Shots Per Kilo - SPK's - The Value in Numbers

I feel a bit silly that we have only just started doing this. Perhaps every other cafe out there does it already and we are just a bit behind. The question was raised, how many shots do we get per kilo and how do we prove it?

The fact is, that question has always been raised and it has only ever been an estimate. If you are dosing at 19 grams then that’s simply 52 shots per kilo. But you have to allow for wastage, dialling in, staff coffees, mistakes so…. ‘let’s make a guess, maybe 40?’

So we started checking. We created a spreadsheet where we record all the necessary information over a week. We bought some digital bathroom scales. We still use the buckets that Square Mile used to deliver their coffee in, so we weighed how much an empty bucket is (410 grams).

Each morning, we weigh the coffee in its bucket then minus the weight of the bucket to get weight of beans. We then keep all the buckets we use through the day, at the end of the day we weigh the coffee again (and minus the bucket).

Opening stock, plus stock used (purchases) minus closing stock. The simplest method of stocktaking that you learn in day one of accounting. This gives us how many kilos we have used each day, which is another great measuring and ordering tool. We then refer to our Aireus Ipad till system and work out how many espresso drinks we have sold, divide that by the kilos used to get ‘shots per kilo’. It’s fascinating.

I’m not going to go into the details of how many kilos we use or how many shots we get, but what is interesting is seeing any variances. Really we should be getting consistent spk’s (I just made that up, cool huh?) and when we don’t, we should be able to identify a reason why.

But lets take a number and use 10 kilos per day as an example. If you are getting consistently 40 spks and then one day you only get 30, that means that over the whole day you have lost 100 shots. 100! If your average coffee retail price at £2.50, then that is £250 of lost revenue. What the…?

Now the end of day text from the manager on duty is takings/total coffees/till variances and the spk’s. We have a new goal to aim for and achieve each day. The higher the shots per kilo while still using the same dose weight, and the more consistent over a range of days, the better. Another way to say to our hard working baristas, thank you well done.

So here is a question for you. How much are you dosing at? (Most people would probably know that). And how many shots do you get per kilo and do you have the records to prove it?

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.