In this study, the sphericity of calcium alginate gel beads was optimized using response surface methodology. The optimum conditions for bead sphericity were a concentration of 2.24% sodium alginate, a flow rate of 0.059 mL/sec for the sodium alginate solution, and a 459 rpm rotation for the calcium chloride solution. The predicted and experimental bead sphericities under the optimum conditions were 94.5 and 96.7%, respectively, showing close agreement. We also investigated the processing condition effects for the physical properties of the optimized calcium alginate gel beads. Immersion in hot water slightly decreased bead size and rupture strength. NaCl treatment increased bead size and decreased rupture strength. While the pH of the calcium chloride solution had little effect on bead sphericity, the bead sizes and gel strengths decreased with longer times in each pH solution. The beads coated with pectin and glucomannan showed no significant changes in sphericity, but their sizes decreased with time. The coated beads showed higher rupture strengths than the uncoated beads.