RoastBase Walkthrough: From Green Purchase to Bag Margin
Use this guided example alongside your free trial. The numbers are illustrative, not customer results. The homepage dashboard image shows the product; this guide explains the records behind it.
Updated
1. Enter a green coffee purchase
Add a purchase with supplier, date, coffee name, lot code, received weight, and price per pound. For this example, receive 100 lb at a landed cost of $5 per pound. Keep freight in your landed cost so later pricing uses the complete acquisition cost.
2. Record a roasting batch
Record a roast using 10 lb from that lot and enter 8.5 lb of finished roasted coffee. Select the output product and record production labor and batch expenses where applicable. Complete the batch after weighing the finished coffee. The example leaves 90 lb of green coffee before other inventory movements.
3. Calculate roast loss and finished costs
The 1.5 lb weight difference is 15% roast loss and 85% yield. Divide $5 by 0.85 for $5.88 per roasted pound. A 12 oz bag uses 0.75 lb, or $4.41 of coffee. Add $0.90 for packaging and $0.80 for labor: $6.11 production cost per bag. These example figures exclude other batch costs.
4. Review the margin on a finished bag
At an $18 selling price, production gross profit is $11.89 per bag and production gross margin is 66.0%. After a 2.9% merchant fee, contribution profit is $11.37 and contribution margin is 63.1%. Use the free cost calculator to change these assumptions, then review your actual product costs and retail or wholesale prices in RoastBase.