Syrup gets all the attention, but the thing that ends a shaved-ice day early is ice. Blocks are sold by the pound, servings are scooped by the ounce, and sixteen is the only number standing between the two.
900 servings at 8 oz each is 7,200 oz — 21 twenty-two-pound blocks, because 20.45 blocks is not a thing.
The example
Three days of a fair, each with an expected serving count, the ounces of shaved ice in a cup, and the weight of a block.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day | Servings | Oz/serving | Block lb | Blocks |
| 2 | Saturday | 900 | 8 | 22 | 21 |
| 3 | Sunday | 640 | 8 | 22 | 15 |
| 4 | Weekday | 300 | 6 | 22 | 6 |
The formula
Ounces on both sides of the division, then round up:
How it works
Four steps, one of them a unit conversion:
B2*C2is total shaved ice in ounces. Weigh a filled cup once — a 'small' is usually 6 oz of ice and a 'large' 10 or 12.D2*16converts the block from pounds to ounces so both sides speak the same unit.- The division gives blocks as a decimal — useful to see, useless to order.
ROUNDUP(...,0)makes it a purchase order. Blocks keep in a freezer, so over-ordering by one is cheap insurance.
Give each cup size its own row when a menu has three sizes; a single blended ounce figure will be wrong on both ends of the range.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter expected servings, ounces per cup, and your block weight.
Variations
Bagged ice instead of blocks
Swap the block weight for a bag weight; the math does not change.
Melt allowance
Add 10% for what melts in transit and in the cooler.
Pitfalls & errors
Shaved ice is fluffy, so a cup that looks full holds less ice than its volume suggests. Weigh the ice in a finished cup on a kitchen scale instead of estimating from cup size.
Blocks and bagged ice do not shave the same. Block ice gives the fine snow customers expect; a shaver fed cubed ice produces a coarser product and often uses more of it per cup.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
How many servings does one block make?
How do I forecast servings for a festival?
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