Toper Coffee Roaster - Australian distributor?

askthecoffeeguy

Anyone know if there is an Australian distributor for these Turkish coffee roasters?

Particularly I am interested in the Cafemino:

http://www.cafemino.com/

FreshCoffee2

Pat, there was a time when I was going to bring in a half dozen for resale, but I am afraid I have learned the hard way from importing other products that false impressions can be gained from taking too much notice of many things that are said on the www....... I think you should try Marc Beattie as I am pretty sure he also has an arrangement with Toper OR...he may wish to guide you in the direction of an equivalent HG... Or you can also contact the factory in Izmir and ask them if they have an agent here, and if they dont they will (I am sure) offer to do one including freight to your nearest port (if not Sydney or Melbourne). In that case you would need to take care of all from the port to your address. This will include the Customs Clearance ( you MUST arrange that before the goods land or you will get your fingers slapped by Customs when it lands here, and being friendly is not in their job description). Pick up from Port can be expensive and the explanation is more than I am prepared to write an epistle about on the keyboard. You will have to do your own marine insurance. All that said, there is no substitute for buying from a local dealer especially wrt buying something that has been configured for local use (not just an import you plug in in O/S format) and my recommendation is to talk to Mark. Hope that helps.

askthecoffeeguy

Hi Attilio Thanks for getting back to me I've heard back from the factory in Tutkey and the price including shipping to Australia is pretty affordable all things considered for a 1kg gas model I guess that my thoughts here are that I'm still very new to the world of retail coffee roasting - although I am now on the roaster on a 1kg Geisen doing four or five back to back roasts every Monday under the tutelage of a very experienced roaster, and that the cafemino represents a very affordable entry point into the market place The machine in question has been around for awhile now and apparently some of the early teething problems - such as slow drum rotation speed - have been ironed out now - although I'm yet to experience one of these rosters in person A quick snapshot of cafemino owners on HB reveals a high degree of personal satisfaction with the product - which may or may not be indicative of build quality I'm still not settled on the purchase of this machine and realistically I'm at least several months away from being in a position to buy one anyway Just doing some RnD at the moment ! Cheers, Pat

beanflying

If your talking about importing a roaster like the Cafemino then the Deidrich IR1 is also worth a think. I had a good look at one at MICE earlier this year (circa $6.5k at the time). Or a flight to Sydney would get you a look at the Gas version of mine if you dropped John a line as I think he now has one in stock. Mark Beattie was carrying the 1kg from Israel a little over a year ago if memory serves for similar $$ to the Deidrich? Watch the gas approval side of it if your popping it in the cafe and importing your own too.

askthecoffeeguy

Thanks guys pretty sure I can get the Toper landed for $5500 including shipping which is very enticing but then it would need approval for a shop roaster although I'm actually thinking of roasting off site and using it as my sample / small batch single origin roaster ...

FreshCoffee2

Toper are really nice people and will bend over backwards to help you, but if you can find someone local to help you for a tad more than straight import price, you are better going for the local dealer because they (should) will have the gas deal sorted for use in Oz. Self import may be cheaper but by the time you do the gas to comply with local rules and regs you will have bumped up your price anyway....false economy in a way to import yourself with something like this unless you do ALL the sums and can justify the import with a substantial saving. Hope that helps, A.

mycuppa

As you are based in Victoria, you will not enjoy the news that we have the toughest Energy Safe compliance regulations in Australia. Coffee companies who have moved operational roasters from another state to Melbourne have been reduced to tears when they discover they can't hook up their relocated roasters without sometimes extensive modifications At best it may be as low as $2K for just the compliance work which excludes any parts that could require change or addition. Allowing a budget of say $3K for a small simple appliance is typical. This covers the review of electrical and fuel schematics, advice on modifications and all the labour associated with testing of airflow and purge rates, over temp controls and fire suppression systems. Submission of approvals and final testing with or without an ESV inspector present. Assuming a gas system, if the pilot, mutlibocks, purge timers, air and gas pressure switches or burner are not AGA standard, they will need to be replaced with compatible devices. Not excessively expensive but annoying and frustrating. Similarly, external mechanical proving switches are required for safety interlocks which are almost never designed and fitted at the factory. I am with A. On this one. If it is a gas appliance and you don't know what you are doing or have not worked through and ESV commissioning exercise before, suggest engaging an agent.

askthecoffeeguy

hmm... its a tough one because although lo0oks are not everything they do come into play in a retail environment - and I like the look and ergonomics of this roaster one option could be to forward the compliance regs to Toper and ask if they can bring it up to speed from their end prior to shipping? how does the CCR compare when it comes to local compliance, I wonder? P

mycuppa

P. My advice is to look at your other options. I just can't see how you can match high-end LM and Mazzer equipment with a toy roaster known for consistency issues, unless of course all you are wanting to do is reproduce the show-pony look. Sorry for the harsh words - I just don't like seeing people repeat my mistakes. JC

beanflying

Electrical compliance is a whole lot easier then gas compliance. There is some well exploited loopholes in the electrical safety code that lets importers NOT to have to go through the correct channels which isn't good either IMO. Items for industrial use are classed differently to domestic ones and even though the items finish up in homes they are not 'sold' for that purpose. If your still thinking about small gas roasters then catch up with Andreas and Annie M at Reverence coffee for a look at their small Taiwanese gas roaster.

topcoffee

Hey everyone, I have came a cross that Toper Roasters have a distributor in Australia. Friend of mine opened a coffee recently and he has purchased one from them. Aparently they have a page on Fb under "Toper Coffee Roasters Australia". Machine looks well made and it's roasting great according to my friend,he is a happy camper.  :coffee2: Mod: please understand ladies and gentlemen that this poster is very possibly associated the the product in this thread.  This would be a shame because we encourage suppliers and industry retailers to educate us about their product, just not post commercial links on the site.  There is no need for diversionary posting on this forum.  If the poster had been here for more than 5 minutes he/she would know that!!  This sort of post here is really a waste of time and potentially damages what may otherwise be a perfectly acceptable brand.

cosmic_couple22

Similar post different name just popped up over there on the dark site, commercial advertising without being upfront me-thinks.  Why don't people be upfront and introduce themselves and ask if we want to hear about their product. Upfront wins more customers than sneaking in the backdoor. Chester

topcoffee

You thinks wrong mister chester,have a good day! :o

Brett H

on 1406188029:

You thinks wrong mister chester,have a good day! :o

While this may be the case you've applied for a second account which doesn't help your cause.  Both accounts are suspended until you play by our forum's simple but fair rules.  Cheers and have a great day!

cosmic_couple22

OK topcoffee, you should jump in the "new here" thread and tell us all about yourself and your coffee journey so members aren't suspicious of someone  joining and immediately promoting a commercial business. Everybody is pretty friendly here and happy to welcome new members. Look forward to hearing your story. Chester Fancy that happening while I was replying  >:D

Brett H

on 1406189804:

OK topcoffee, you should jump in the "new here" thread and tell us all about yourself and your coffee journey so members aren't suspicious of someone  joining and immediately promoting a commercial business. Everybody is pretty friendly here and happy to welcome new members. Look forward to hearing your story. Chester Fancy that happening while I was replying  >:D

Credit to you and one of our wonderful sponsors for jumping on this. I'm happy to reinstate the account once we've had an email from the ex-member with some clarification.