Coffee Shop Menu Ideas: 5 Steps to Crafting a Well-Rounded Menu

Planning a coffee shop menu, like the one at Beans & Brews Coffeehouse, involves several key steps to ensure a well-rounded and appealing selection for your customers. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started.

Coffee Shop Trends

If you’re part of the 87% of Americans who can’t get enough coffee, running a coffee shop could be the perfect business for you. With more people reaching for a cup of joe — 67% of American adults had coffee in the past day, a big jump from 49% back in 2004 — the craving for coffee, specialty drinks, and espresso is only getting stronger, according to the National Coffee Association.

Coffee consumption is at an all-time high, but it’s not just the caffeine fix that makes a coffee shop successful. A coffee shop serves as a community hub, attracting a diverse clientele and fostering a sense of belonging.

Opening a coffee shop can generate a positive return on investment for savvy entrepreneurs. Coffee shops often have predictable and stable revenue streams, especially if they’re located in high-traffic areas. And, you’ll have the opportunity to expand into related products and services, such as baked goods, light meals, and catering, to offer a variety of revenue streams.

Coffee Shop Menu Tips

The menu should be the focal point of your coffee shop. Let’s explore the five steps to follow to create a crave-able coffee shop menu.

1. Start with the beans

Curating a well-rounded menu that’ll maximize your coffee shop sales, starts with the beans. Where you source your beans from can make a difference in the flavor profile of your coffee. Beans from Central America are known for having the right acidity for drip coffee, while the chocolaty notes of beans from Brazil are a nice choice for espresso. At minimum, you’ll need to have a light, medium, and dark roast on the menu. At Beans & Brews, we rely on high-altitude roasting to produce a smooth, intense flavor our customers love.

2. Create a beverage lineup

The heart of your beverage menu is your coffee options. You’ll need to build a list of beverages designed to appeal to coffee aficionados and newbies alike. Include the standard beverages that are menu musts ― drip coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, espresso, and iced coffee. Incorporate seasonal favorites, such as pumpkin spice lattes, to provide variety and boost repeat business. Coffee shop trends are showing a rise in demand for specialty drinks such as oat milk lattes, cold brews, and nitro coffee. Offering a mix of traditional and trendy can cater to a broad audience.

While coffee variety is essential, you’ll also need some coffee alternatives. Energy drinks can give guests an all-natural, refreshing boost. Beans & Brews offers a line of energy drinks infused with natural caffeine and elevated with nature’s botanicals, super fruits, B vitamins, and amino acids. Consider, too, that iced teas, lemonade, and hot chocolate appeal to a wide crowd. Our locations also serve B&B refreshers, which blend black iced tea, lemonade, fruit puree, and flavors, with a shot of plant energy.

Ensure your menu reflects the identity of your coffee shop. Is your vibe more about organic and health-conscious options or indulgent specialty coffees? Each item on your menu should appeal to your brand’s core message.

3. Add food

When you’re developing a menu, bigger isn’t always better and it can be easy to get carried away. Keep your food menu simple to avoid waste. You’ll want to have a variety of breakfast items, sandwiches, and snacks designed to reach multiple dayparts. Make sure to have sweet treats for people who want to indulge and healthful items as an alternative. When you create your food menu, think about repurposing ingredients to lower food costs.

Once you debut your food menu, pay close attention to item popularity. If an item isn’t selling, consider replacing it. It’s also important to comply with local health codes by including allergen information and following food safety practices.

4. Pricing strategy

To establish your menu prices, start by calculating the cost of each item. Consider the price of the ingredients and packaging, and ancillary costs like labor, utilities, and rent. Knowing the exact cost of each menu item helps you set a price that covers these expenses to ensure profitability. Once you have a baseline, compare prices with nearby coffee shops to stay competitive. You may be able to charge more if your coffee shop is in an upscale neighborhood than you could if you’re located in a college town, for example.

5. Test it out

You can hold a soft opening or private event to test menu items before your debut. Have a survey to get feedback so you can refine your menu. Once you’re open, you can rely on limited-time offers to test the popularity of menu items and sales data to make menu decisions.

Franchise with Beans & Brews

Creating a coffee shop menu takes time and requires trial and error to come up with the best lineup. A Beans & Brews Coffeehouse franchise already has a menu that has withstood the test of time and is proven to be a hit with customers. For an initial investment starting at $518,500, you get a turnkey business. We’ve done the legwork to ensure your menu appeals to current consumer trends.

To help drive customer traffic, we recently upgraded our loyalty app. Customers get reward points each time they visit and receive special offers and news about new menu items sent right to their phones. It also offers easier in-app ordering for pickup and delivery.

If you want to open a coffee shop with an established brand, strong menu, and devoted customer base, Beans & Brews is the right place. We’re pursuing aggressive growth and are looking for single and multi-unit franchisees to help us expand. Our franchisees come from diverse backgrounds, including many venturing into business ownership for the first time. Our franchise system and robust support enable newcomers to thrive. 

At Beans & Brews, we don’t just brew coffee. We brew community. Get started to learn more about investing with Beans & Brews to open a coffee shop with a menu that’s already a proven success.