The quick answer
Allow about 360g of filter coffee per resident, per month. That is two 150ml cups a day at 6g a cup, every day of a 30-day month. A 40-resident home uses about 14.4kg a month — six boxes of 40 pre-measured sachets — before staff and visitors are counted.
How to work out a care home coffee order
The sum is short: residents × coffees a day × days × grams per cup. For 40 residents that is 40 × 2 × 30 × 6g, which comes to 14.4kg a month.
Two things set a care home apart from an office. It pours seven days a week, so count 30 days, not 21 working days. And the two-cups figure is a worked example, not a survey figure: plenty of residents will choose tea. Count the coffees on your drinks rounds for one week and use your own number.
| Residents | Coffees a day | Jugs a day | Sachets a month | Boxes of 40 a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 40 | 4 | 120 | 3 |
| 40 | 80 | 8 | 240 | 6 |
| 60 | 120 | 12 | 360 | 9 |
| 80 | 160 | 16 | 480 | 12 |
Assumes two 150ml cups of coffee per resident per day, a 1.5-litre jug pouring ten cups, one 60g sachet per jug and a 30-day month. Staff and visitors come on top: every ten extra cups a day is one more jug a day.
Sachets, ground coffee or beans?
In a care home the person making the coffee is a carer or one of the catering team, not a barista, and it may be someone different on every shift. That points to formats that are hard to get wrong.
- Filter coffee sachets — one pre-measured sachet per jug, so every jug tastes the same whoever brews it. Redber's filter coffee sachets come in boxes of 40, in 50g, 60g, 70g and 80g sizes.
- Ground coffee by the kilo — suits a kitchen where one person weighs the dose for every brew.
- Whole beans — for a bean-to-cup machine in a lounge or visitors' café, which grinds for each cup at the press of a button.
Coffee brewed ahead of a drinks round holds its flavour better in a sealed vacuum jug or airpot on the trolley than on a hot plate. For more on jugs and brewers, see how much filter coffee you need for a meeting.
Which coffee machine suits a care home?
Two set-ups cover most of the day, and they can run side by side.
- Dining rooms and drinks rounds — a filter or bulk brewer that fills jugs ahead of service. Browse filter and bulk brew machines.
- Lounges, family visits and staff rooms — a one-touch bean-to-cup machine that any member of the team can use.
Redber supplied Cinnamon Care Collection with 45 machines across 23 care homes, specified for one-touch simplicity and paired with coffee roasted to order. Read the Cinnamon Care case study.
Should a care home serve decaf?
Offer it as a choice on every round, in the same format as the main coffee so nothing changes in how the team brews it. Decaf filter sachets follow the same one-sachet-per-jug routine; brew them into a separate, clearly marked jug.
The trade range includes decaf sachets, ground coffee and beans — see wholesale decaf coffee.
What does care home coffee cost per cup?
Divide the box price by 40 for the cost of a jug, then by the cups the jug pours. On a £50.28 box of 60g sachets, a jug costs £1.26 in coffee and each 150ml cup 12.6p. Decaf sachets at £59.88 a box come to £1.50 a jug and 15p a cup.
Milk and sugar sit on top of the coffee cost. Put your own numbers through the cost-per-cup calculator to see the full figure.
Used in this example
Colombia Huila – Dark Roast Filter Ground Coffee Sachets, Box of 40
£50.28 per box of 40 × 60g · No VAT · £1.26 per jug · price checked 13 October 2026
£59.88 per box of 40 × 60g decaf (Central Decaf Blend) · No VAT · £1.50 per jug · price checked 13 October 2026
Tea, hot chocolate and the rest of the trolley
Coffee is one pot on the trolley. The same order can carry catering tea bags and hot chocolate for the afternoon round, and trade orders of £40 and over are delivered free on the UK mainland.
Care home coffee FAQs
How much coffee does a care home need per resident?
About 360g of filter coffee a month, based on two 150ml cups a day at 6g a cup. Count your own drinks rounds for a week to check the figure.
How many cups do you get from a box of 40 filter coffee sachets?
About 400 cups of 150ml. Each sachet makes a 1.5-litre jug, and a jug pours ten cups.
Should a care home serve decaf coffee?
Offer it as a choice on every round. Decaf filter sachets brew exactly like the regular ones, so the routine stays the same.
What is the easiest coffee machine for care staff to use?
A filter brewer with pre-measured sachets for jugs, or a one-touch bean-to-cup machine for single cups. Neither needs barista training.
Can one order cover several care homes?
Each home can order online up to £5,000 at a time. For a group of homes, or for leasing and servicing agreements, Redber's corporate team arranges the contract.
About the author
Matt, Head of New Business
Matt has spent more than 20 years in commercial coffee. At Redber Coffee Roasters he is the first call for businesses setting up a coffee supply, from the first tasting onwards.
Setting up coffee for a care home?
Tell us how many residents you serve and how your drinks rounds run, and the trade team will size your first order. Call 01483 808580 or email contact@redber-wholesale.co.uk.