Vending Machine Business PlanHow should coffee vending differ from packaged-goods vending?
Coffee needs a recipe and a resource bottleneck. Packaged goods need purchased item cost and slot stock. Water sold by volume needs recovery, feed supply and filter capacity. Applying one packaged-item cost to all three hides the resources that actually constrain sales.
These unit costs are chosen illustrations for U.S. planning, before commission, payment fees, route labor and fixed maintenance. They are not equipment specifications, supplier quotes or recommended serving recipes.
| Format / revenue unit | Illustrative resource basis | Consumed unit cost |
|---|---|---|
| Packaged: one item | $0.80 landed / 98% saleable yield | $0.82 |
| Coffee: one 8 US fl oz cup | 8g beans at $20/kg; 5g powder at $12/kg; water $0.004/L; 95% ingredient yield; $0.12 cup/lid; $0.015 electricity | $0.3676 |
| Water: one US gallon | $0.01 feedwater/sewer per feed gallon / 50% recovery + $0.03 filter media + $0.015 electricity | $0.0650 |
Build the coffee stock limit from the recipe
Eight U.S. fluid ounces equals 0.2365882365 liters. The conversion uses U.S. customary fluid volume, consistent with the rounded factors in NIST’s conversion table; it is not an Imperial fluid ounce. A 30-liter filled reservoir at 95% ingredient yield supports approximately 120.46 cups. A 1 kg bean hopper supports 118.75 cups at 8 g and 95% yield; a 1 kg powder hopper supports 190 cups at 5 g. With 150 cups loaded, beans constrain this example to 118.75 expected cups between services. A slower machine throughput could impose a tighter limit.
Do not apply the ingredient loss percentage to the cup a second time. The cost tool divides ingredient cost by yield, then adds cup/lid and electricity. For black coffee, set powder dose to zero; the powder hopper then stops constraining capacity. Additional flavors require a more detailed recipe and separate inventory logs.
Keep water resources and maintenance separate
At 50% recovery, 100 feed gallons can support 50 dispensed gallons before the uptime adjustment. A filter capacity of 500 dispensed gallons per service is a separate limit. Use measured recovery and manufacturer-rated capacities, not this example. The per-gallon filter allowance covers media consumed; do not add the same media cost again under fixed maintenance.
Food and water obligations depend on jurisdiction and equipment. For the federal food-calorie-labeling scope, the FDA vending guidance covers operators with 20 or more machines and certain voluntary registrants, with exemptions. This is not a complete local permit or food-safety assessment. Confirm local health, water testing, cleaning, temperature and plumbing requirements with the relevant authority before placement.
Use Vended Item Cost for the selected recipe and then Vending Profit for stock, supply, uptime and route limits. A change in serving size, recipe yield, water recovery or service interval can reverse which format appears more attractive.
