Bulk Production Process: Cold Brew or Co-Packed Products

This article walks you through how to set up a bulk production workflow in RoasterTools — whether you're producing cold brew in large batches or sending beans to a co-packer to create finished goods like K-cups, frac packs, or brew bags.

What is this workflow?

This approach is designed for roasters who produce in bulk batches — roasting beans first, then either brewing and packaging the finished cold brew (kegs, bottles, cans, etc.) or sending beans to a co-packer who turns them into finished goods (K-cups, frac packs, brew bags, etc.).

In both cases, you'll use an internal customer account to trigger production orders on a batch basis. The finished products live as non-coffee inventory in RoasterTools, and wholesale customer orders are fulfilled against that stock. When inventory runs low, you repeat the process.

Step 1: Create an internal customer

You'll need a dedicated internal customer account that your team uses to place production orders. No external customers will ever see this account or anything tied to it.

1. Go to Sales > Customers and click Add Customer.
2. Name the account something descriptive — for example, Internal Cold Brew Production. The more specific, the better, so your team always knows what it's for.
3. Complete any required fields and save.

Step 2: Create a production bag

Next, create a bag size matched to your standard production batch. For cold brew, this is the weight of roasted coffee per batch. For co-packing, it's the quantity you're sending to the co-packer per run. This bag should be exclusive to the internal customer from Step 1 — no other customer will see it.

1. Go to Products > Bags and click Add Bag.
2. Name it clearly — for example, Cold Brew Production – 25 lb or CoPack Production – 80 lb.
3. Enter the batch weight in the Weight field.
4. Do not set this bag as a default — it should only appear for the internal production product you'll set up in the next steps.
5. Make the bag exclusive to the internal customer you created in Step 1.
6. Save the bag.

Step 3: Create the coffee product

Create a dedicated coffee product for internal production use. This keeps your production ordering clean and separated from your regular wholesale and retail coffee sales. If you already have a product set up for this purpose, you can skip to Step 4.

1. Go to Products > Coffee Products and click Add Product.
2. Name it for internal use — for example, Cold Brew Blend, Cold Brew Batch Beans – Internal, or CoPack Beans.
3. Set the ingredient so it pulls the right roast, grind options, and any other relevant product details.
4. Set the product as exclusive to the internal customer from Step 1.
5. Set portal visibility to Not available on the portal.
6. Save the product — you'll activate the production bag in the next step.

Step 4: Activate the production bag on the coffee product

With the product saved, now surface and activate the production bag you created in Step 2.

1. Open the coffee product from Step 3.
2. Scroll to the options/bag section and click Show All Options to surface all available bag sizes, including your new production bag.
3. Find the production bag from Step 2 and toggle it on.
4. Set a price — $0.00 is fine for internal use.
5. Click Save and confirm there are no errors before moving on.

Step 5: Place production orders from the internal customer

When your team needs beans produced, place an order from the internal customer account. This feeds directly into your normal production flow — roasting, grinding, and fulfillment — just routed internally. Each unit represents one production batch.

1. Create a new order under the internal production customer.
2. Add the coffee product from Step 3 with the production bag.
3. Set the quantity to the number of batches needed — for example, one unit equals one production batch.
4. Submit the order. It will appear in your production queue just like any other order and the team will roast and fulfill it from there.

Step 6: Set up finished products as non-coffee items

Once the beans are processed into finished products — whether brewed and packaged in-house or returned from a co-packer — those finished goods live as non-coffee products in RoasterTools. After each production run, manually update inventory to reflect what was made or received.

1. Go to Products > Non-Coffee Products and create a product for each finished item you sell — for example, Cold Brew Keg – 5 gal, Cold Brew Bottle – 64 oz, K-Cup Case – 24ct, or Frac Pack Case. Do this once during setup.
2. After each production run (or when you receive goods back from the co-packer), open the relevant product and manually add inventory to reflect what was produced.
3. Wholesale customer orders for those products are fulfilled against this inventory as normal, and inventory deducts accordingly.
4. When inventory runs low, repeat from Step 5.

Tips & FAQs

Q: Will wholesale customers see the internal production customer or the production bag in the portal?

A: No. The internal customer account is not connected to the Wholesale Portal, and the production bag is exclusive to that internal customer. Wholesale customers will only see the finished products you've set up as non-coffee items.

Q: Does this process work the same way for co-packed products?

A: Yes — the setup and production order process is identical. The only difference is that instead of brewing or packaging in-house, you're sending the beans to a co-packer. Once you receive the finished goods back (K-cups, frac packs, etc.), you add that inventory to the non-coffee products and fulfillment works the same way.

Q: Can I use a grind other than whole bean for the production bag?

A: Yes — activate whichever grind matches your process (coarse grind is common for cold brew) and leave the other grind options toggled off on that bag.

Q: Do I need to create a separate non-coffee product for each packaging format?

A: Yes. Each finished product format (kegs, bottles, cans, K-cup cases, etc.) should be its own non-coffee product so you can track inventory and fulfill orders separately for each.

Q: Do I need to repeat the setup for each roast I use for production?

A: Yes — if you use different roasts for different products (e.g., one blend for cold brew, another for co-packing), each roast needs its own coffee product with the production bag activated, following Steps 3 and 4.