How to become a Coffee Roaster

Selects, blends and roasts coffee beans to ensure flavour consistency, quality and optimal roast levels to produce distinct coffee varieties.

Main tasks

• Inspects and sorts green coffee beans for roasting
• Loads green coffee beans into coffee roasting machinery and operates machinery, such as drum or air roasters and quenching equipment
• Monitors and adjusts temperature, time and airflow settings during the coffee bean roasting processes, including the cracking process, to ensure quality and efficiency
• Tests and checks roasted coffee beans for quality and flavour consistency
• Weighs and packs roasted coffee beans accurately, and keeps track of inventory to prepare for distribution

Ways in

• TAFE and VET: Certificate III in Food Processing (FBP30121); Certificate II in Food Processing (FBP20122)

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Typical full-time pay: $85,644 a year
• About 28,100 people work in this job group now, and about 28,900 are projected by 2035. (+2.8%)
• AI is more likely to help with parts of this job than to do it. Jobs and Skills Australia rates its automation exposure as low.

Related jobs

• Baking Factory Worker
• Brewery Worker
• Confectionery Maker
• Dairy Products Factory Worker
• Fruit and Vegetable Factory Worker
• Grain Mill Worker

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Coffee Roaster?

Ways in include: Certificate III in Food Processing; Certificate II in Food Processing.

How much does a Coffee Roaster earn in Australia?

Median full-time pay is $85,644 a year (Jobs and Skills Australia).

Is a Coffee Roaster a growing career in Australia?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 3% by 2035, from about 28,100 to about 28,900 people (Jobs and Skills Australia).

Do you need a degree to become a Coffee Roaster?

Usually not. Only 15% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Certificate III in Food Processing; Certificate II in Food Processing.

Will AI change the work of a Coffee Roaster?

AI is more likely to help with parts of this job than to do it. Jobs and Skills Australia rates its automation exposure as low.

Sources

• Jobs and Skills Australia: Occupation data (ANZSCO), from ABS Labour Force and Census (February 2026), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-04
• Jobs and Skills Australia: Generative AI Capacity Study, interactive table data (September 2025), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-04
• Jobs and Skills Australia: Employment Projections (Victoria University) (May 2025 to May 2035), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-04
• Australian Taxation Office: Taxation Statistics, Individuals Table 15A (2023-24), CC BY 2.5 AU, retrieved 2026-10-04

Updated 2026-10-04