and provides practical tips and guidelines to encourage a safe working environment. The goal is to protect roasters’ health and prevent accidents by encouraging conversation about these topics. Prevention and mitigation methods are suggested, but this is not a comprehensive guide, nor does this series claim to provide advice to cover all situations that might occur in a roastery. Every roastery is distinct and dynamic, and prevention and mitigation must be adapted to fit the needs of your equipment, your staff and your overall goals. Roasting can be a long-term endeavor, but we must be careful and intentional to make it a sustained career.
Being a coffee roaster is more than just pushing buttons—it’s a labor of craft, care and consistency. It’s also physically and mentally demanding. Despite the passion many roasters bring to the job, longevity in the profession can be difficult to achieve. Roasters face many obstacles, from short-term risks like fires and accidents to long-term issues like respiratory illness, chronic injury and lack of professional development opportunities. These challenges can wear away at even the most dedicated professional if not acknowledged and addressed.
This final installment in my five-part series on roaster health and wellness brings together the roastery hazards discussed in previous articles in the series—fire risks, acute injuries, chronic strain and air quality issues—and zooms out to ask: What does it take to build a sustainable, fulfilling long-term career in roasting? In this piece, I will present critical factors for long-term roaster wellness, highlight mental and physical strategies for sustainability, and offer practical tools to support a thriving career. We will also hear from roasters who have experienced burnout—some who have left roasting altogether—as we aim to reimagine longevity in roasting.
THE REAL DEMANDS OF ROASTING
The romantic image of a roaster executing a perfectly controlled roast curve or spending hours on the cupping table hides the reality that many of us know: The job of a roaster can be boring at best and grueling at worst. Long shifts on concrete floors, repetitive movement, early and long hours, exposure to heat and dust, and pressure to maintain output and consistency can wear down even passionate roasters. Patrick Maloney, a Loring technician, roaster and consultant with 21 years in the industry, says, “The thing I found about roasting is that it’s not nearly as glamorous as people think. You realize pretty quickly that it’s a grind. It’s day after day, showing up and standing in front of that machine. It’s hard.”
For many roasters, a majority of the day is spent in relative isolation with minimal interaction with other team members. This can lead to loneliness and boredom, especially over years or decades. Additionally, many roasteries have only one person working as a roaster. The pressure to show up to work every day is immense, whether you’re sick or just want to take a vacation.
The expectations of modern specialty coffee—high volume, data precision, continuous quality control—can lead to mental fatigue as well. While many roasters thrive on this challenge, without proper balance and support, the demands of the job can build up over time and lead to an unsustainable workload.
FACTORS FOR ROASTER WELLNESS
True longevity as a roaster doesn’t just happen. It’s built over time through consistent habits, supportive systems and a workplace culture that values health. Writing this series and speaking with roasters has led me to discover important factors that impact a roaster’s sense of well-being. Summarized here, they offer a framework for creating long-term sustainability as a roaster:
Physical Health
Maintaining physical health is important in any job, but especially so for a physical job like roasting. Daily physical risks can impact a roaster’s ability to continue their work for moments (addressing a minor cut or burn) to weeks (recovering from a hernia from lifting a coffee bag the wrong way) to years (losing a limb from a cooling tray incident) to a lifetime (developing respiratory illness). Even just the ongoing physical toll of the work (lifting green coffee bags, reaching, twisting, staring at a screen, and standing in one place for hours) can cause issues if posture, movement, ergonomics and recovery aren’t considered. And we cannot forget that roasteries are full of green coffee dust, smoke, mold spores and other airborne particulates that can accumulate and contribute to long-term respiratory issues.
Liz Armanini was the head roaster at Birch Coffee in New York City and Stauf’s Coffee in Columbus, Ohio, before leaving the industry a few years ago. “The main thing that led to burnout was the truly unending physicality of the job,” she says. “I absolutely loved it, but it was so hard on my body, both the lifting of the green and blending big batches of coffee. Plus, I developed an allergy to chaff that I just couldn’t get over. I was literally struggling to maintain equilibrium every day.”
