A coffee bar at a trade fair or conference: how to avoid long queues
At a trade fair or conference, coffee is not an afterthought. In the breaks everyone wants a cup at the same time, and a long queue costs time and atmosphere. Whether it goes well depends mainly on one thing: enough baristas and coffee points at the busiest moments.
What one barista can handle
As a guide, one barista makes 120 to 150 cups an hour. That sounds like a lot, but in a short break there are hundreds of people at once. That is why we look not only at the number of guests, but also at how they arrive:
- Spread over the day, as on an open exhibition floor: fewer baristas needed.
- With peaks, such as the breaks between sessions: more baristas at the same time.
- Mostly at once, as at a reception: the most capacity.
More coffee points, shorter queues
If more baristas are needed than fit behind one bar, we add a second coffee point, with two baristas per point. For 300 guests with peaks, for example, we advise 4 baristas at 2 coffee points. Guests then spread out naturally, and walking routes get shorter.
What is included
A coffee bar with barista is complete: the set-up with a professional machine and grinder, an experienced barista, unlimited specialty coffee, tea and hot chocolate, milk, sugar, cups and stirrers, and set-up and breakdown. A coffee bar costs €575 for 4 hours, including one barista. Each extra hour is €75 per coffee point and an extra barista €47.50 per hour. We work throughout the Netherlands and charge the van’s mileage (€0.79 per km, return trip) and the team’s travel time.
Example: an 8-hour trade fair day with 300 guests and peaks, in the Rotterdam area.
| 2 coffee bars with barista, 4 hours | €1,150.00 |
| Extra hours (4 hours × 2 coffee points) | €600.00 |
| 2 extra baristas × 8 hours | €760.00 |
| Van mileage (2 × 40 km) | €63.20 |
| Travel time (4 baristas × 1 hour) | €180.00 |
| Total, excl. VAT | €2,753.20 |
That is just over €9 per visitor, for a full day of unlimited coffee.
What we need on site
One free 230V circuit per station, preferably close to the bar, and 2 to 3 metres of frontage. A water connection is not needed: we work with clean and waste water tanks under the bar.
Stand out on your stand
- Cups with your logo: €0.55 each, from 500. Order well in advance.
- Your logo in the latte art: €245 per bar, a photogenic brand moment.
- Bar styling in your house style, with a menu board and signage: €150 per bar.
- Add iced coffee: €1.50 per person. An iced coffee bar or bubble tea bar also draws visitors to your stand.
Work out your coffee bar in the price calculator or read more about coffee catering.