How Much Coffee Does a Hair Salon Need?

Why the coffee offer matters in a salon

A colour appointment can keep a client in the chair for two hours or more, and the drink offered in the first five minutes is part of the service they pay for. Instant coffee from a jar undersells a premium appointment. Salon coffee is also easy to size: unlike a café, you know roughly how many people will sit down each day, because they booked.

How many cups a day does a salon pour?

Take two figures from your diary: clients on a typical day and people working on the floor. Then apply two planning rules.

• Clients: one drink per appointment. Plan as if every client says yes; a plan that assumes full take-up never runs dry, and you can trim the order after a month of real figures.
• Team: two cups per person per working day, the same allowance we use for offices.

Salon	Clients a day	Team	Cups a day	Cups a week	Coffee a week
3 chairs	24	3	30	180	1.44kg
6 chairs	48	5	58	348	2.78kg
10 chairs	80	8	96	576	4.61kg

Assumptions: eight clients per chair per day, one drink per client, two cups per team member per day, six trading days a week, 8g of coffee per cup on a bean-to-cup machine (125 cups per kilo). Cups a week ÷ 125 = kilos a week.

A barbershop runs on the same arithmetic with shorter appointments, so more clients per chair. Swap in your own client count and the table still works.

Which bag or case size should a salon buy?

Coffee is roasted to order and tastes best within a few weeks of roasting, so the right size is the one you finish in two to four weeks. Match your weekly figure to the format.

Coffee a week	Buy	How long it lasts
Under 1.5kg	1kg bags	A bag every four to seven days
1.5kg to 3kg	6kg case	Two to four weeks
3kg and over	12kg case	Two and a half to four weeks

From the table above: the three-chair salon at 1.44kg a week sits on the boundary, so 1kg bags or a 6kg case roughly every four weeks both work; six chairs at 2.78kg a week empty a 6kg case in about two weeks (6 ÷ 2.78 = 2.2); ten chairs at 4.61kg a week empty a 12kg case in about two and a half weeks (12 ÷ 4.61 = 2.6).

Cases are 1kg bags packed six or twelve to a box, so opening a case does not expose the whole order to air. Keep the unopened bags sealed in a cupboard away from the heat of the dryers.

What does each client drink cost?

Using our Caffè Italiano espresso blend as the example, the coffee in each cup costs between 15p and 18p depending on the size you buy. Milk, cups and electricity are on top, but the coffee itself is a small line against the price of an appointment.

Format	Price · No VAT	Per kilo	Per 8g cup	Weekly cost, 3 chairs (180 cups)
1kg bag	£22.95	£22.95	18.4p	£33.05
6kg case	£124.00	£20.67	16.5p	£29.76
12kg case	£226.00	£18.83	15.1p	£27.12

Prices checked on the store 2 November 2026. Coffee is zero-rated, so there is no VAT to add. Per cup = price ÷ (kilos × 125). Weekly cost = per cup × 180 cups. Run your own numbers in the cost-per-cup calculator.

Bean-to-cup or filter machine for a salon?

Most salons are best served by a compact, tank-fill bean-to-cup machine on the reception desk or back bar. It grinds fresh for every cup, makes a latte or a black coffee at the touch of a button, and needs no barista. A small machine such as the Bravilor SPRSO suits a reception desk; larger salons should browse the bean-to-cup machines under £5,000 and use our guide to sizing a bean-to-cup machine by cups a day to match the rating to the busiest hour.

A filter machine suits a waiting area where clients help themselves from a jug. One 60g Café Français filter sachet brews a 1.5-litre jug, about 12 cups, so a three-chair salon would use three sachets a day. A jug left on a hotplate soon loses its freshness, so brew smaller and more often.

Decaf, tea and hot chocolate

Clients who decline coffee usually want something else, so the menu is wider than beans alone.

• Decaf. Assume around one drink in ten and buy decaf beans in 1kg bags. At 18 decaf cups a week a bag lasts the three-chair salon about seven weeks, so a case would be too much.
• Tea. A small range of trade teas: an English breakfast, a decaf and one or two herbal options cover most requests.
• Hot chocolate. Many bean-to-cup machines with a powder canister make it from hot chocolate powder at the touch of a button; otherwise a kettle and a tin will do.

Trade orders over £40 are delivered free, so decaf and tea can ride along with the monthly case.

Salon coffee FAQs

How much coffee should a hair salon order a month?

Multiply your weekly cups by four and divide by 125 to get kilos. A three-chair salon at 180 cups a week needs about 5.8kg a month, so one 6kg case; a six-chair salon needs about 11kg, so two 6kg cases or one 12kg case.

Should a salon use a bean-to-cup or a filter coffee machine?

Bean-to-cup for drinks made to order at the chair, filter for a self-serve waiting area. A compact bean-to-cup machine suits most salons because it makes milk drinks without a barista.

Should a salon buy coffee beans or ground coffee?

Beans if your machine has a grinder, because grinding fresh for each cup gives the best flavour. Ground coffee is for filter machines and sachets only.

How much decaf does a salon need?

Plan on about one drink in ten and buy decaf in 1kg bags so it stays fresh. A small salon will use a bag every month or two.

What does salon coffee cost per client?

Between 15p and 18p of coffee per cup at trade prices, before milk and cups. Buying a 6kg or 12kg case rather than 1kg bags brings the price per cup down.