A Saturday morning phone call
It is Saturday, the café is busy, and the manager has just opened the last bag of espresso. Can you get some over today? You are not roasting today, the van is not out, and the owner ends up driving over a few kilos from the shelf. It happens often enough that everyone at the roastery dreads a weekend phone call.
Looking back at the café's orders, the pattern is plain: they buy a similar amount every week or so, and every few weeks they forget to order until they are empty.
Cafés order when they notice
Café managers are busy and staff change often. Ordering coffee is one of many jobs and it happens when someone notices the store cupboard is nearly empty. Usage also shifts: a sunny spell, a new menu item, a local event or the school holidays can move it a lot, and the café does not adjust its ordering to match.
- Orders are placed when stock is almost gone.
- Usage changes with season and events, and ordering does not.
- The person who orders changes as staff turn over.
- Your team only sees an order after it arrives.
- Nobody notices a café that has quietly started ordering less.
Emergency runs and quiet losses
Emergency deliveries cost driving time, disrupt the roast plan and sometimes mean selling coffee that should have gone elsewhere. Cafés that run out may buy from someone else in a pinch, and some never come back. The quieter risk is a café whose orders are slowly shrinking because it is buying part of its coffee elsewhere, which nobody notices until the account is almost gone.
It also skews the roast plan. Emergency orders are roasted in small batches squeezed between planned ones, which is less efficient on the roaster and harder to keep consistent, and the coffee for the next planned order sometimes ends up borrowed to cover the gap.
Usage tracking and prompts we build
- Each café's order history is analysed to estimate its typical usage and ordering rhythm, with seasonal patterns where there is enough history.
- An expected run out date is estimated for each café after every order.
- A few days before the roast plan cut off that matters for that date, the café receives a friendly prompt, by WhatsApp, text or email as they prefer, with a one tap reorder of their usual order.
- Your team sees a list of cafés that are due, overdue or much quieter than usual.
- Cafés that prefer a standing order can be switched to one, generated automatically and adjusted by exception.
- Accounts that are ordering noticeably less than their past pattern are flagged for a friendly call rather than left to drift.
| Café pattern | What happens now | What happens afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Orders regularly | Fine until they forget | Prompt before they run low |
| Usage rising in summer | Runs out more often | Estimate adjusts, prompt earlier |
| New manager | Misses the routine | Prompt arrives regardless |
| Ordering less | Unnoticed | Flagged for a call |
| Prefers a standing order | Set up informally | Automatic, adjustable |
What the roastery week looks like
Fewer panic calls and fewer emergency runs. Orders arrive before the roast plan cut off, which makes roasting calmer and more predictable. Café managers appreciate the reminder, because it is one less thing to remember. And the account review each month starts with real signals about which cafés are growing and which need attention.
Are cafés running out on you?
- Cafés ring asking for same day coffee.
- Someone does emergency deliveries most weeks.
- Orders often arrive after the roast plan is set.
- A café's orders dropped for months before you noticed.
- You do not know when each café is likely to order next.