Most Melbourne offices need roughly one kilogram of beans for every 110 to 140 coffees, so a workplace pouring 60 drinks a day gets through about 10 to 12 kilograms a month. That calculation answers the question, but it only holds if you count the people who actually turn up rather than everyone on the payroll.
Panica Coffee supplies beans alongside commercial superautomatic coffee machine rental across Melbourne, and the ordering mistake we see most often is an office manager ordering for headcount instead of attendance. This guide shows how to work out a realistic monthly order, which beans suit an office machine, and what to check before you commit to a blend.
How many coffees does one kilogram of beans make?
A commercial superautomatic coffee machine grinds, brews and textures milk at one button press, and it doses roughly 7 to 9 grams of ground coffee for a single shot, or 14 to 18 grams for a double. At those doses a kilogram gives about 110 to 140 single shot drinks, or 55 to 70 doubles.
Milk drinks use the same coffee dose as a black coffee. A flat white, latte or cappuccino changes your milk order, not your bean order.
How many cups a day does an office actually drink?
Count the people present, not the people employed. Melbourne workplaces with hybrid patterns commonly sit at 60 to 75 percent attendance on an average Tuesday, and that is the number your beans have to cover. From there, allow about two cups per person present per day.
| Team size | People in on a normal day | Cups per day | Beans per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 14 | 28 | 4 to 5 kg |
| 50 | 35 | 70 | 10 to 12 kg |
| 100 | 70 | 140 | 21 to 25 kg |
| 150 | 105 | 210 | 32 to 38 kg |
The table assumes 20 working days, two cups per person present and a single shot dose. Visitors, meetings and afternoon tea runs sit on top of it, so add guest coffees separately if your reception or boardroom serves them. Our packages by team size use the same attendance logic to size the machine.
Not sure what your workplace gets through? Panica Coffee can estimate a monthly quantity from your staff numbers, attendance pattern and drink preferences, and match it to a machine that suits the volume. Ask us using the form below.
Which beans suit an office coffee machine?
Offices do best on a medium roast blend with a rounded, low acidity profile. A staff room serves everyone from a straight long black to a sweet latte, so a blend that is pleasant across all of them beats a single origin chosen for one palate.
Consistency matters more than novelty, because changing blend every delivery makes the machine settings drift. Keep a decaf option on hand too, particularly in clinics and offices with late meetings. See the range Panica Coffee supplies on our coffee beans page, and our guide to selecting quality coffee beans covers roast and freshness in more detail.
Will the beans suit your machine?
Use whole beans only. A superautomatic grinds to order, so pre-ground coffee defeats the machine and can clog the brew path.
Avoid very dark, oily beans in an automatic grinder. The surface oil builds up on the burrs and in the chute, which shows up as slower dosing and inconsistent shots long before anyone calls it a fault. Match the grind at installation, and keep flavoured beans out of the hopper because the coatings are not made for commercial grinders.
Example scenario: a 50 person Melbourne office
This is an illustrative example, not a named customer. A 50 person office in Richmond runs three days a week in the building, averaging 35 people on site. At two cups each that is 70 drinks a day, around 1,400 a month. At 130 drinks per kilogram the order lands near 11 kilograms, so 12 gives a buffer without leaving stale stock. Roughly 40 guest coffees a month adds another third of a kilogram.
What changes your monthly consumption
- Attendance patterns. A Tuesday to Thursday office drinks far more on those days and almost nothing on Fridays.
- Dose settings. Moving from 7 grams to 9 grams per shot is roughly a 20 percent increase in beans for the same number of cups.
- Double shot drinks. Offices that default to doubles can halve the drinks per kilogram.
- Free access versus paid. Consumption usually rises when coffee is free and the machine is easy to use.
- Visitors and seasons. Client facing offices carry a guest load headcount never predicts, winter lifts milk drinks, and January drops everything.
Ordering, storage and what affects the price
Order about four weeks of beans at a time, not three months, because coffee is at its best in the weeks after roasting. Keep bags sealed and out of sunlight. Bean oils build up in the grinder and brew group, which is why the two minute daily cleaning routine matters as much as the beans.
Bean pricing varies with the blend, the roast, the pack size and the delivery frequency, so the useful comparison is cost per cup rather than cost per kilogram. Ask your supplier to quote on your actual monthly quantity, and count the machine, servicing and milk in the same view. If you are also weighing up the machine, our coffee machine rental for businesses page sets out what rental covers.
Ask About Coffee Supply for Your Business
Panica Coffee can set a delivery schedule around your real usage rather than a guess, so beans arrive before you run out and nobody is buying emergency bags from the supermarket. Tell us your team size, how many days people are in and whether you serve visitors, and we will work out a monthly quantity with you. Call 1300 529 505 or send the form below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How many coffees can you make from 1 kg of beans? About 110 to 140 single shot drinks, based on a 7 to 9 gram dose. Double shot drinks roughly halve that figure.
Q2: How much coffee does a 50 person office need per month? Around 10 to 12 kilograms if about 35 people are in on an average day and each has two cups, which works out near 1,400 drinks a month.
Q3: Do milk drinks use more coffee? No. A latte or flat white uses the same coffee dose as a black coffee, so milk changes your dairy order rather than your bean order.
Q4: What beans work best in a superautomatic coffee machine? Whole bean medium roast blends. Avoid pre-ground coffee, very oily dark roasts and flavoured beans, which clog commercial grinders.
Q5: How often should an office order beans? Monthly suits most workplaces, because coffee tastes best within a few weeks of roasting and a three month bulk order usually costs you flavour.
Q6: Can Panica Coffee deliver beans on a schedule? Yes. Panica Coffee supplies beans to Melbourne workplaces on a delivery schedule you set, alongside machine servicing.
Not sure what your office actually uses?
Tell Panica Coffee your staff numbers, attendance pattern and drink preferences, and we will estimate a realistic monthly bean quantity and a machine setup to match.