Cup cost at coffee machines: What a cup really costs the operator

A cup of coffee from a machine costs the operator between 22 and 38 cents in unit costs depending on location and calculation method. The largest single item is the cost of goods at around 17 cents; capacity utilization, however, determines how heavily fixed costs per cup weigh. This guide fully calculates three locations and shows the VAT trap that can trigger either 19 or 7 percent on the same machine.

The Short Answer

A cup of coffee from a professional machine costs the operator 22.1 to 28.4 cents in unit costs if only the operator's service calls are counted—and 24.1 to 38.1 cents if daily cleaning is included as paid labour. Which figure applies to you depends on who cleans the machine daily; both calculation methods are set out below.

The largest individual cost is the cost of goods at 17 cents. The strongest lever, however, is capacity utilization, because depreciation, energy and service are fixed costs that spread across more or fewer cups.

This guide calculates three real locations using device data from our own test reports, official depreciation periods and current electricity prices. Every figure is derived so you can recalculate it with your own purchase prices.

One important caveat that overturns many calculations: the same machine can trigger different VAT rates for two beverages. A separate section below covers this.

The Four Cost Blocks of a Cup

Most calculations of cup cost include only the cost of goods. In reality, unit cost comprises four blocks:

1. 1.Depreciation of the machine—the purchase price spread over the useful life and the number of cups produced in that period.
2. 2.Cost of goods—beans, milk or milk powder, sugar, cocoa, water filters.
3. 3.Energy—heating, brewing, keeping warm, standby.
4. 4.Service and labour—filling, cleaning, service calls, maintenance intervals.

VAT is expressly not included. For a business entitled to input tax deduction, it is a pass-through item: it is added to the net price and paid over, it does not increase costs. It determines revenue, not unit costs—and that is exactly where the trap discussed below lies.

Only block 2 scales directly with cup volume. Blocks 1, 3 and 4 are largely fixed—they apply whether ten or two hundred cups are drawn daily. This means that while cost of goods is the largest individual item, capacity utilization is the stronger lever.

Basis 1: Depreciation under Official Tables

The Federal Ministry of Finance depreciation tables specify five years for vending and fully automatic coffee machines, i.e. 20 percent on a straight-line basis. Important for your own calculation: these tables are a tool and not a binding rule. What applies is the actual useful economic life, to be estimated in light of the specific operating circumstances—in continuous operation at a high-volume location it can be shorter, under careful use it can be longer. We use five years because it is the standard starting point.

From this figure and the purchase price, the depreciation per cup is:

We use 250 operating days throughout—equivalent to an office location without weekend operation.

Basis 2: Energy, with Realistic Assumption

The rated power on the nameplate is not the actual consumption. A machine with 2,100 watts draws this power only during heat-up; during operation the heater cycles. We therefore calculate average consumption at 25 percent of rated power over ten operating hours—an assumption, not a measurement, and flagged as such.

For electricity price we use 27 cents per kilowatt-hour. This is the average paid by a commercial customer in 2026 for annual consumption of around 10,000 kilowatt-hours; regionally the range net is approximately 24 to 29 cents, larger industrial operators contract at significantly lower rates.

Basis 3: Cost of Goods and Service—Your Numbers

There is no universal figure for beans, milk and labour time—they depend on your purchasing and route planning. We calculate with clearly named assumptions that you can substitute:

• 8 grams of beans per cup at a purchase price of €20 per kilogram → 16 cents
• 1 cent for water filters and cleaning agents per cup
• Operator service: two service calls per month, 30 minutes each including travel time, at a full cost rate of €35 per hour → €35 per month, €420 per year.
• Daily cleaning: approximately 10 minutes per day. Who pays depends on the contract—at office locations customer staff often handle it, in which case it is not a cost block for the operator. It does not disappear, however: 250 days × 10 minutes × €35 = €1,458 per year. We therefore show it separately below rather than pass over it silently.

For milk-based beverages, add the milk cost separately—which comes to 8 to 20 cents surcharge per drink depending on fresh milk or powder.

Calculation 1: Small Office, 60 Cups per Day

Machine: a compact entry-level tabletop unit. We use figures from our test of the Franke A200/A300—2,100 watts rated power, designed for 120 cups per day, purchase price from €4,675 net.

