Bühler
Industry and continuous roasting, Uzwil, Switzerland.
History
On February 10, 1860, Adolf Bühler opened a foundry in Gupfen, in the municipality of Uzwil, with two employees. One hundred and sixty-six years later, the group is still family-owned, in its fifth generation, has 2.8 billion Swiss francs in revenue with 12,000 people, and coffee is only one line of the “Chocolate & Coffee” segment of the Grains & Food division.
It was through Barth that Bühler entered roasting: the Maschinenfabrik G. W. Barth of Ludwigsburg, famous for its spherical Sirocco roaster awarded a prize in Brussels in 1897, bankrupt in 1980 and converted to cocoa, was acquired in 2007. In 2018, Bühler announced for the Norwegian Joh. Johannson a plant of 12,000 tonnes per year built around its InfinityRoast, with energy recovery in stratified water tanks and a roasting consumption announced as halved. The partnership with Ikawa followed in 2023, and in 2025 orders in the coffee and chocolate segment rose by 31%.
What it makes
Industrial drums with indirect gas heating, in open circuit or with recirculation, with low nitrogen oxide burners and adjustment of the air/bean ratio; and the whole upstream and downstream chain, including Sortex optical sorting of green coffee.
The models
RoastMaster 20, 60, 120 and 240 (20 to 240 kg per batch, 70 to 1,000 kg/h); InfinityRoast 1000, 2000, 3000 (1,500 to 4,000 kg/h), with self-correcting profile control and online carbon monoxide monitoring, whose page has disappeared from the current catalog.
What you gain
Indirect heating decouples thermal power and airflow, which Bühler exploits with an adjustable air/bean ratio. Recirculation is worth around 25% of energy according to the trade press, and up to 50% with preheating and recovery according to Bühler. Self-correcting control and measurement every second serve reproducibility, the first requirement of an industrial plant.
What you lose
Greater inertia than an open drum, mandatory thermal oxidation, and an ecosystem calibrated for industry: even the RoastMaster 20 is aimed at an industrial company that wants a small line, not at an artisan.