Cafe: Cup & Packaging Cost per Drink

Excel Formulas › Coffee Shop & Cafe

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The coffee gets the attention, but the cup, lid, and sleeve add up too. Sum the packaging pieces to see the disposable cost baked into every to-go drink.


Quick formula: Add the cup, lid, and sleeve costs:
=SUM(B2:D2)

A $0.12 cup, $0.04 lid, and $0.03 sleeve cost $0.19 per drink — real money at hundreds of cups a day.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

The example

Three cup sizes, each with its cup, lid, and sleeve cost.

ABCDE
1SizeCupLidSleeveTotal cost
212 oz$0.12$0.04$0.03$0.19
316 oz$0.14$0.04$0.03$0.21
420 oz$0.17$0.05$0.03$0.25

The formula

SUM adds the packaging pieces:

=SUM(B2:D2) // cup + lid + sleeve

How it works

Each piece is a real cost per drink:

  1. B2:D2 covers the cup, lid, and sleeve for that size.
  2. SUM adds them into one packaging cost per drink.
  3. Add this to your coffee and milk cost to get the full cost of goods behind a latte.

Multiply the packaging cost by daily drink count to see how much disposables cost you each day.

Try it: interactive demo

Interactive

Enter the cup, lid, and sleeve cost.

Variations

Add a straw or stopper

Include extra disposables for cold or blended drinks.

=SUM(B2:E2)

Pitfalls & errors

Price each piece from the case: divide the case price by the count to get a true per-unit cost.

Do not forget the sleeve and stir stick on hot drinks — small items still add up across thousands of cups.

Practice workbook

📊
Download the free Cafe: Cup & Packaging Cost per Drink practice workbook
Edit the yellow Cup, Lid, and Sleeve cells; the Total cost column recalculates.

Frequently asked questions

How do I price each piece?
Divide a case price by the number of units in the case. A $48 case of 1,000 cups is $0.048 per cup.
Is packaging part of my pour cost?
It is part of total cost of goods. Keep it separate from the coffee pour cost so you can target each lever on its own.

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Related formulas: Cafe: Pour Cost Percent · Cafe: Espresso Shots per Bag · Cafe: Milk Cost per Latte

Function references: SUM