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The aim of this paper is to examine how smart roasters, one of the forms of Digital Transformation (DX) in the field of coffee bean roasting, are involved in the process of building branding in the specialty coffee business, with a focus on the interaction between coffee roasting profile data and roasters. In recent years, as the specialty coffee market has expanded in Japan, an increasing number of roasters and coffee shops have introduced smart roasters. In this paper, we focus on smart roasters that promote DX of coffee roasting as a major element supporting the specialty coffee business and examine how they engage in the construction of coffee branding. To this end, we clarify the positioning of the specialty coffee business in the coffee industry in Japan. Through case studies, we describe how smart roasters are involved in the branding of specialty coffee shops and the role roasters play in this process.

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Copyright of Japan Marketing Journal is the property of Japan Marketing Academy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Coffee flavor is considerably influenced by the quality of green coffee beans. Therefore, specialty coffee has a richer aroma, higher acidity, and a more distinct flavor profile compared to commercial coffee. The current methods for evaluating specialty coffee quality are mainly SCA sensory evaluation and complementary techniques such as taste sensing systems and NIRS. However, because the flavor profiles of specialty coffees have become complex over the years, we propose a new quality index method based on physicochemical numerical values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]