RUNNING YOUR CAFÉ / 3 MIN READ
How much coffee does your café need? A practical calculation
Ploomi Journal · Research checked 15 November 2026
A useful wholesale order starts with the number of coffees you actually make, the dose your recipes use and how often you want deliveries. Here is a practical way to estimate it.
Begin with your recipe, not your cup size
The dose is the dry coffee used to make a brew. For espresso, weigh the ground coffee going into the basket. Do not confuse this with the liquid espresso yield or the size of the final drink. A double shot may be served in one drink or split across two: count the dry coffee used per drink, not simply the number of buttons pressed.
A worked example
Suppose a café makes 100 drinks per day, each using an 18 g dose, and opens 30 days per month:
100 × 18 g × 30 ÷ 1,000 = 54 kg per month
That is coffee in drinks before dialling in, spills, staff drinks or other waste. It is an illustration, not a recommended dose or sales target. If an 18 g double shot makes two drinks, the coffee allocated is 9 g per drink, and the calculation must change. Filter coffee, batch brew and retail bags need their own calculations.
Add the coffee that does not reach a customer
For one or two representative weeks, weigh or record beans used for dialling in, purging a grinder, training and remakes. Compare the total amount of coffee opened against coffee allocated to sales. A waste percentage based on your own bar is more useful than borrowing an industry average.
For example, if your measured waste is 10% of the total beans used, divide the 54 kg sold-through requirement by 0.90. That gives 60 kg total. If you instead add 10% to 54 kg, the result is 59.4 kg: that describes a different way of defining the allowance. State which method you use.
Work out coffee cost per drink
For a quotation of ₹1,000 per kg and an 18 g dose, the coffee alone costs ₹18 per dose: ₹1,000 ÷ 1,000 g × 18 g. This example excludes waste, milk, cup, labour, rent, tax and delivery. It is not Ploomi pricing. If one dose is divided between two drinks, allocate the dose cost across both.
Include actual waste and delivery where applicable when comparing suppliers. For two offers, compare equivalent coffees and quantities, then consider flavour fit, delivery reliability, lead time and the support explicitly included.
Set an ordering rhythm
- Separate espresso, filter and retail use. Use the actual recipe and sales for each.
- Calculate usage for the delivery interval, not just the month.
- Add a buffer based on your supplier’s confirmed lead time and your busiest days.
- Track how much arrives and how much is left at the next order. Adjust after a few cycles.
- Ask how to store unopened and opened bags, and avoid over-ordering before you understand your rate of use.
If you are opening a new business without sales data, create low, medium and busy-day scenarios and revisit the estimate after opening. Share your expected menu and brewing methods when requesting a quotation.