Depreciation: €4,675 ÷ (5 × 250 × 60) = €4,675 ÷ 75,000 cups = 6.2 cents

Energy: 2.1 kW × 25% = 0.525 kW average consumption × 10 hours = 5.25 kWh per day. Divided over 60 cups, that is 0.0875 kWh per cup, at 27 cents per kilowatt-hour = 2.4 cents

Cost of goods: 16 cents beans + 1 cent filters and cleaning = 17 cents

Service: €420 per year ÷ (250 × 60) = €420 ÷ 15,000 cups = 2.8 cents

Net unit cost: 28.4 cents per cup

At a selling price of €1.00 gross, that is 84 cents net (standard VAT rate, see below). That leaves 55.6 cents contribution margin per cup, or €8,340 per year—before rent, location fee and administration. If daily cleaning at 9.7 cents is added, it comes to 45.9 cents per cup and €6,885 per year.

Calculation 2: Mid-Range Location, 200 Cups per Day

Machine: one size up. We use figures from our test of the Necta Kalea Plus—3,200 watts, designed for 200 cups per day, purchase price from €6,798 net.

Depreciation: €6,798 ÷ (5 × 250 × 200) = €6,798 ÷ 250,000 cups = 2.7 cents

Energy: 3.2 kW × 25% = 0.8 kW × 10 hours = 8 kWh per day ÷ 200 cups = 0.04 kWh per cup × 27 cents = 1.1 cents

Cost of goods: unchanged 17 cents

Service: at double the frequency we calculate three service calls monthly, i.e. €630 per year ÷ 50,000 cups = 1.3 cents

Net unit cost: 22.1 cents per cup

3.3 times as many cups reduces unit costs by well over a fifth—and this despite the machine costing 45 percent more and drawing more power. This is the scale effect at the heart of vending.

Calculation 3: High Volume, 370 Cups per Day

Machine: canteen-grade. From our test of the Melitta Cafina XT8—8,700 watts, designed for 370 cups per day, purchase price from €14,084 net.

Depreciation: €14,084 ÷ (5 × 250 × 370) = €14,084 ÷ 462,500 cups = 3.0 cents

Energy: 8.7 kW × 25% = 2.175 kW × 10 hours = 21.75 kWh per day ÷ 370 cups = 0.059 kWh × 27 cents = 1.6 cents

Cost of goods: unchanged 17 cents

Service: four service calls monthly, €840 per year ÷ 92,500 cups = 0.9 cents

Net unit cost: 22.5 cents per cup

Notably, compared to Calculation 2, unit costs do not fall further. The machine costs roughly double (€14,084 vs €6,798) and draws 2.7 times the connected load—the higher cup volume roughly offsets this exactly. Going from 200 to 370 cups gains capacity and speed, but no cost advantage per cup.

This does not imply a general threshold at 200 cups. The effect arises here from comparing three different machines at three different prices. Operating the same machine at higher capacity further reduces cost per cup—the gap disappears as soon as the machine remains constant.

The VAT Trap: 19 or 7 Percent on the Same Machine

The standard VAT rate applies to prepared coffee and tea—even for takeaway sales, and also when the customer mixes powder and hot water at the machine itself.

Different rules apply to milk-based beverages: If the beverage contains at least 75 percent milk or milk products—measured by mass proportion, not volume—the reduced rate of 7 percent can apply for takeaway. Typical candidates are Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino and Café au Lait with correspondingly high milk content.

Two restrictions frequently overlooked in practice:

• If the beverage is consumed on premises, a service provision may apply—the standard rate then applies again.
• Plant-based drinks instead of milk always trigger the standard rate. A latte with oat milk is not a milk-based beverage for tax purposes.

For your calculation this means: if you segment your product mix by VAT rate, you can achieve different margins at identical unit costs. At €1.50 gross, 19 percent leaves €1.26 net, 7 percent leaves €1.40 net—a difference of 14 cents per drink that amounts to around €7,000 per year at 200 drinks daily. Whether the 75 percent threshold is met in a given case is a question of recipe and should be clarified with your tax adviser, not the machine manufacturer.

Bean Price or Capacity Utilization: Which Yields More

In all three calculations, cost of goods is 17 cents and thus the largest single item. Both levers pay off—but they work differently, and per cup purchasing wins.

Take Calculation 2 and reduce the bean price by a fifth, from €20 to €16 per kilogram. Cost of goods falls from 17 to 13.8 cents, unit cost from 22.1 to 18.9 cents—an improvement of 3.2 cents.