As detailed in the previous articles in this series, a focus on physical health—recognizing and avoiding hazards as well as encouraging and cultivating a culture focused on long-term wellness—is a crucial first step in making roasting a sustainable career. Small adjustments such as identifying risks, getting anti-fatigue mats, lifting with proper form, alternating tasks throughout the day, and even practicing short stretching routines can make a major difference over time. Hydration, rest days and recognizing early signs of strain are crucial, as is proactive air quality monitoring, fire prevention and consistent use of personal protective equipment.
Mental Health
Roasting can be isolating, stressful and physically draining. The signs of emotional exhaustion, including irritability and decreased motivation or disengagement, often appear gradually. Burnout is a key threat to career longevity, and it doesn’t discriminate. Regular breaks, mental health check-ins, open conversations with teammates or managers, and setting boundaries around work tasks and hours can all help. Creative breaks—like cupping new origins, working a cafe shift or exploring green sourcing—can rekindle engagement.
Workplace Culture
Healthy work environments don’t just happen. They’re built with intention and reinforced by the daily actions of roasters, managers and owners. In a busy workplace like a roastery, a culture that truly centers safety and wellness isn’t just a nice idea; it’s the key to keeping people safe. Preventing accidents and reducing or eliminating injuries only happens when the entire team is on board and supported from the top down.
A positive roastery culture recognizes that it’s not just about hitting production targets or chasing efficiency. It’s about sustaining the people who make that production possible. When managers prioritize ergonomic tools, up-to-date safety protocols and reasonable workloads, they’re showing that the team’s health is as important as the coffee itself.
Honesty and accountability should be the baseline. Roasters must have space to share concerns about equipment, workloads or injuries, and leadership must take those concerns seriously. A safe and supportive workplace means that roasters aren’t left on their own or required to work beyond their limits. When managers and team leads cultivate an environment where safety, wellness and mutual respect are standard practice, they lay the foundation for a quality workplace and a sustainable career.
Professional Development
A long-lasting career should grow with the person doing the work. When roasters are encouraged to learn and evolve—into trainers, quality control leads, green buyers or educators, for example—they are more likely to stay engaged and inspired. Of course, it depends on the person. Some roasters are happy to work in production for their entire career, so professional development can look different for each person.
Employers can support growth through cross-training, mentorship, leadership opportunities and transparency about career pathways. Roasters can advocate for their own growth by seeking education, asking for feedback and planning out what they want to do next, whether that’s going on a trip to origin, learning or developing a new skill, moving into a new role, or something else entirely.
Compensation and Security
Fair pay, paid time off, family leave and access to affordable healthcare are unfortunately hard to come by in the specialty coffee world, but shouldn’t these become more common, and even expected?
“Money isn’t everything,” Maloney says, “but if you know you are rewarded for your efforts through profit-sharing, bonuses, cost of living increases—things that other industries do as standard practices—these are some basic things companies could do to reward and incentivize people to stay.”
A roaster shouldn’t have to choose between staying employed and living a comfortable life. Workplaces that support long careers make room for life—including rest, recovery, family needs and financial stability.
PREVENTING AND ADDRESSING BURNOUT
While often overlooked in the coffee industry, burnout deserves particular attention as it is a driving force behind roaster turnover. In any field, burnout can look like exhaustion, cynicism, apathy, reduced performance, self-doubt or numerous other symptoms. For roasters, burnout might look like disinterest in the job, dissatisfaction with work that used to feel fulfilling, feeling like your work is unimportant, disengaging from coworkers, or other ways of “checking out” mentally. I asked former and current roasters who said they had experienced burnout what led to it and the most frequent answers I heard were:
Continuous high production/output without rest or recovery time, especially around the holidays.
High stress and responsibility; this is especially true when there are too few employees trained in roasting, so it all falls to one person or small team.
Repetitive tasks with little variation.
Lack of recognition, agency or creativity; a focus on production only.
Poor communication and unclear expectations from managers or owners.
Burnout can show up in physical ways such as fatigue or headaches; in emotional ways such as apathy or irritability; and in performance-based issues such as frequent mistakes, skipping quality steps, etc. After a decade as a roaster, Maloney knew he needed a change when he started feeling trapped in his job. He was roasting until midnight some days just to keep up with production, plus putting in hours as the green buyer and the salesperson. “In my particular situation, part of my burnout was the sense of responsibility I had about selling the coffee,” he says. “I did everything. I had to source, I had to roast, and then I had to sell. It was like an all-in-one resentment I started to feel when I would stand in front of the roaster, not because I stopped loving the coffee, but because of everything else I had to do.”
