Sweet Coffee Italia (Coffee Star Induction)
Production drums, Turin, Italy.
History
Domenico Di Santo emigrated to Brazil in 1947 and pan-roasted there. His son Mario bought his first roastery in 1998 and roasted with gas. Then, “after years of research,” the family developed roasting by electromagnetic induction and claims to have “introduced it on a large scale without the use of gas.” The year of the first machine and that of the creation of Coffee Star Induction S.r.l. are not published.
This is the fourth principle in this survey, alongside direct flame, indirect heating and the fluidized bed: the metal wall of the drum itself becomes the heating body, by magnetic field, like a cooktop. In 2025, the Gemma 120IND arrives with a “Vibrem” electromagnetic-vibration cooler.
What it makes
Induction drums, gas-free, from 2 kg to 120 kg, also adapted for seeds.
The models
Gemma 2IND (100 g to 2 kg), Gemma 8IND (6 to 8 kg), Gemma 30IND (26 to 30 kg, up to temperature “in about eight minutes”), Gemma 120IND (up to 120 kg, 2025).
What you gain
Removing the gas removes the connection, the fire risk linked to the flame and the combustion products in the roasting air. An inductive source can be modulated almost instantly, a responsiveness that neither a flame nor a sheathed resistance heater achieves.
What you lose
Induction heats the metal: the heat reaches the bean by conduction and radiation, with whatever convection the fan chooses to produce, a ratio structurally different from hot air, which can be tasted in the cup. No source documents it here, and the electricity consumption of a 120 kg induction machine is not published, though that is the decisive question when replacing gas with electricity.