Now the counterfactual: we leave purchasing unchanged and raise the cup volume from 200 to 260 per day, say by locating the machine better in the building. Depreciation falls to 2.09 cents, energy to 0.83 cents, service to 0.97 cents. Unit cost falls to 20.89 cents—an improvement of 1.17 cents, while boosting throughput by 30 percent. Per cup, the purchasing discount thus yields nearly three times as much. In absolute terms the picture flips, because 60 additional cups daily also generate additional revenue—provided they actually sell.

The practical consequence: purchasing is the more reliable lever because the saving per cup is guaranteed. Capacity utilization is the larger but uncertain lever—it only works if additional cups actually sell. If you can do both, do both; if you can reliably do only one, negotiate purchasing.

What This Means for Your Selling Price

The three calculations establish a robust floor:

Without daily cleaning, i.e. operator service costs only:

• Small office, 60 cups per day: 28.4 cents net unit cost
• Mid-range location, 200 cups per day: 22.1 cents
• High volume, 370 cups per day: 22.5 cents

With daily cleaning as paid labour (€1,458 per year, divided over respective cup volume):

• Small office, 60 cups per day: 38.1 cents (+9.7)
• Mid-range location, 200 cups per day: 25.0 cents (+2.9)
• High volume, 370 cups per day: 24.1 cents (+1.6)

The uplift shows how strongly a fixed cost block hits small locations: the same work costs 9.7 cents per cup at 60 cups and only 1.6 cents at 370 cups.

Not included are location fees, rent, insurance, administration and downtime. As a rule of thumb—a planning assumption, not a universal figure—add these overheads at 15 to 25 percent. This puts the price floor between approximately 28 and 48 cents, depending on location and calculation method.

A selling price of 80 cents gross equals 67 cents net at the standard VAT rate. Against 22.1 cents unit cost—without daily cleaning and without overheads—a mid-range location has a sustainable margin.

At a small location it gets tight. At 60 cups daily, unit costs are 28.4 cents without and 38.1 cents with calculated cleaning. Add 15 to 25 percent overheads and you have 33 to 48 cents against 67 cents revenue. It works but leaves little room for repairs or rising purchase prices—and at the upper end, an 80-cent price is barely sustainable.

Five Errors That Distort the Calculation

Treating rated power as consumption. The nameplate shows peak load. Calculating 2,100 watts times ten hours gives 21 kilowatt-hours per day instead of 5.25—and thus four times too high an energy cost share.

Forgetting depreciation. At low volume it is the second-largest item. At 60 cups daily it is 6.2 cents, more than double the energy cost.

Not using full cost rate for service time. An hourly wage is not the cost rate. Vehicle, employment taxes, tools and non-productive time belong in, otherwise the service share is systematically too low.

Using a flat VAT rate. Calculating your entire product mix at 19 percent may cost you margin on milk-based drinks. Flatly applying 7 percent risks a tax assessment.

Confusing capacity with sales. A machine rated for 370 cups does not deliver 370 cups if only 80 people work in the building. The calculations above show: capacity costs money, sales bring it in.

Checklist: Your Cup Calculation in Eight Steps

Calculate your own location in this sequence. The sequence matters because each step builds on the previous:

1. 1.Estimate actual sales, not machine capacity—number of people on site times typically 1.5 to 2.5 cups per person per working day.
2. 2.Set operating days—250 in an office, 300 to 365 for shift or public locations.
3. 3.Calculate depreciation: Purchase price divided by five years, divided by operating days times cups.
4. 4.Calculate energy: Rated power times realistic load factor times operating hours, times your electricity rate, divided by cups.
5. 5.Use cost of goods with your purchase prices, separately for black and milk-based drinks.
6. 6.Use full cost rate for service, including travel time and vehicle.
7. 7.Clarify VAT per beverage, not flat—considering recipe and place of consumption.
8. 8.Add overheads, 15 to 25 percent, then set your selling price.

If you are uncertain at Step 1, a two-week count is worth more than any estimate. Every subsequent step depends on this single figure.

Relevant Test Reports for Further Reading

The device data in this guide comes from our own tests. For specific class comparison, you will find there datasheet values, operating costs and ratings:

• Entry class for small offices: Franke A200/A300, 120 cups per day
• Mid-range class: Necta Kalea Plus, 200 cups per day
• Canteen class: Melitta Cafina XT8, 370 cups per day