Addressing burnout takes a combination of personal reflection and systemic change. First, recognize burnout is happening. Then address the symptoms, change behaviors and tackle the root causes. Building variety into the workday or workweek, establishing a workload that doesn’t perpetuate undue stress, providing opportunities for growth, and fostering trust and connection among team members are strategies that can change the working climate to prevent burnout.
For roasters who might be facing burnout, recovery may require a reset in the form of a short break, professional support or even a new role.
It’s important to note that burnout often goes hand-in-hand with other mental health struggles like anxiety and depression. If you find yourself feeling persistently overwhelmed, stressed and exhausted, please remember you are not alone. Seeking professional help from a mental health counselor, therapist or trusted medical professional can be a critical step in addressing these challenges. Your job and workplace should never come at the cost of your overall well-being.
ADVICE FROM THE FIELD
Roasting is demanding work, and those who’ve been in the profession have learned to navigate its challenges with intention and adaptability. I asked experienced roasters how they recommend maintaining not just physical endurance but a mindset that can make longevity possible. Their advice reveals a common theme: You have to take care of yourself, advocate for what you need and never stop evolving.
For Armanini, setting yourself up for success early is crucial. She encourages roasters to “advocate for yourself early and often. If you feel a part of your body failing, bring it up and mitigate it. Don’t take on more than you can handle, and don’t sell your body as collateral. It’s a super physical job and that means you need to take care of yourself to do it for a long time.”
Maloney adds, “My No. 1 piece of advice to people is, don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself in the coffee world. I’ve done it five or six times in my roasting career. Going to trade shows every year was critical so I wasn’t stuck inside the same four walls all the time. The ability to go to origin also kept me excited about staying in the industry. You have to advocate for yourself. You can’t just sit back and think the owner of a company is going to think of these things for you.”
These and other long-time roasters reveal a consistent truth: Longevity isn’t about pushing through pain or tolerating unsafe conditions. It’s about finding rhythms, roles, support and systems that let you keep doing what you love.
BUILDING SYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT LONG CAREERS
Employers, managers and team leads play a crucial role in fostering sustainable roastery environments. Beyond safety and compliance, true wellness involves intentional design. That can look different for every roastery, but it might include:
Job rotation to reduce repetitive strain, both physically and mentally.
Flexible scheduling and cross-training that allows for breaks—and even some vacation time.
Investments in air quality to keep staff breathing easy.
Regular performance check-ins focused on growth and professional development, not just output.
Celebrating milestones and progress to reinforce value.
There is no downside to investing time and energy toward keeping roastery staff healthy and happy. By designing workplaces with longevity in mind, businesses benefit from lower turnover, higher morale and better-quality coffee.
A BETTER WAY FORWARD
Building a long-lasting roasting career doesn’t happen by chance. It takes awareness, planning and systems that center human health. Wellness in roasting is more than the absence of injury. It’s the presence of engaging work, balanced tasks and the opportunity to grow.
A sustainable career doesn’t mean you never get tired, bored or frustrated. No job is perfect. But it does mean having the resources and support to face challenges head-on, and the space to advocate for what you need. It means being fully aware of the risks of roasting while taking steps to mitigate them and build a sustainable path forward.
As we close this series, one thing is certain: Coffee roasting demands not only skill but the prioritization of health, both physical and mental, and a focus on nurturing a sustainable career. It means being honest about the risks and knowing how to protect ourselves, but it also means holding our workplaces accountable for creating an environment that makes a long career in coffee possible. That’s the foundation we must build for the coffee roasting industry as we go forward.
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KAT MELHEIM is a coffee roaster, writer, educator and creative force. Known as @RoasterKat on Instagram and YouTube, she shares her passion for coffee through engaging content that covers everything from origin adventures and behind-the-scenes roastery insights to practical tips and tools for roasters. Melheim is the founder of Coffee People Zine (2018–2024), an art magazine that celebrates the creativity within the coffee community. She now brings her expertise to Algrano, where she serves as the marketing and social media manager.
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