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Permalink Reply by Sarah Dooley on September 12, 2008 at 11:34pm

Jessa,

I have noticed and you probably have to that while twenty and twenty four oz. beverages are poplular for commuters they are very hard to get a good margin on. I really suggest going with a commuter value cup. The customer will cut back on waste by not using a cup a day, the owner will give or sell at a discount an inexpensive cup for the valued customer which will keep the drink hot or cold based on the order and the loyal response you can get by having that cup will very quickly benefit the bottom line because the commuter value cup also comes with a guaranteed coffee rate for one year, or a ten percent discount...Menu pricing is a tough and touchy subject. I am currently helping two of my customers find the right pricing base on the costs of goods. It's time consuming but worth the details.
I think it is easiest as well to serve the basic drinks and really focus on daily specials for extra's. That not only helps with consistency from shift to shift and barista to barista plus you don't have to stock one million and one different tools and flavors keeping some waste costs down.

Hopefully those are good starter points, i look forward to following the other answers on this.

take care

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Permalink Reply by stephanie crocker on September 13, 2008 at 6:28pm

Sarah has the right idea to start simply. You don't know your customer base yet, so how can you know what they'll like? Definitely cost out your products, and be sure to have a plan to account for waste. I think the drink specials will be a great way to find out which specialty drinks become part of the regular menu. Focusing on quality will help you retain customers. Focusing on price will only make you lose customers once they find a better deal. The most important thing is that you really look at the most popular items, and base your expanding menu on that bit of data. Good luck.

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