In this episode of Coffee Think Tank, Luke Waite—founder of Pomelo Coffee Consulting and former operations and sales leader at Metric Coffee and Passion House—talks about what it actually takes to run a profitable coffee roastery in 2026.

Luke spent years on the inside of some of Chicago's most respected specialty roasters before launching Pomelo, where he helps roasters get a handle on their people, processes, and finances. He also just wrote The Owner's Manual, a practical guide to sustaining a coffee roaster.

In this conversation, we get into...

• Why roaster profitability is eroding and what the warning signs look like on your P&L
• What Luke considers the financial danger zone for roasters—and what to do if you're in it
• Why price increases are usually less painful than roasters expect, and how to communicate them well
• What it means to "build the sales car before you hire the driver"—and why most roasters do it backwards
• How coffee buyers have changed in the last few years, and what that means for your wholesale approach
• Luke's "Core 7" framework for building a healthy, stable, and profitable roastery
• A peek inside The Owner's Manual, Luke's new book on sustaining a coffee roaster

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction & The State of Roaster Profitability
• 02:05 The Goal of Becoming the First Michelin-Starred Cafe
• 07:10 What a Michelin-Starred Cafe Would Look Like Today
• 11:31 The State of Roaster Profitability Heading Into 2026
• 13:19 How to Know If You're in Financial Trouble
• 14:13 Luke's Consulting Framework: People, Process, and Profit
• 18:37 Why Roasters Are Afraid to Raise Prices
• 25:09 The Power of Relationships in Wholesale Sales
• 27:31 Advice for Medium and Large Roasters
• 29:27 Nurturing Wholesale Accounts Beyond the Transaction
• 31:46 The Owner's Manual: Luke's New Book
• 36:32 Why Roasters Sell Coffee at a Loss
• 40:44 Building a Wholesale Sales Program
• 45:58 How Coffee Buyers Have Changed
• 46:56 Building the Sales Car Before You Hire the Driver
• 53:54 Overcoming the Resistance to Sales and Marketing
• 57:25 Recommended Resources and Inspirations
• 1:03:55 What Luke Is Working On Next

Where to Find Luke Waite

• Pomelo Coffee Consulting website: pomelocoffeeconsulting.com
• The Owner's Manual (book): pomelocoffeeconsulting.com/book

Mentioned in the Episode

• Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland
• Lucia Solis (coffee fermentation and producer-side consultant)
• Metric Coffee (Chicago roaster, former employer)
• Passion House Coffee (Chicago roaster, former employer)
• Fresh Cup Roaster Link (wholesale matchmaking program for roasters and buyers)