Liquid Gold - How to Order Coffee For Events

I think we can all agree that coffee is hands down one of the most valued components to any meeting or event. It’s not uncommon to see zombie-like attendees emerging from their meeting rooms looking for that afternoon pick-me-up.

In most cities a gallon of coffee, only about 12 cups, will cost you over $100! However, if you are hosting an event at a hotel or convention center you have no choice but to use the in-house caterer’s coffee vs. grabbing a couple “boxes of joe” from your nearest coffee shop or plugging in a Keurig you shipped from the office.

With these kinds of prices it can make it difficult to provide adequate amounts of this liquid gold while staying in budget. So what are we to do?

House Coffee

One way to save on cost is to ask for “House Coffee” vs. the branded stuff. Your attendees aren’t guaranteed to know the difference and could save you up to $10 a gallon or more!

Negotiating a Lower Price

When you are in the contract negotiation phase with your venue, ask for a certain price per gallon and see what they can do. You might be surprised that they are able to either meet your price or at least come close. If they want your business bad enough they will do whatever they can to help you on cost.

Know your Quantities

Knowing how much coffee to order is crucial as you dont want to under-order and not have enough or over-order and have coffee go to waste. Espcially at $100 a gallon! If needed, you can always order a few gallons on site but it does take time to brew so keep that in mind.

Morning breaks will require more coffee than afternoon breaks where you can offer soda and bottled water instead. Its also important to keep in mind that attendees usually drink more hot tea than decaf coffee. Here are some formulas to use:

Morning Beverages:

  • 1 gallon of coffee per 25 guests

  • 1 gallon of decaf per 100 guests

  • 1 gallon of hot tea per 50 guests

  • Bottled juice, cartons of milk and botted water for 50% of the group and ask to be charged based on consumption.

Afternoon/Evening Beverages:

  • 1 gallon of coffee per 50 guests

  • 1 gallon of decaf per 100 guests

  • 1 gallon of hot tea per 75 guests

  • Bottled soda and water for 50% of the group and asked to be charged based on consumption.

For evening events you typically get coffee, decaf and tea included with your dinner so you don’t really need to calculate this out. In case you do, you will need to consider your audience. Older generations still enjoy a cup of coffee after dinner but will most likely prefer decaf. Younger generations might just stick with alcoholic beverages and not even touch the coffee station.

Happy Planning!

Kaylin Taylor