Coffee, water & workplace calculators

Use the numbers before you buy anything.

Use your own assumptions to explore coffee usage, ingredient replenishment, water costs, equipment routes and workplace scenarios. Home customers can use the ingredient, water and coffee comparisons; workplace customers can also model peak demand, employee benefit and paid or subsidised coffee. The outputs are planning aids, not product specifications or guaranteed savings.

Paid or subsidised coffee

Paid coffee / payback

Model an employee or customer charge against drink cost, fixed costs and an entered equipment investment.

People using the siteDrinks per person per dayWorking days per monthCustomer/staff contribution per drink (£)Comparable external drink (£)Estimated variable cost per drink (£)Other monthly fixed cost (£)Upfront equipment and setup (£)

Estimated monthly drinks–

Annual drink sales / contributions–

Annual variable drink cost–

Illustrative monthly surplus–

Illustrative payback–

Illustrative annual surplus–

Employee saving vs entered external price/year–

What this result suggestsUse the result as a commercial pressure-test.

Change the contribution, drink cost and fixed-cost assumptions to see which variable actually changes the outcome. Then compare the model with the real machine, payment fees, service, VAT treatment and expected participation.

Useful check: run a cautious case as well as your expected case before using the figure in a buying decision.

Illustration only. Enter your own prices, ingredient costs, finance/rental, service and other costs. VAT, tax, wastage, downtime and transaction fees may also apply.

Demand planning

Peak demand

Turn headcount into a peak-hour demand figure that can be checked against verified equipment throughput.

People using the siteDrinks per person per day% of daily drinks in peak windowPeak window length (hours)

Estimated daily demand–

Drinks in peak window–

Average peak demand–

Average spacing in the peak hour–

What to do with the demand figureSize around the busiest realistic period, not headcount alone.

Compare the calculated peak-hour demand with verified manufacturer throughput, recovery and drink-build times. Then allow for queues, cleaning, refilling and the fact that demand rarely arrives perfectly evenly.

Pressure-test the peak share and peak-window length rather than relying on one estimate.

Use this demand figure to compare against verified manufacturer throughput and recovery data. It does not state that any specific machine can meet the calculated demand.

Hydration comparison

Bottled vs mains

Compare entered bottled-water costs with an entered mains-fed route before site suitability is considered.

Bottles used per weekCost per bottle (£)Mains system monthly cost (£)Annual service/filter cost (£)

Illustrative bottled cost/year–

Illustrative mains cost/year–

Illustrative difference–

Bottles handled in the model per year–

What this comparison does not showCost is only one part of the water decision.

Use the difference alongside plumbing availability, bottle storage and lifting, peak dispense demand, filtration, hygiene, service access and the outputs you want such as chilled or sparkling water.

A cheaper entered route can still be the wrong operational fit for the site.

Enter your real bottle, rental/purchase, filter, service, water and installation costs. Site suitability, bottle handling, drainage, capacity and hygiene requirements should also influence the decision.

Coffee route comparison

Instant vs bean-to-cup

Compare the entered monthly economics of an instant route and a bean-to-cup route at the same estimated drink volume.

People using the siteDrinks per person per dayWorking days per monthInstant variable cost per drink (£)Bean-to-cup variable cost per drink (£)Instant equipment / support per month (£)Bean-to-cup equipment / support per month (£)

Estimated monthly drinks–

Instant monthly cost–

Bean-to-cup monthly cost–

Entered-cost difference–

Decision promptDo not let a small cost difference decide the machine class.

After comparing the entered costs, score the two routes against drink quality, menu range, peak speed, cleaning burden, milk handling, waste, service and what users will realistically maintain.

If the economics are close, operational fit and drink experience usually deserve more weight in the shortlist.

Cost alone does not decide the right route. Compare drink quality, menu range, cleaning, speed, reliability, service, waste and the actual equipment configuration alongside the figures entered here.

Replenishment

Ingredient usage

Estimate monthly ingredient weight and packs from the verified dose you enter.

Serves per dayVerified grams per serveOperating days per monthPack size (grams)

Estimated monthly ingredient–

Estimated packs per month–

Average weekly usage–

Replenishment planningTurn consumption into a reorder rhythm, not a guess.

