The Forgotten Facts Every New Cafe Owner Needs to Know

If you're looking to open your own cafe, anywhere in Australia, here are 10 facts about opening a cafe every new business owner needs to know!

#1. Food Safety Standards

When opening a food business, the local government will expect you to adhere to the local and state regulations, which differ from state to state and interpretation from council to council. Coffee machines and other commercial food equipment have specific requirements according to certain guidelines. Any guideline criteria for construction and fit out of new, altered or renovated food premises in the food services, retail and small-scale manufacturers are contained in Australian Standard AS4674-2004 Design, Construction & Fitout of Food Premises, under headings that correspond to the following divisions of National Food Safety Standards 3.2.3. This can be found here at - Guide to food and drink businesses in Newcastle.

Most equipment that is designed and built for commercial use should be suitable for business applications. Most equipment made for home and office will not be suitable, as certified equipment is designed and built to last for many years of high volume use. If you try to use a typical home machine (even a very good one) in a high-volume setting, don't expect it to last very long at all.

#2. Special Electrical Requirements

Espresso machines and other café appliances require higher voltage power supplies than a standard power point will deliver. Check what amperage you will need, and make sure that your electrician locates an outlet to provide that near the machine/s. Many coffee machines and grinders can pull a fairly high current as well - some over 20 Amps - so it's very important to check the specifications on the machines you're using, and make sure that circuit can provide an adequate current.

#3. Plumbing Requirements

Most commercial espresso machines are built to be connected directly to the plumbing in your building so that they have a constant supply of water and do not need to be filled manually. Make sure that your plumber can provide a connection where you would like to locate your espresso machine(s).

Commercial espresso machines have a drain hose for waste fluids to keep the drip tray empty. Most councils stipulate that this drain hose needs to be run to a dedicated waste or floor drain that is within a certain distance of the machine. You should check with your local council to see what the requirement is for your location.

#4. Water Softeners and Maintenance

The biggest enemy of espresso machines is scale and the build-up of minerals or debris in your water. If you intend to do a high volume business and want years of use out of your espresso machine, you must use a specific water filter. Your coffee technician installing the machine should be able to advise an appropriate unit for your location.

You should also faithfully clean the machine (typically using a de-scaling agent and a blind-filter) and your coffee company or the machine manufacturer should show you how to do this. Similarly, you should periodically clean the in-line water softener and also keep the group handle clean so that the pressure does not vary.

#5. Number of Group heads (where the coffee is extracted)

Choosing the right sized coffee machine is important for many reasons.

First and foremost, you need to have a machine that can handle the workload you plan on putting through it. Choosing a machine that has enough group heads is one of the most important factors, as you need to consider the capacity you will be handling and a machine's ability to meet it. For example, a one group head coffee machine can make up to two espresso shots from the one head, while a two group coffee machine can potentially make up to 4 coffees at once. In saying that, if a café is serving double ristretto’s for each cup, then they will only get one per head, so that's another consideration to think about.

One way to help you decide what kind of coffee machine you'll need it by estimating how much coffee you will be using on a daily and/or weekly basis. A café or restaurant doing 5kg or less in a week would only require a small single group espresso machine, based on the 'rule-of-thumb' that 1kg of coffee produces 70 to 100 cups (depending on the basket size used).

However, if that 5kg was produced in a short period of time (i.e. a minimum of 5kg a week), you may consider a compact 2 group coffee machine. These are generally the same size and specifications as a single group, but they have 2 group heads that allow you to make twice as many espresso shots at one time. A compact 2 group espresso machine could handle anywhere up to 10kg per week maximum, depending on the spread of the customers over a day/week.

The most common sized machine is the full sized 2 group espresso machine. This has a larger boiler and element than the compact 2 group and is used in most café’s turning out up to 20kg of coffee per week. Again, this is dependant on the dispersion of the coffee produced throughout the day and over a week, but a 2 group coffee machine can potentially handle up to 30kg per week or more, which you should take into consideration when you look at space and staffing.

Some owners choose the number of group heads on their coffee machine to match their peak volume at rush hour, which could end up being a 3 or 4 group head coffee machine. However, we usually recommend 2 x 2 group head coffee machines as they provide a much better performance, smaller energy consumption, and simpler technical support and redundancy (i.e. if your four group machine fails you lose the whole thing, but if one of your two groups fails you can still make coffee).

You seldom see more than four group heads on a coffee machine, largely because there's not much point to having more than that if you are pouring shots correctly and have an experienced barista on the machine. Most espresso shot takes 20-30 seconds to pour and an experienced barista can knock-out the used coffee grounds from the group handle, refill the group handle with new coffee grounds and tamp, put the group handle back on the brewing head, and hit the "brew" switch in just a few seconds -  overall this takes very little time and a skilled operator can only realistically handle up to four group heads at a time with this process.

#6. Boiler Size, Capacity and Performance is Important

The number of group heads is vital, but most customers won't order a simple espresso with most orders consisting of cappuccino, flat white, latte, etc. These drinks require heated or textured milk, as well as a superbly crafted espresso shot.

As mentioned above, there is a capacity of the groups and how many espresso’s each group can output, but in a café, the real limitation is not the rate at which you can extract espresso, it's the rate at which you can heat or texture milk. All machines have at least one frothing wand, with most larger machines having two, and it's important your boiler size and heating element have the capacity to output the required milk coffee orders.

