Planning a Café Crockery Order: Cup Sizes, Saucers and Spares

Start with your menu. Give each drink a cup size — 80 ml espresso, 150 ml flat white, 200 ml cappuccino, 300 ml latte — then order enough of each size to cover your busiest hour plus the cups in the dishwasher, and add a spare case for breakage. A range with shared saucers keeps stock simple.

Crockery is a bigger decision than it looks. The cup sets how a drink looks, holds heat and feels in the hand, and once you’ve chosen a range you’ll be reordering it for years. Here’s how to plan the order so it works on day one and stays easy to top up.

Which cup size suits which drink?

Loveramics UK explains the thinking behind each size in Coffee cup sizes explained. Our guide to Loveramics Egg goes deeper on the Egg range.

How many cups does a café need?

Work it out size by size. Count how many drinks of each size you serve in your busiest hour. You need enough cups for that hour, plus the ones in the dishwasher and on tables. As a starting point, order double your peak-hour count, then add a spare case for breakage. Adjust after a month of trading.

Order saucers alongside the cups. With Egg, one 14.5 cm saucer serves both the flat white and cappuccino cups, which cuts the number of saucer lines you hold.

Which Loveramics range should you choose?

What is Loveramics Deco?

Deco is a new stacking cup collection designed by Simon Stevens. Each cup has a four-step base, so it stacks not only on cups of the same size but on every other cup in the range — a big space saver on a crowded bar. The range runs from a 60 ml espresso cup to a 220 ml cappuccino cup, with a 200 ml handleless cupping bowl, a 13 cm saucer shared by three of the cups, and stainless-steel cup organisers built to sit by the machine in high-volume cafés.
Deco is listed on our trade site but not yet released. Ask your account manager to reserve launch stock.

How tough are Loveramics cups?

Loveramics makes its cups from a dense porcelain body — under 0.5% water absorption on the Egg Mineral range — with thick walls that hold heat, and it manufactures to SCA standards. Egg Mineral is microwave, dishwasher, freezer and oven safe. Check the care line on each range before you order: some pieces, such as the colour-changing cupping bowls, are hand wash only.

How do you keep reorders simple?

1. Choose one core colour you’ll always be able to reorder, and use seasonal colours as accents.
2. Keep a spare case of each size so a breakage never leaves you with a mismatched set.
3. Order saucers in the same colour at the same time — glazes vary slightly between batches.
4. Sell a few cups at the till. Customers who like your cup want it at home.

Browse by size: espresso, flat white, cappuccino and latte cups, or by colour.

Frequently asked questions

What size cup is used for a flat white?
A flat white is usually served in a 150 ml cup. It leaves room for a thin layer of textured milk while keeping the espresso prominent. A cortado or piccolo can use the same cup.

How many cups does a café need?
Count the drinks of each size you serve in your busiest hour and, as a starting point, order double that number so you’re covered while cups are in the dishwasher. Add a spare case of each size for breakage.

Do Loveramics saucers fit more than one cup?
Yes. The 14.5 cm Egg saucer fits both the 150 ml flat white and 200 ml cappuccino cups. The Deco range has a 13 cm saucer shared by three of its cups.

Are Loveramics cups dishwasher safe?
Most are. The Egg Mineral range, for example, is microwave, dishwasher, freezer and oven safe. A few specialist pieces, such as the colour-changing cupping bowls, are hand wash only, so check each product’s care line.

What is Loveramics Deco?
Deco is a stacking cup collection designed by Simon Stevens. Each cup’s four-step base lets it stack with every other cup in the range, and stainless-steel organisers keep cups tidy by the machine.