Roast2Order Coffee and Tea’s History
Twenty years ago, we focused our efforts on wholesale coffee distribution. We roasted in small batches, packaging, and getting freshly roasted coffee on the shelf as fast as we could. We had to watch inventory levels closely to make sure only FRESH coffee was on the retail shelf. 
To this day, our brand is the ONLY coffee we have seen on a retail shelf stamped on the front in big, bold letters the “Roast On” date. It is this commitment to freshness that makes and keeps us a top-selling brand.
The problem with traditional retail distribution channels is, it goes against the very nature of maintaining that freshness, at least with coffee. Every day roasted coffee sits on a shelf waiting for a home, and it is going stale. Maintaining the right amount of inventory is a balancing game, so the shelf doesn’t run out or that our coffee doesn’t go stale. Doing it right takes a real coordinated effort!
Grocery stores don’t have time to worry about one product, and coffee shops are often “locked-in” to a specific coffee supplier. Generally, it’s the company that also supplies their coffee-making equipment! The coffee most retail grocers or coffee shops buy is often weeks, if not months, from its roasted date. Order a plain black cup of coffee from one, and you’ll taste how bad it is! To mask the taste, most people buy drinks filled with sugary syrups, whip cream, and other flavors. They pay a large premium for what amounts to a poor cup of coffee!
As We Grew
As our wholesale business developed, through “word of mouth,” we steadily grew a handful of “direct” customers I personally delivered coffee to, be it family, friends, friend’s families, or family friends! Being able to deliver our products directly to consumers eliminates the issue of freshness!
In recent years, the demand for online shopping and direct delivery has grown substantially. Amazon, eBay, a whole host of online stores have popped up doing incredible amounts of business online directly to consumers. In July 2020, we launched our online store, Roast2Order.shop. You can find helpful articles, recipes, and learn more about Coffee and Tea on our Coffee 101 blog page. To find out more about Roast2Order.shop read our article “Why Choose Roast2Order over Other Coffees“.
At the same time, retailers grew fickle. Shelf space became a premium. Getting our product through the back door, stocking shelves, and rotating products became our job. Back stock room areas shrunk or became non-existent. Receiving hours shrunk, and in some cases, changed frequently. Entrance into a new store requires a highly coordinated three-ring circus act with many premiums, wasteful promotions, and other marketing hype. A product like Freshly Roasted Coffee? Unless you roast it in the store, it’s almost impossible! Even if you do, too many variables affect quality, the biggest being consistent bean suppliers and the type of equipment roasted in itself.
Today’s Market, Prices & Fees
With the most recent world health events, alternative ways to “shop” for products are prevalent. It makes sense to have low-risk (cost) packaged items we know and love delivered in a contact-less manner to your door.
Retail coffee prices vary, on the low-end, about $0.60 per ounce. We have seen some retail, and more so, eCommerce sites that charge over $2 per ounce! Add in shipping, “handling,” and sales tax. It is incredible how expensive ordinary coffee can be.
As a consumer, my biggest frustration when shopping online is the “unknown” cost of “shipping & handling.” You have to put the product in the “cart” and go through the “checkout” process before you get hit with the “true” cost of your desired item. Most sites require you to provide a name, an email address, perhaps even a phone number to even get to that point. Once given, that site now owns your info and will put you on their hit list, pining you with email and or texts, and quite possibly, will sell your information to others!
Here at Roast2Order.shop, we tell you upfront what our product and shipping costs are. And, we DON’T sell your personal information! Check out our Privacy Policy page.
Our shipping costs are based on how much you order from us. Orders of 3 lbs or more are where we start to discount shipping. Our best rate on shipping is for 5 lb orders or more. The weight is calculated across all products ordered, including hardware, tea and others along with coffee. If we can personally deliver locally (around Chicagoland area) in-house, we will. Otherwise, we default to using USPS, primarily Priority Mail. We try to package as neatly and securely as possible, making packages as weather-proof, tamper and damage resistant as possible. Some might say we are anal-retentive in our packaging methods, we think that is a good thing!
You can save money on shipping by combining orders with others. We also suggest you order a month’s worth of coffee/tea at a time versus more frequently, however, that is your decision, we will ship to you daily if you prefer, LOL!
The only other variable cost of our products is state sales tax. Based in Algonquin, IL, our coffee beans and roasted teas are considered retail grocery food, so the IL tax rate is 1.75%. Orders billed outside Illinois, don’t pay IL sales tax. It’s that simple.
Today at Roast 2 Order
At Roast2Order.Shop, we still insist on the same quality beans, tea leaves, and roasting methods as the day we started.
We have not eliminated our wholesale business, but we are shifting our focus to a direct distribution method. Thanks to you, increasing demand allows us to ship directly and maintain a reasonable price for our product. You receive freshly roasted coffee and tea at your door within days of it roasting versus it sitting for weeks or even months getting stale as what typically occurs in a traditional retail channel.
We have the same methods of selecting our beans as before and use the same top-rated commercial grade machines to roast our coffee. 
Our beans are hand-selected. You can count on our consistent use of the same suppliers who are 100% Fair Trade, Organically grown & whenever possible, Rain Forest Certified. Translated into common-speak, that means you are helping us to support small, local farmers or community development co-ops that are organically grown, which means we are being economically friendly having a global impact, and since we are only using beans that are organically grown, we are doing our part to support environmentally friendly and sustainable methods of farming, thus eco-friendly! It is this level of quality and consistency combined with fresh roasting that makes our products taste so great. When you combine all that with the fact that whenever you order from Roast2Order, you directly support a small, family-owned, and operated business, you’d have to wonder, why wouldn’t everyone want to order from R2O? OK, off the soapbox!
Our “Master Roasters” have spent years learning and perfecting the roasting process, passing that knowledge on to younger generations. We are small and, in comparison to some, a relatively young business. Still, our roasters are experts with several decades worth of combined experience roasting to perfection. Roast2Order coffee is the same beans, same roaster, same quality for over 12 years. This consistency keeps our customers coming back for more, and most importantly, sharing with their “sphere of influence,” friends, family, co-workers, etc.! We are very grateful for this!
All our coffee and tea have a “roasted on” date, so you know it is fresh! We recommend consuming our coffee within four weeks of roasting; however, it will still taste better than any brand on the shelf even after eight weeks. By the 12th week, you will notice a degradation in flavor, and after that, perhaps consider donating that coffee (or your old stuff you’re trying to power through before your first/next order of R2O), you might just consider donating the old stuff. We also have many uses (other than brewing) for coffee beans, check under our “Coffee 101” section.
Discounts on Subscriptions
You can choose a “subscription-based” service as well. It makes an excellent gift idea for the holidays, birthdays, or any special occasion for the coffee or tea lover in your life! We offer a 5% discount on all subscription orders!
We also sell some cool coffee and tea-related hardware products, such as presses, storage containers (that maintain freshness), and travel mugs. These are all patented designs and, we are always looking to add products.
If you wish to order coffee or tea size other than what is listed, have questions or comments, or need more information, email us at [email protected]!
Please watch our website for new offerings!
And, sign up for our 2x monthly email newsletter we call the “eBrewsletter”!
Get great coffee to your door, typically within a week of being roasted!
Give us a try! Share in the experience of a great cup of Roast 2 Order coffee every day. You’ll be glad you did!
Thank you for reading to the bottom! I am excited to have you as a customer, and, as you can tell, I like to write!
Feel free to call our sales or customer service team or drop us an email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Mike Mascow
Founder and CEO (Coffee Enthusiast Officer)
Roast 2 Order Coffee & Tea
630-364-1610
