Roast Rebels

What Roast Rebels does

Roast Rebels GmbH is a Swiss-headquartered (Hausen am Albis) online retailer and educator for specialty coffee roasting, founded circa 2014 by Ingo Albrecht, an SCA-trained roaster and member of the Roasters Guild of Europe. The company operates a pure e-commerce business at roastrebels.com, complemented by a separate learning platform at academy.roastrebels.com and in-person courses held in Zurich. It resells third-party coffee roasting equipment across the full hobby-to-commercial spectrum — drum roasters (Aillio Bullet R1 V2, R2, R2 Pro), hot-air roasters (Gene Café CBR-301), sample roasters (Nucleus Link, ROEST L200 Ultra), and entry-level home units (Behmor 2020SR Plus, Kaffelogic Nano 7e) — alongside green coffee beans (1/5/15 kg packs from origins including Ethiopia, Brazil and Colombia), measuring instruments (DiFluid CoffMeter A1, DiFluid Omix Plus), accessories (filters, smoke/odor filters), and books.

The business model combines transactional hardware and consumable sales with a professional-services revenue stream from courses and masterclasses. Pricing is publicly disclosed across most SKUs: roasters €499-€5,299+ for the main range up to ~€8,961 for the ROEST L200 Ultra; green coffee €18.90-€49.90 per kg; measuring instruments €129.90-€2,590. Order fulfilment is dual-warehouse: a Swiss HQ warehouse serves Swiss orders, while a German logistics partner (Multisped GmbH, Engen-Welschingen) ships to all EU destinations without customs fees or additional taxes, with free shipping above €150 (EU) / CHF 150 (Switzerland) and an additional shipping lane to the United Kingdom. Multi-language support (German, English, French) and country-specific Swiss storefronts underpin the commercial geography.

The founder personally consults pre- and post-purchase, and the catalogue is supported by an extensive free editorial library (Röstwissen, Kaffeewissen), machine-specific roast profile libraries for Aillio, Kaffelogic, Gene Café, Behmor and Hottop machines, plus dual YouTube channels (German and English), Instagram, Facebook and a double opt-in newsletter. Roast Rebels is private, bootstrapped, with no disclosed external investors, funding rounds, or M&A activity; it serves both home-roaster hobbyists (primary) and B2B buyers including aspiring roastery founders, with bundled 'Rösterei Gründer Set' offerings and a co-developed Nucleus Paragon product line created with Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).

Name

Roast Rebels

Legal name

Roast Rebels GmbH

Website

https://roastrebels.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Roast Rebels is a Swiss online retailer and educator (founded ~2014 by Ingo Albrecht) selling coffee roasting equipment, green coffee, measuring instruments and accessories to home hobbyists and aspiring commercial roasters across DACH, the EU and the UK, supplemented by online and in-person courses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Roasting Equipment Retail

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Roasting & Grinding (AFAFADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Coffee, Tea & Cacao Experiences (Roastery Tours, Tastings) (THAJAGAH)

Keywords

• Coffee roasting equipment
• Green coffee beans
• Coffee roasting courses
• Specialty coffee retail
• Home coffee roasters

Headquarters

HQ city

Hausen am Albis

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: The primary revenue stream comes from selling coffee roasting machines (trommel röster, hot air roasters, sample roasters), green coffee beans, measuring instruments (color meters, moisture analyzers), accessories, books, and consumables. Revenue is generated through one-time product transactions on the e-commerce platform.
2. Education and Courses: Revenue from in-person half-day courses in Zurich and online masterclasses. Courses include topics such as Aillio Bullet Masterclass and Kaffelogic Nano Onlinekurs, provided through the Roast Rebels Academy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Roast Rebels operates an online specialty coffee retail shop selling coffee roasting equipment (drum roasters, hot air roasters, and sample roasters from brands such as Aillio, Behmor, Gene Café, Hottop, Kaffelogic, Nucleus, and ROEST), green coffee beans, measuring instruments, accessories, and books. The company also runs the Roast Rebels Academy, offering in-person courses in Zurich and online masterclasses, and provides personalized consultation from founder Ingo Albrecht. It serves both home/hobbyist roasters and professional/B2B roastery customers.

Product overview

Roast Rebels is an online specialty coffee equipment and green coffee retailer based in Switzerland. The product portfolio centers on coffee roasting equipment (drum roasters and sample roasters from brands like Aillio, Gene Café, Kaffelogic, Nucleus, and ROEST) complemented by green coffee beans, measuring instruments (color meters, moisture analyzers), accessories (filters, air filters), and the Roast Rebels Academy online learning platform. The offering serves both home roasters and commercial/professional roasters, with products ranging from entry-level home roasters (Behmor) to professional-grade drum roasters (Aillio Bullet series) and sample roasters (Nucleus Link, ROEST L200 Ultra) for quality control and micro-lot testing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Roast Rebels Academy: Online learning platform for coffee roasting courses and masterclasses

Products and services

• Aillio Bullet R2 Pro

Quantifiable outcome

• Companies founded with Roast Rebels support have grown to 12+ employees within 3 years

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Prima Coffee Equipment: US-based online specialty coffee equipment retailer selling espresso machines, roasters, grinders, and accessories with technical expertise and content resources — a direct competitor for premium coffee equipment e-commerce.
• Seattle Coffee Gear: Established online retailer of premium home and prosumer coffee equipment (espresso machines, roasters, grinders) with educational content and customer consultation — comparable in service-led e-commerce positioning.
• Whole Latte Love: Established online espresso and home coffee equipment retailer with active content marketing and educational resources — comparable multi-brand online model targeting prosumer and home segments.
• Clive Coffee: Online specialty retailer focused on espresso machines, grinders, and brewing equipment with curated expertise and customer service — comparable premium e-commerce coffee equipment positioning.
• Coffee Bean Corral: US online retailer focused specifically on green coffee beans and home roasting supplies, including roasters and accessories — direct competitor in the home/prosumer green coffee and roasting equipment segment.
• Mill City Roasters: Online retailer and North American distributor of commercial and prosumer coffee roasters with education, training, and consulting — comparable in serving the startup-roastery buyer with bundled machine + course offerings.
• Sweet Maria's: Long-standing US online retailer of green coffee, sample roasters, and home roasting equipment with extensive free educational content and a library of roasting resources — closest analogue to Roast Rebels' bundled retail-plus-education model.

Broad incumbents

• Aillio: Manufacturer of the Bullet R1/R2 drum roasters that Roast Rebels sells; also operates direct-to-consumer sales globally — a key supplier and partial competitor in the same product category.
• Behmor: US-based manufacturer of the Behmor home coffee roasters carried by Roast Rebels; sells directly through its own channels — a brand-line competitor in entry-level home roasting equipment.
• ROEST: Manufacturer of the L200 Ultra sample roaster listed by Roast Rebels, operating direct sales out of Norway — competing as both supplier and direct-to-buyer alternative in the high-end sample roaster segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@RoastRebels
• Facebookfacebook.com/roastrebels
• Instagraminstagram.com/roastrebels
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/roast-rebels

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Roast Rebels