Start from the verified dose, then compare the calculated monthly requirement with real order history. Add a sensible buffer for delivery lead time, recipe variation and wastage rather than simply ordering the exact mathematical minimum.

Review the estimate after the first few real delivery cycles and adjust it to actual consumption.

Use the verified product or machine dose for grams per serve. Allow separately for priming, cleaning, recipe variation, staff use and wastage if relevant.

Time scenario

Workplace productivity

Explore the time that could remain on site when employees replace an external drinks trip with an on-site drink.

People using the siteExternal trips replaced per person/dayMinutes per external tripWorking days per yearOptional hourly time value (£)

External trips replaced/year–

Hours retained on site/year–

Indicative time value/year–

Use this carefullyValidate the behaviour before valuing the time.

Observe how often people actually leave site for drinks, how long those trips take and whether an on-site offer would genuinely replace them. The time value is an opportunity-size scenario, not a guaranteed productivity saving.

For a business case, separate time retained on site from any claim about profit or output.

Scenario only, not a profit forecast. It assumes every entered trip is actually replaced and that retained time has the hourly value entered. Breaks, wellbeing, behaviour, payroll and productivity effects vary by workplace.

Staff proposition

Employee benefit

Compare an entered external drink price with a free or subsidised workplace drink.

People using the benefitWorkplace drinks per person/dayWorking days per yearComparable external price/drink (£)Employee charge/drink (£)Employer variable cost/drink (£)

Employee saving per drink–

Employee saving across users/year–

Employer contribution/year–

Workplace drinks/year–

Compare three policiesFree, subsidised and paid drinks solve different problems.

Run the calculator more than once: a free-vend case, a partial staff contribution and a paid-vend case. Compare the employer cost with the employee saving and the experience you want to create.

Payment hardware, transaction fees and any employment/tax treatment sit outside this simple model.

Illustration only. This is not tax, payroll or employment-benefit advice. Use comparable drinks and your real costs, participation and operating days; confirm any tax treatment with a qualified adviser.

1 · Expected

Run the scenario you genuinely expect

Use realistic participation, drinks, costs and operating days. Avoid making a calculator prove the answer you already want.

2 · Cautious

Run a weaker-demand or higher-cost case

Reduce participation or increase a key cost and see whether the conclusion changes. A decision that only works in the best case is fragile.

3 · Operational

Add the things a spreadsheet does not feel

Queues, cleaning, bottle handling, milk care, service access, refill time and user behaviour can matter more than a small monthly cost difference.

4 · Verify

Replace assumptions with live data before ordering

Use current product specifications, real supplier/service costs, payment fees and site information when the decision moves from planning into procurement.

Coffee Café Perfection Apex 24 Bean-to-Cup Coffee Machine

Water Café Perfection ArcticChill 108 Water Cooler

Hot water Café Perfection 1000C Water Boiler

Type

Coffee Machine

Water Coolers

Boilers

Current store price

£2,999.00

£539.00

£809.00

Next step

View product

Check the exact configuration, capacity, utilities, installation, availability and service requirements with Café Perfection before committing.

Workplace coffee and water demand planning

Brief

Build the requirement

Use the Solution Builder to turn the numbers into a clearer home or workplace coffee, water or complete-setup route.

Home or workplace
Drink priorities
Daily demand
Water and plumbing
Buying or support route

Open Solution Builder

Coffee

Compare coffee routes

Move from the cost model into the real equipment range and compare systems against the demand you calculated.

Bean-to-cup
Commercial coffee systems
Purchase or quote-led rental
Ingredients & service

Explore coffee machines

Water

Check the hydration route

Use the cost comparison alongside plumbing, storage, handling, hygiene and actual peak demand.

Mains-fed
Bottled
Tabletop & floorstanding
Service & filtration

Explore water coolers Water buying guide

Site

Turn estimates into a real specification

Send Café Perfection the numbers plus the site details so equipment and installation can be checked properly.

Site review
Utilities
Equipment shortlist
Commercial route
Service plan

Get a free consultation

Final equipment, installation and service requirements depend on site conditions, verified manufacturer data and the agreed scope.

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