Coffee roaster and producer in Morocco: how coffee is made, from green bean to delivered bag

What does a coffee roaster and producer in Morocco do?

A coffee roaster and producer buys green coffee, roasts, blends, packs and delivers it, under its own brand or a client's brand. Morocco is not a coffee-growing country: every bean is imported from producing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, so quality is won or lost in the roastery, not on the farm. A "coffee factory" or "coffee manufacturer" in Morocco is usually a roaster with industrial packing lines.

Espresso Factory SARL AU runs a coffee roasting plant at Lot 114, Zone Industrielle Saknia, Kénitra, about 40 km north of Rabat. It roasts, blends, grinds or keeps whole beans and packs coffee, makes chocolate powder, and refurbishes and maintains professional espresso machines. Its coffee goes to cafés, hotels and restaurants, to its own coffee shops in Kénitra, Rabat and Marrakech, online and to export, and it also packs coffee under other companies' brands. This guide follows a lot through the plant, then gives a checklist to evaluate any roaster in Morocco, including us.

What are the seven production steps in a coffee roastery?

At Espresso Factory, coffee moves through seven steps in a fixed order: reception, weighing, roasting, blending, packing, palletising and delivery. Each step has its own control, so a problem is stopped where it appears.

1. Green coffee reception and quarantine

Each lot of green coffee is received, identified and placed in quarantine until quality control releases it. A serious roaster checks that the documents match the lot, that bags are intact and dry, that the beans smell normal, with no mould, insects or foreign matter, and that moisture and defects meet the purchase specification. Many also roast and cup a sample. Why: a defective lot is cheapest to stop before it enters the line; once blended, it affects every batch it touches.

2. Weighing

Green coffee is weighed before roasting, batch by batch. Why: weighing keeps recipes exact and allows a mass balance. Coffee loses weight in the roaster, mostly water, so comparing green weight in and roasted weight out shows whether a batch behaved normally.

3. Roasting

Each batch follows a roast profile: how heat is applied over time and when the batch is dropped. What is controlled: the profile, the end colour and the cooling. Why: the same green coffee can taste bright or bitter depending on the profile, and consistency is what a café or brand owner pays for.

4. Blending

Components are combined in the proportions of the recipe. What is controlled: the right lots, the right proportions, an even mix. Why: a wrong proportion changes the cup even when every component is good.

5. Packing

Coffee is packed as whole beans or ground, in bags with a one-way degassing valve, each carrying a lot code and a best-before date. What is controlled: net weight, seal quality, label, and grind size for ground coffee. Why: a weak seal or a wrong label ruins a good roast.

6. Palletising

Cartons are stacked on pallets, stabilised and identified. At Espresso Factory, QR codes on drums, cartons and pallets link each unit to its lot. Why: the pallet is the unit that is shipped, counted and, if needed, recalled.

7. Delivery

Goods leave with the client's delivery documents. What is controlled: the load matches the order and the vehicle is clean, dry and odour-free. Why: coffee absorbs odours and moisture, and the delivery record closes the traceability chain.

How does coffee roasting work?

Roasting uses heat to turn green, grassy seeds into brown, aromatic coffee. In a drum roaster the beans tumble in a rotating drum while hot air flows through it; the roaster follows a profile to the chosen roast degree, then cools the beans quickly.

Drum roasting and development

The beans take heat from the drum and from the hot air, adjusted so each batch follows the same curve. The beans first dry, then turn yellow and brown as sugars and amino acids react (Maillard reactions, then caramelisation). Then comes first crack, an audible crack as steam and gases escape. The time from first crack to the end of the roast is called development: too short and the coffee tastes sour or grassy, too long and it turns flat, bitter or smoky.

Roast degree, cooling and degassing

Roast degree, from light to dark, is judged by colour, often with a colour meter on ground samples. Light roasts keep acidity and origin character; darker roasts bring body, bitterness and roasted notes. Espresso blends for cafés are usually medium to dark, to stay balanced with milk and sugar.

At the end, the beans drop into a cooling tray and are stirred while air is pulled through them: fast cooling stops the roast at the chosen point. Roasted coffee then releases carbon dioxide for several days, which is why it is rested and why bags carry a one-way valve.

