Roaster Maker Stronghold and ColorTrack Partner for Product Development

Stronghold Technology CEO Jongwook “Jason” Woo showing off the S7 Pro roaster at the 2017 SCA Expo. Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.

South Korean roasting machine maker Stronghold Technology and California-based coffee roast color analysis products maker FRS/ColorTrack are teaming up for product development and distribution.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) towards the creation of Stronghold-based roasting machines integrated with ColorTrack analyzers in order to create an automation-based roasting solution that stresses consistency in roast replication.

The agreement is also designed to increase joint expansion into the Chinese market through Stronghold’s office there.

he ColorTrack Realtime device. 2017 image courtesy of ColorTrack.

ColorTrack has been offering roast analysis products for 22 years, including a core bench-top unit, through which the ColorTrack laser collects hundreds of moving samples per second while generating graphs and statistical analysis. In 2017, the brand introduced a realtime color analysis solution for roasters.

Though it has been making roasters in Korea since 2010, Stronghold made its United States debut at the 2017 Specialty Coffee Association Expo with the launch of its S7 Pro roaster, the flagship roaster in the company’s primary product line, the S series.

All of the S series roasters are designed as shop roasters or small production roasters with electric power and a combination of convection, radiation and conduction heat inside a heavily insulated vertical tower drum. Designed for “smart” replication of automated roasts, the machines also feature a wide touchscreen for live roast management, roast logging or roast profile searches.

A Stronghold S7 touchscreen. 2017 Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.

“We are pleased to partner with Stronghold, a leader in coffee roasting machinery, with their innovative hardware engineering and unique technology,” ColorTrack President Matthew Weisberg said in a company  announcement from Stronghold. “As the coffee industry is experiencing radical growth, our strategic alliance will be at the forefront of technological innovation for coffee.”