A letter to Cafe Managers and Baristas

I know that you know your rush hours by heart. After all, you assign your best baristas to those shifts – and if they can’t make it, you make sure to train your up-and-coming baristas for those hectic moments. 

What happens if you see low brews per hour during your rush period?

This might mean that your barista might’ve had a tough time – we’ve all had them, right? Orders keep piling up, the grinder for some weird reason is no longer calibrated, and for a second you forget how to froth milk altogether. 

Cropster Cafe helps you identify this before finding out in the company Slack. You can talk to your barista in private and allocate further training if needed. Don’t we all wish we had a tool to make data-driven decisions and apply kind management? Enter Cropster Cafe and its new Brews per hour feature.

Every day can be like those smooth summer days where the music is playing, your baristas and team are dancing and serving out delicious drinks. Shelves are perfectly stocked, and the cafe is gently packed all day long. Everything is just humming. You know what I mean…

So here are some additional tips to get your brews per hour up and keep that quality up too!

Ergonomics and workstation design is more important than you think. 

When your barista gets in the groove, making coffee should be a dance – and by dance I mean a smooth tango, not “the robot”. 

• If the machine is slightly too high, the grinder slightly too far away and the milk fridge awkwardly placed in another area, all of these things will add seconds to your service. 
• Not only this but the few centimeters above the SCA Espresso Machine height recommendations could cause workplace injuries to your shoulder or wrist. 

Streamline communication from POS to your barista

Make sure your whole team is trained to communicate when orders are pending vs. completed. There are many ways to do this, but you have to make sure it’s happening!

• Implement a kitchen display-like system, a magnet board or use the traditional yelling of code words across the bar – whatever works for your team. 

The unspoken rules behind the bar

Every cafe has subtle differences to how the team communicates and moves behind the bar. What is important is that you clearly define rules and train your team to work as a well-oiled machine. 

• Develop code words to apply to your team’s workflow and movements behind the bar like walking behind someone, or when your tray is running out of clean cups.
• Set up rules for re-stocking. Refill when empty, or define specific re-stocking hours during the day. For me, it was always the milk fridge. 
• Make checklists for opening and closing hours and shift handovers to avoid hiccups that affect customer satisfaction. 

If you’re like me and like to keep things running smoothly, Cropster Cafe’s new feature is the perfect partner to manage your team better and overcome what I like to call the #RushScaries. Cropster Cafe not only quantifies your brews per hour, it also highlights your busiest and slowest hours each day. This new feature is now available in your standard Cafe subscription under Focus View. Check it out today!

‘Til next time!

#SmoothBrewingSmoothService.