Most commercial espresso machines generally come with enough power and big enough boiler size to suit the number of groups, based on an average consumption over a certain period of time, although every unit is different. Depending on the drinks and the style in which you are making them, a bigger boiler may not be of benefit as the element will also need to be increased to ensure the stability of the boiler temperature, which is critical for espresso extraction. For example, espresso needs to be extracted between approximately 88 and 92 degrees, otherwise, you won’t get the right caramelisation of the saccharins in the coffee, resulting in a poor crema.

The way the two parts work together is a careful balance between size and power. Each time you use hot water from the machine, the machine draws in some cold water and the element needs to reheat this water back to the desired temperature. When at the desired temperature, the machine produces the perfect amount of steam at the right moisture content. Your steam can weaken if you have been using a lot of steam or hot water intermittently or for a prolonged period of time, decreasing from dry and forceful steam to steam that is slow and wet. This will end in a poorly textured milk product or even worse, no steam at all, which can be quite embarrassing when you have a bank of customers waiting for their coffee. 

#7. You'll Need Several Kinds of Milk

Long gone are the days where you only need full cream milk and a few bottles of skim to get you through. As the health-conscious consumer market continues to explode, so does the alternative milk industry which is constantly improving the quality and range of products.

Full cream milk is still a must and the most commonly used milk in coffee. It has a creamy texture that most customers will enjoy, as the fats and proteins react well with the coffee, delivering a smooth full-flavoured drink.

Skim or light milk has grown in popularity over the years as producers continue to bridge the flavour gap between skim/light milk and full cream. Skim and light milk are at the point now where there is very little difference in taste or texture anymore.

Soy is a staple in cafés and coffee shops today. There is no way you can provide coffee commercially and not have soy as a milk option. The rise in lactose intolerance awareness and many ethical concerns consumers have regarding dairy has made soy a necessary addition to the milk menu. This has also led to producers experimenting with a variety of other alternative milk, including almond, macadamia and coconut milk. All of these dairy-alternative milk are now available as "barista blend" milk, specifically processed to have less intrusive flavours that mix well with coffee, maintain their integrity as they heat and create micro-foam.

#8. The Coffee Grinder

Just like you need an espresso machine made for commercial use, your grinder should also be built for continuous use. If you don’t buy the right grinder, it will be the first thing to fail and it will take your whole operation with it till it can be fixed.

An easy way to ascertain if a grinder is made for commercial use is its weight: a small commercial grinder should weigh approximately 6kg or 10kg or more for a large grinder. This is because it has a large and powerful motor that can produce lots of torque at a relatively low speed, which is important because it will grind the coffee beans without heating them. Any heat to the coffee during grinding will cause the grind to lose flavour.

The grinder you choose should be able to do this without much strain so that you can grind coffee all day without wearing out the grinder. Smaller motors will burn-out with continuous use quite quickly.

Part of choosing the right sized grinder is having the right size and type of burrs. The right size and the type of the burr will ensure that the grinder can deliver the amount of ground coffee you need efficiently. It will also mean that you will not need to change the burrs too often, resulting in a clean cut of the bean and an even consistent grind for longer (which results in an optimal taste in the cup).

#9. You Will Need Two or More Grinders

If you are going to serve different kinds of coffee, such as decaffeinated coffee, organic coffee or single origin coffee as well as a primary blend/beans, you will need a grinder for each one.

In short, you will need:

- one large commercial grinder for your primary coffee

-one smaller commercial or grind on-demand coffee grinder for infrequent coffee types, such as decaf coffee, organic or single origin coffees. If you plan on using more than one of these, you will need a grinder for each one.

This setup is necessary because if you try to grind the various kinds of coffees through one grinder, you will inevitably get traces of the other coffees in your cup. Also, only providing one coffee option is becoming a thing of the past, as providing a variety allows you to satisfy a wider customer base. It is important to understand that peoples tastes vary and wander over time, and having coffee choices will bring in a larger, more varied crowd that will grow your business. 

As a side note,  we strongly recommend not using flavoured coffee beans for many reasons, but instead only using flavoured sugar syrups after the fact to achieve an arguably better result. 

#10. Costs

To most, the question of cost is first on the list. If you are a newcomer to the espresso business, you are probably shocked to learn what large commercial espresso machines cost. They are very different from home and office espresso machines. as they are much larger and much more durable, designed for daily continuous use over many years. An espresso machine that would be great in your home is absolutely not suitable in a high traffic situation.

But keep in mind what the financial picture really is: Not only is the cost of your machine deductible to your business (as a capital expense) but if you can drive a reasonable volume, these machines will pay for themselves surprisingly fast.

For example, let's assume that you sell a regular drink for $4 and that the coffee grounds and milk for the drink cost $0.50 (which is on the high side). Your gross earning is then $3.50 per drink sold. If you average 100 customers per day (which is considered small turnover), then your gross earnings are $350 per day. For a 5 day week, this is $1,750 just in coffee sales and in 4 weeks this becomes $7,000.

Whilst there are other costs to consider, a commercial machine and grinder can cost less than $7000.  Therefore, even with this relatively small volume example, you should be able to pay for your machine in just a few weeks and, with proper maintenance and promotion, this machine will continue to drive your revenue for many years.

Want more information about opening a café or looking for consultation regarding commercial supplies and equipment - ENQUIRE BELOW