For the EU market, roasting must follow the acrylamide rules of Regulation (EU) 2017/2158 (benchmark level 400 µg/kg for roasted coffee), and roasted coffee must stay below the ochratoxin A limit of 3.0 µg/kg. See our guide on exporting private label coffee to Europe.

Should coffee be blended before or after roasting?

Both methods are used in the trade. Blending before roasting is simpler; blending after roasting gives more control over each component.

• Before roasting: green coffees are mixed, then roasted together. One roast, less handling, an even blend. The limit: beans of different size, density or moisture do not roast at the same speed, so one component can be under- or over-developed.
• After roasting: each component is roasted with its own profile, then blended. Each coffee reaches its best roast and the recipe can be fine-tuned. The cost: more roasts, more storage and more checks to keep proportions exact.

If you are developing a blend, ask the roaster which method it would use for your coffees and why. What counts is the result: the same cup, batch after batch, described in a written specification.

How is roasted coffee packed to stay fresh?

Oxygen, light, moisture and heat stale roasted coffee. Good packaging keeps them out while letting carbon dioxide escape.

• One-way degassing valve: lets CO2 out without letting air in. Without it, a sealed bag of fresh coffee can swell or burst.
• Barrier film: multilayer films, often metallised, that block oxygen and moisture.
• Nitrogen flushing: some lines flush the bag with nitrogen before sealing to reduce residual oxygen.
• Whole bean or ground: whole beans keep their aroma much longer, because grinding multiplies the surface exposed to air. Ground coffee suits clients without a grinder, if it is ground for the method: fine for espresso, coarser for filter.
• Best-before date: set by the producer from the product, packaging and storage conditions. Once a bag is opened, use it quickly and keep it closed, cool and dry.

How does traceability work, from green lot to client?

Traceability means that for any bag, the roaster can say which green-coffee lot it came from, when it was roasted and packed, and which clients received the same lot. At Espresso Factory, every lot is followed from the green-coffee lot to the client delivery.

1. Each green-coffee lot is identified at reception and stays in quarantine until quality control releases it.
2. QR codes on drums, cartons and pallets link each physical unit to its lot.
3. Each step, from weighing to delivery, is recorded as it happens.
4. Duties are segregated: the person who records a step does not validate it, which reduces errors and makes records credible in an audit.

For a buyer, a complaint on one lot can then be handled quickly, on that lot only. For EU exports, traceability to origin is also a legal matter: the deforestation regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, covers coffee, roasted or not, and requires due-diligence statements with the geolocation of farm plots. Its main obligations apply from 30 December 2026 for large and medium operators and from 30 June 2027 for micro and small enterprises.

What do ONSSA, Morocco Foodex and ISO certifications mean for a buyer?

They answer different questions: the right to produce food, export control, and certified management systems. Espresso Factory holds all five approvals below.

ISO 9001 is not a food safety certification. European retailers often require a GFSI-benchmarked food safety certification such as IFS Food or BRCGS; if your market needs one, say so at the start. Espresso Factory's IFS Food and BRCGS certification is in progress; ask us for its current status.

How do you evaluate a coffee roaster or producer in Morocco?

Visit the plant if you can, ask for documents, and judge samples and records, not brochures. This checklist works for any roaster, Espresso Factory included.

What does Espresso Factory produce today?

The current own range is short and focused on espresso:

• Coffee beans in 1 kg bags, in three espresso blends: Forte, Intenso and Crema, from most to least intense.
• Coffee in 250 g bags.
• Chocolate powder in 1 kg bags.

Espresso Factory also buys, refurbishes, sells, lends on consignment and maintains professional espresso machines, so a café can get coffee and machine service from one roaster. See our guide on coffee supply to cafés and hotels in Morocco.

For coffee under your own brand, Espresso Factory roasts, blends and packs it for you; blend, roast profile, grind and pack size are defined per project, after a briefing and sample rounds, with no minimum order quantity. Read our guides on private label coffee in Morocco and on how to create your coffee brand.

Talk to the roastery

To receive samples or a quote, open a professional account or send a quote request. You can also write on WhatsApp or call +212 661 863 618, or email espressofactory25@gmail.com, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 to 18:00 (Morocco time). Tell us what you sell, where and in what volumes, and we will propose the next step.