Ratio Coffee, the company behind the high-end home coffee maker Ratio Eight, has a new product launching and its taking to Kickstarter for discounted pre-orders.
In about 48 hours the company reached its minimum Kickstarter goal of $30,000. As of Nov. 13 it had raised $44,064 from 350 backers with 32 days left on the campaign.
“We have plans to get this in the market regardless of Kickstarter,” said founder and CEO Mark Hellweg. “(Kickstarter) is an effective tool for small companies to find new customers and get awareness and build orders.”
Plus, he noted the money raised will help the company pay for the roughly $300,000 it costs to change and set up tooling of machines for manufacturing of the product.
Dubbed Ratio Four, the product is the latest in a line of coffee makers created by the company that are designed to deliver pour-over coffee brewing in an automated fashion.
“Most hand pour-over is done too fast,” said Hellweg, noting it takes four minutes and not everyone has the patience to stand at a counter holding and slowly pouring a kettle that long.
What is Ratio Coffee?
Ratio Coffee started in 2012 and machines hit the market in 2015. It’s an offshoot of Hellweg’s previous company Clive Coffee, which sells espresso machines and coffee equipment. The first product, the Ratio Eight, was designed to be an exclusive machine to Clive that would differentiate the company from other retailers. Ratio Coffee spun off as its own business in 2017.
The Ratio Eight machines are assembled in the company’s Water Avenue headquarters. The machines feature sleek design and high-end finishes like real hardwood, limited plastic use, and handblown, lab-grade glass. This also means it comes with a high-end price between $645 and $745.
“I think there are products you can buy out there that are expensive and it’s expensive because it’s a perceived brand or a fashion label. Then there are things that are expensive because of care and quality put into the product,” said Hellweg. “(The latter) is where we want to fall. We believe in delivering something that is a long-term value proposition to the buyer. There is a significant amount of quality put into these machines.”
All machines are under a five-year warranty and are serviceable. Hellweg said the company doesn't want to add to disposable commerce. The company has a refurbishment program for any machines returned.
The company sells two versions of the Ratio Eight and a smaller, slightly different Ratio Six machine. The Six also has a lighter price at $339. Since 2015, the company has sold 20,000 machines, Hellweg said. Ratio has 15 full-time employees.
What is Ratio Four?
The Ratio Four is a smaller machine with a removable water tank. It makes one or two cups of coffee. The product is aimed at “the K-cup owner that wants better coffee and less waste,” said Hellweg, referring to the Keurig coffee makers and their proprietary coffee pods.
The company’s move into this smaller machine is in part due to customer feedback. Ratio machines aren’t designed for hotel and hospitality use, but a handful of local hotels started using the smaller Ratio Six machines and have asked for a machine that could better suit their needs, said Hellweg.
The Four started as an idea in 2018 with some early work on it in 2021. However, development was fast-tracked in the last 18 to 24 months, after a previous product idea aimed at offices and restaurants was sidelined during the pandemic, Hellweg said.
Both the Six and the Four are manufactured by overseas factories to Ratio’s specifications. The Eight is assembled locally with parts brought in from Asia, Hellweg said. In the past the company tried to use a local supply chain, but the company’s volume wasn’t high enough for vendors to do specialty runs of parts.
The company has been funded through investors, though none are institutional investors. Ratio raised $388,000 through a crowd equity campaign in 2021 on the Republic platform. Other angel investors have come along over the years and they are usually people who have bought the product and like it, said Hellweg.
Hellweg was heading toward another Republic campaign to finish developing the Ratio Four, but one of his angel investors saw the progress and stepped in to fund finishing the development.
Hellweg never intended to own a coffee-related company. He fell into it after a stint selling snowboarding and wakeboarding gear online.
“I fell into a business that had elements of things I love,” Hellweg said about Ratio Coffee. “I love design and beautiful objects. I like coffee and I like people. I like being part of the process of what coffee can be.”
