Running a cafe isn’t just about making great coffee — it’s about making sure every cup you serve keeps your business sustainable.

Too often, cafe owners set prices without breaking down the real cost per cup — across different sizes, dairy vs. alt milk, and takeaway packaging. Without this visibility, it’s easy to undercut your own margins without realising it.

That’s exactly why we built the Coffee COGS Calculator. It shows you, at a glance, what each 6oz, 8oz, or 12oz coffee really costs you once you account for milk, beans, and cup costs — and then calculates your gross margin per cup once you enter your retail price.

Instead of guessing, you can see the numbers clearly and adjust with confidence.

Why Cost Per Cup Matters

It’s easy to know what you’re paying per kilo of coffee or per litre of milk. But unless you break that down into cost per 6oz, 8oz, or 12oz coffee, you don’t really know whether your prices are protecting your margins.

Without this visibility, cafe owners often:

• Underestimate how much alt milk adds to costs & how much to surcharge.
  

• Price their coffees based on competitors or gut feel, instead of how pricing based on cost of goods

• Under estimate or overestimate how much increases in supplier prices impact bottom line and

• Lack the confidence to adjust pricing even when it's needed

Your menu prices only make sense when they’re measured against what it costs you to make each cup. That’s the gap the Coffee COGS Calculator fills.

You can download it here, but make sure you read on to learn how it works and how to use it. 

How the Coffee COGS Calculator Works

1. Enter Your Ingredient Costs

Start with what you actually pay:

• Milk (per litre)

• Alt milk (per litre)

• Coffee (per kilo)

• Cups & lids (per unit)

💡 Tip: Always use the price you pay for the full unit (e.g. $4.20 for 2L milk, $33 per kilo of coffee).

2. See Your Usage Per Cup

The calculator applies standard usage volumes to show cost per serve. For example:

• 133ml milk for a small flat white

• 11g coffee per shot

• 1x cup + lid per takeaway

These values can be adjusted if your portion sizes differ.

3. Check Cost Per Cup by Size & Milk Type

You’ll then see the cost per 6oz, 8oz, and 12oz coffee — both for dairy and alt milk.

This gives you an instant comparison between drink types and sizes, so you know exactly where margins are strongest (or weakest).

4. Add Your Retail Price to See Gross Margin

Finally, enter your retail price. The calculator instantly shows your gross margin per cup for each size and milk type.

For example (illustrative only):

• 6oz dairy flat white at $4.50 = 76% margin

• 8oz alt milk latte at $5.50 = 72% margin

• 12oz dairy cappuccino at $6.00 = 78% margin

You can test different prices, adjust ingredient costs, and quickly see how each change impacts your bottom line.

How Cafe Owners Can Use This Tool

With the Coffee COGS Calculator, you can:

• Accurately cost your COGS per cup and ensure your gross margins make sense for your business
• Compare margins between dairy and alt milk drinks (and how much to surcharge for alt mylks)
• Check if your pricing works across 6oz, 8oz, and 12oz cups
• Adjust prices confidently when supplier costs increase
• Avoid leaving profit on the table

Try the Coffee COGS Calculator

Whether you’re launching your first cafe or running an established shop, this tool gives you the clarity you need to price profitably — cup by cup.

If you want to learn more about how we can help your cafe, this is the kind of trusted advice we tailor with your cafe partners, learn more about our wholesale program here.