Operational Considerations for Your Restaurant's Coffee Service

Coffee is the world's most popular beverage. McDonald's may have served "billions and billions" of hamburgers, but more than 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. In the world market, coffee is a commodity second only to oil.

Java. Mud. Jamoke. Cup of Joe. Whatever name it goes by, coffee is most likely an important element of your restaurant's service. That's because coffee is important to Americans. In fact, there are more than 100 million coffee drinkers in the United States, according to the National Coffee Association. And 54 percent of the U.S. adult population drinks coffee daily. It's not surprising that these people account for $9.2 billion in retail coffee sales and buy an almost equal amount for coffee brewed away from home, like in restaurants.

When those dollars are broken down cup by cup, it turns out that American coffee drinkers consume on average more than three cups of coffee a day. Coffee represents a huge market, but coffee is important to restaurateurs for a number of other reasons.

"Coffee is an integral part of any operation whether it's just the add-on sale with a good margin, or the creation of a coffee menu with alcohol to increase revenue," says Nick Pitillo of the Sonoma Grille in Snyder, New York.

Amy Fischer, manager of sales & marketing for the Blackfin Chop House & Raw Bar in Boston, says coffee is very important. "It's the last thing the guests taste before leaving," she says.

And if you serve breakfast or brunch, your coffee could be the first thing your guests taste as well -- creating an impression and setting the expectations, for better or for worse, for the offerings that follow.