Drinks for an office breakfast: how much to plan per person?

It is the item people calculate last, and the one that goes wrong most often. Everyone knows how to count pastries. Almost nobody knows how to count the drinks for an office breakfast. The result: the coffee runs out after twenty minutes and half the team drinks tap water.

Here are the benchmarks we use to cost our orders, in Paris and Île-de-France.

The figure to remember: a thermos covers 6 to 8 cups

This is where it all happens. A thermos is one litre, or 6 to 8 cups. Not a team. At a breakfast for 20 people, a single thermos of coffee barely covers a third of the participants, and nobody gets a second cup.

Coffee is by far the most requested drink in the morning: expect 7 people out of 10 to have some, and a good number to come back for a second cup if the occasion lasts more than an hour.

How much to order for your headcount

The quantities we apply to every quote for a one-hour breakfast: 1 hot drink per person, i.e. 1 thermos of 1 L for 6 people (4 of coffee for 1 of tea), and one 20 cl glass of juice per person.

Headcount	Coffee thermoses (1 L)	Tea thermoses (1 L)	Alain Milliat juice (1 L)
10 people	2	0	2
15 people	2	1	3
20 people	3	1	4
30 people	4	1	6
50 people	7	2	10
80 people	11	3	16
100 people	14	3	20

If your breakfast lasts more than an hour and a half, or if there is no coffee machine on the premises, go up a notch on coffee. It is the only item on which we systematically advise ordering generously.

Juice: one litre for five glasses

One litre fills 5 glasses of 20 cl. Our orders show about one glass per person: for 20 participants, allow four litres.

We deliver Alain Milliat juices and nectars in one-litre bottles: apple, apple-raspberry and tomato juice at €9.50 excl. VAT, peach, strawberry, mango and passion fruit nectars at €10.50 excl. VAT, and our organic lime and ginger infusions. The full list is on our drinks page.

A tip from the field: two flavours are better than one in double. A classic juice that everyone drinks, a more pronounced nectar for those who want something else. That is the combination that leaves the least in the bottom of the bottles.

Tea and hot chocolate

Tea is ordered at a ratio of about one thermos of tea for four of coffee, or about one for thirty people: it is much less requested than coffee, but not having any is noticed immediately. We serve Mariage Frères teas, in one-litre thermoses at €19.50 excl. VAT, the same price as organic coffee.

Hot chocolate, also at €19.50 excl. VAT, has no real point at a classic team breakfast. On the other hand, it becomes the main drink at an afternoon break, a children's Christmas party or whenever there are children.

Should you order water?

Often not. Most offices have a water fountain or jugs, and water is the drink you can most easily forget to serve without anyone complaining.

It becomes useful in two cases: when you are hosting outside guests, and when the breakfast is held in a room with no water point. We then deliver Evian and Badoit in 75 cl at €4.80 excl. VAT, Evian 33 cl at €3.80 excl. VAT, and L'Eau Neuve in a recyclable 50 cl carton at €4.50 excl. VAT if you want to avoid plastic and glass.

The drinks budget, in practice

For a breakfast for 20 people, a common set-up:

• 2 thermoses of organic coffee: €39.00 excl. VAT
• 1 thermos of Mariage Frères tea: €19.50 excl. VAT
• 2 litres of Alain Milliat juice: €19.00 excl. VAT

That is €77.50 excl. VAT, or €3.88 per person. Drinks generally account for a third to 40% of the budget for a full breakfast: it is not a detail, and that is why it is better to cost them than to add them at the last minute. The overall calculation is in our guide office breakfast in Paris, and the breakdown by headcount in office breakfast budget.

Large groups and seminars

Beyond 60 people, thermoses become impractical: you need too many, and they cool down. For training days and seminars, we offer 10-litre dispensers of organic infusion, ginger or passion fruit, at €59.90 excl. VAT, which last a whole morning and are served on a self-service basis.

Sugar-free, alcohol-free, dietary requirements

Alain Milliat juices have no added sugar, no concentrate and no preservatives, and our whole drinks list is vegan and gluten-free. In a team where some people avoid sugar, an infusion or a flavoured water next to the juices settles the matter without having to place a separate order.

Ordering your drinks

Drinks are ordered with the platters, in the same delivery: cups included, nothing to prepare on your side. Order before 2 pm the day before, delivery from 6:30 am, €50 minimum order (excl. VAT) and delivery €29 excl. VAT in Paris and nearby towns. Request your quote, reply within 24 hours.

Frequently asked questions about drinks for an office breakfast