The menu of a coffee robot is often chosen last, after the machine and the location. Yet it is the menu that decides what customers buy, the price they pay and the margin left after each drink. A well-thought-out menu can make a good location more profitable. A poorly adapted one can hold back sales in a very busy venue. Here is how to reason, drink by drink, before investing.
The menu is part of a coffee robot's profitability
A coffee robot's profitability depends on two things: the location and the products. The first sets the number of potential customers, the second what each of them spends. Two venues with the same footfall can give very different results, depending on whether or not the menu matches customers' habits.
The menu acts on three levers:
- the average basket: a more elaborate drink generally sells for more than an espresso;
- the margin per drink: each recipe has its own cost in coffee, milk, sugar and cup;
- loyalty: a customer who finds their usual drink comes back, one who does not walks on.
For the price of the machine, the scenarios and the break-even point, the investment page gives the up-to-date figures. Our article on calculating the margin and the return on investment explains the method.
The drink families to consider
Before choosing, you need to know what the machine can prepare. For the ROBOKAFÉ robot, the coffee robot page presents the machine, and we confirm the exact list of drinks before any purchase. In general, the menu of a self-service café is organised around a few families:
- Black coffees (espresso, long black): the basics. They are simple, quick to serve and cost little in ingredients. They are often the most requested drinks in the morning and after lunch.
- Milk drinks (cappuccino, latte): they sell for more and need more ingredients. Milk generally has to be kept chilled and requires regular cleaning, depending on the machine.
- Coffee-free drinks (hot chocolate, tea): they open the menu to people who do not drink coffee, to families and to afternoon customers.
- Options (size, double shot, syrup, plant-based milk): a simple extra, which raises the ticket without changing the basic recipe.
- Cold drinks: if the machine offers them, they extend the season when demand for hot coffee drops.
Adapting the menu to the location
The right menu changes from one place to another. It follows the venue's audience, and choosing that venue remains the first decision (see how to choose the right location).
- Station, airport, high-traffic place: customers in a hurry, impulse purchases. You need a short menu, readable in a few seconds, with the great classics at the top. Too much choice slows down the queue.
- Offices: regular customers who come by several times a day. Black coffees dominate, but you need a little variety so they do not get bored: a milk drink, a tea, a plant-based option.
- Shopping centre, leisure venue: people come as a family and take their time. Indulgent and coffee-free drinks find their place there more easily.
- Campus: a tighter budget and strong attention to price. An affordable entry-level coffee, complemented by a few more elaborate drinks.
- Restaurant: the robot complements the existing menu, often at the end of a meal or for takeaway. Our article on the coffee robot in a restaurant or a company details what to check on site.
A short menu often sells better than a long one
It is tempting to switch on every possible recipe. In practice, a menu that is too long raises three problems.
First, customers hesitate, and in a high-traffic place every hesitation costs sales. Next, every extra ingredient is a stock to monitor, renew and use up before its use-by date. Finally, rarely chosen drinks take up space and tie up products without earning anything.
A simple method: start with a tight menu around the most requested drinks, then add or remove recipes according to real sales.
Setting the price of each drink
The price of a drink is set from its real cost, not only by looking at the neighbours. For each recipe, add up:
- the ingredients: coffee, milk, powder, sugar, syrup;
- the consumables: cup, lid, stirrer;
- the share of payment fees, if the machine accepts bank cards.
The gap between this cost and the selling price excluding VAT is the drink's margin. Milk drinks and options often cost more to prepare, but they also sell for more: it is the gap that counts, not the price alone.
You also need to look at the prices around you: the café on the corner, the vending machine in the lobby, the bakery. Customers compare. If the drink is prepared before their eyes, the experience can justify a price above a classic vending machine, provided the quality is there.
Changing the menu with the seasons
People drink fewer hot drinks when it is hot. Several answers are possible: feature cold drinks if the machine offers them, adjust the menu by month, or install a second product alongside. An ice cream robot next to a coffee robot balances the seasons in the same venue. Our article Ice cream robot: the ideal complement to coffee explains the principle.
Tracking sales to correct the menu
A menu is adjusted with figures, not by guesswork. The first months are for observing:
- which drinks sell the most, and at what times;
- which ones hardly sell at all;
- the average basket, and whether it rises when an option is added.
A drink that sells little and whose stock is expensive can come off the menu. A drink in high demand at a specific time can be featured at that time, if the screen allows it.
The questions to ask before buying
The menu also depends on the machine. Before investing, ask these questions:
- Which drinks does the machine prepare, and with which ingredients?
- Can you switch on, remove or change a recipe yourself?
- Can prices be changed remotely?
- Does the machine give a breakdown of sales by drink and by hour?
- Which ingredients must be kept chilled, and how long does a restock last?
- Which options (size, plant-based milk, syrup) are possible?
The answers change the way the menu is put together, and therefore the margin.
In short
The menu of a coffee robot is not a detail: together with the location, it is what makes the machine profitable. A short menu, adapted to the venue's audience, with a price calculated for each drink and reviewed according to sales, gives the investment its best chance. No gain is guaranteed, but every menu choice can be measured and corrected.
To discuss the menu that would suit your location, you can contact us.
