Most cafe owners know their daily cup count and their weekly coffee bill, but not the number that connects them: cups per kilo. Get that one right and you can check a supplier's invoice, size a machine on loan, and tell within a week whether a new blend is dosing heavier than the last. It is the number King Carlos Coffee works to with every venue we supply, roasting weekly in Hurstville for cafes across NSW, VIC and QLD.
Run a venue? See our wholesale coffee supply: 5 kg minimum, on-loan machines, $40 sample pack.
The short answer: about 70 cups per kilo
At a 22 g dose, a kilo of coffee gives you roughly 70 drinks. That assumes the mix most Australian cafes actually pour: around 70% of sales in 8 oz cups on a split shot (11 g), and 30% in 12 oz on the full double (22 g). The average works out at 14.3 g per cup, and 1,000 divided by 14.3 is 70.
Your number moves with your dose and your cup mix. A cafe pouring mostly 12 oz doubles gets closer to 45 cups a kilo. One that is all 8 oz splits gets nearer 90. Purging, dialling in and the odd sink shot take a few percent off whatever you land on.
Weekly kilo bands we see across 80+ venues
| Venue | Kilos a week | Cups a week (at 70 per kg) | Cups a day over 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small cafe or kiosk | 10 to 15 kg | 700 to 1,050 | 100 to 150 |
| Mid cafe | 15 to 40 kg | 1,050 to 2,800 | 150 to 400 |
| Busy or multi-site | 40 kg plus | 2,800 plus | 400 plus |
Our minimum is 5 kg a week, which covers a new site in its first month or a small bar with a short coffee menu. Most cafes that come to us sit in the 15 to 40 kg band.
Work out your own number in two minutes
- Count a normal week's coffees from your POS, not a holiday week.
- Note your dose (check the basket, not the recipe card) and your split between 8 oz and 12 oz.
- Grams per cup = (share of 8 oz x half dose) + (share of 12 oz x full dose).
- Cups per kilo = 1,000 divided by that figure. Kilos per week = weekly cups divided by cups per kilo.
- Compare with the kilos on your invoice. A gap bigger than 10% is waste, a heavy hand on the grinder, or stock going somewhere it should not.
What it means for the coffee bill
Coffee is usually under 15% of a drink's sell price; milk, cup and labour are the bigger costs. That is why cups per kilo matters more than the price on the kilo. A cheaper coffee that needs a heavier dose to taste right can cost more per cup than a dearer one that holds its dose. We quote every venue to its weekly volume, so build your wholesale plan in 60 seconds and we come back with a number for your kilos, not a tier you have to grow into.
Why the number matters more than the price per kilo
Three things cups-per-kilo catches that a price list does not: a blend that needs a heavier dose to taste right, a grinder that drifts through the week, and a delivery that is short. We train on this at every venue we supply and dial the machine to a dose we have both agreed, because a kilo that pours 60 cups instead of 70 is a 14% price rise nobody put on the invoice.
Common questions
How many cups of coffee are in a kilo?
About 70 at a 22 g dose with a typical 8 oz and 12 oz mix. Between 45 and 90 depending on your dose and cup sizes.
How many kilos does a small cafe use a week?
10 to 15 kg in the venues we supply, which is 700 to 1,050 cups a week.
What is the minimum wholesale order at King Carlos?
5 kg a week. Delivery is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Sydney with same-day emergency supply, and next-day courier to Brisbane and Melbourne. See where we deliver.
Does the dose change with the blend?
It can. Re Firma, Gran Mezcla and Killer Ninja are set up for 22 g in our training, and we dial each venue's grinder to that before the first delivery.
How do I know if I am wasting coffee?
Compare POS cups to invoice kilos each week. More than 10% apart means waste, dose drift or a short delivery.
Check the number on your own machine
The $40 sample pack comes with a dose card and recipe sheet for your setup, refunded against your first order. If you run a cafe, the wholesale coffee for cafes page has the eight questions to ask any roaster before you switch, and our answers to each.
