By Brooke Clay
FAPC Communications Graduate Assistant

(Stillwater, Okla. – Oct. 27, 2009)U.S. Roaster Corp./Roasters Exchange in Oklahoma City is developing a revolutionary new coffee bean roaster, The Revelation, that is not only energy efficient and produces far less air emissions compared to existing units, but it also produces beans that have the potential to be nationally competitive at providing better flavor then other roasters on the market.

Awarded a $209,833 matching grant from the Oklahoma Applied Research Support Program within the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Roasters Exchange will work with Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center to make slight design modifications and verify energy and pollution efficiency claims. The total project budget for the two-year grant, including contributions from the corporate sponsor, is $422,233.

“Roasters Exchange is thoroughly committed to the continued development and production of the Revelation Coffee Roaster,” said Dan Jolliff, Roasters Exchange president. “We began development and production of the Revelation Roaster in 2006 to meet demands of energy efficiency while maintaining quality.”

Dr. Tim Bowser, FAPC food process engineer, will lead project research and technical components.

“We expect that the same technologies that make the High E Revelation coffee roaster successful may be applied to other food and agricultural products that are roasted, such as coco beans, macadamias, peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, soybeans, and wood chips.” Bowser said. “Roasters Exchange is committed to continuous improvement of their products and to expanding their markets.”

Andrew Brown, OSU biosystems and agricultural engineering graduate student, also will work on the project as part of his graduate program. Brown will analyze The Revelation coffee roaster and test the efficiency of the system.

This grant will allow Roasters Exchange and FAPC develop a high-efficiency coffee roaster that will appeal to national and international markets and will result in new jobs and new revenue sources for Oklahoma.

“We estimate that the U.S. alone has installed 2,000 – 4,000 small batch roasters, and we expect 500 of these to be replaced with Revelation Models resulting in $30,000,000 increased sales,” Jolliff said. “A smaller amount of large batch roasters are installed in the U.S., which we estimate at 700 units. Half of these would be replaced in 5-10 years with the average sale per replacement unit at $500,000. This alone could be $175,000,000 in additional sales.”

For more information about Roasters Exchange, visit www.usroastercorp.com.

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Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.

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