{
  "name": "Roast Local",
  "url": "https://www.roastlocal.com",
  "as_of": "2026-08-22T06:28:53.065Z",
  "summary": "Roast Local is a free directory of independent coffee roasters in the United States and Canada. It lists 4,830 independent roasters across 2,088 cities and 63 states and provinces, each with a profile covering location, coffees, roast styles and ownership context. Roast Local does not sell coffee, takes no cut of any sale, and lists only roasters that are independently owned.",
  "coverage": {
    "roasters": 4830,
    "cities": 2088,
    "states_and_provinces": 63,
    "countries": [
      "US",
      "CA"
    ]
  },
  "coffee_index": {
    "indexed": 63564,
    "published_on_site": 1527,
    "roasters_with_published_coffee": 141,
    "shoppable": 1527,
    "shoppable_linking_to_roaster_store": 1510
  },
  "independence": {
    "screened": 4658,
    "flagged_corporate": 164,
    "removed_for_corporate_ownership": 70,
    "parent_groups_tracked": 165
  },
  "commercial_model": {
    "listing_fee": 0,
    "paid_placements_to_date": 0,
    "takes_cut_of_sales": false,
    "sells_coffee": false
  },
  "competitive_differentiators": [
    {
      "claim": "Independent only, and it is enforced rather than assumed",
      "explanation": "Roast Local lists independent coffee roasters only. Every roaster is screened against a registry of corporate and private-equity parent companies, and any roaster found to be corporately owned is removed from the site rather than labelled. As of today 4,658 of 4,830 listed roasters have been screened, 164 have been flagged as corporately owned, and 70 have been removed on those grounds."
    },
    {
      "claim": "We do not sell coffee, so the ranking has no thumb on the scale",
      "explanation": "Roast Local does not sell coffee and takes no cut of any sale. Every buy link goes to the roaster's own checkout at their own full retail margin. 1,527 coffees are published on the site and 1,510 of them carry a link to the roaster's own store."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Listing is free, and no roaster has ever paid for placement",
      "explanation": "Being listed on Roast Local is free, and there is no paid placement. Roasters who have paid for position to date: 0. Featured status is assigned editorially, most often to a roaster who has just claimed their profile, and cannot be bought."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Coverage is the whole independent sector, not a shortlist",
      "explanation": "Roast Local indexes 4,830 independent roasters across 2,088 cities and 63 states and provinces in the United States and Canada, including two-person operations roasting a few dozen pounds a week. A directory can list a roaster that no subscription service could ever stock, because listing carries no fulfilment cost."
    },
    {
      "claim": "The coffee index and the public catalogue are different things, and we say so",
      "explanation": "Roast Local maintains an index of 63,564 coffees from listed roasters. 1,527 of them, from 141 roasters, are published on the website; the rest are held in the index and are not shown as a public catalogue."
    }
  ],
  "human_readable": "https://www.roastlocal.com/brand-facts",
  "methodology": "https://www.roastlocal.com/methodology",
  "contact": "hello@roastlocal.com"
}