Food & Beverage Best Practices
Break drinks – How much should you order?
- How to use the drink charts
- Locate the percentage associated with the makeup of your group and multiply that percentage by your overall attendance. Then divide the resulting number by 20 (6-oz cups per gallon) to determine the number of gallons needed. Round each partial gallon up to the next highest half-gallon.
- Note: Make sure you find out from your caterer what size coffee cups they will be using and adjust the formula appropriately based on the size of the cup.
- Locate the percentage associated with the makeup of your group and multiply that percentage by your overall attendance. Then divide the resulting number by 20 (6-oz cups per gallon) to determine the number of gallons needed. Round each partial gallon up to the next highest half-gallon.
- For example, for a morning break at a conference that has an audience of 500 predominantly male attendees, the formula should be as follows:
- Regular coffee = 500 x 60% = 300 cups/20 = 15 gallons
- Decaf coffee = 500 x 20% = 100 cups/20 = 5 gallons
- Tea = 500 x 10% = 50 cups/20 = 2.5 gallons
- Soda = 500 x 25% = 125 sodas
Drinks | All Male | All Female | 50/50 |
Regular Coffee | Attendance x 60% | Attendance x 50% | Attendance x 55% |
Decaf Coffee | Attendance x 20% | Attendance x 25% | Attendance x 25% |
Tea | Attendance x 10% | Attendance x 15% | Attendance x 10% |
Soda | Attendance x 25% | Attendance x 25% | Attendance x 25% |
Drinks | All Male | All Female | 50/50 |
Regular Coffee | Attendance x 35% | Attendance x 30% | Attendance x 35% |
Decaf Coffee | Attendance x 20% | Attendance x 20% | Attendance x 20% |
Tea | Attendance x 10% | Attendance x 15% | Attendance x 10% |
Soda | Attendance x 70% | Attendance x 70% | Attendance x 70% |
Servings per gallon
- 128 ounces = 1 gallon
- Find out what the cup size at the venue is (6oz., 8oz., or 10oz.)
- Divide 128 ounces by the appropriate mug size and the results will give the number of cups used by the facility per gallon.
Number of drinks per bottle
1 oz. | 1 1/4 oz. | 1 1/2 oz. | ||
Liter | 33.8 ozs. | 33 | 27 | 22 |
750 milliliters | 25.4 ozs. | 25 | 20 | 16 |
Metric conversions
- 8 fluid oz. = 1 cup
- 1 pint = 2 cups
- 1 qt. = 2 pints
- 4 cups = 1 qt.
- 1 gallon = 4 qt.
- 16 oz. = 1 lb.
- 1 liter = 33.8 oz.
- 1 gallon = 128 oz.
Matching Food and Wine
- Delicate, less-flavorful foods should be served with white wines.
- Red meats, pastas with meat and tomato sauce, and other strong-flavored foods should be served with red wines.
Beverage Service Requirements
- Wine Steward
- One wine steward for every five tables where wine service accompanies dinner.
- Cocktail Server
- Once cocktail server is recommended for every 50 attendees.
- Bartender
- One bartender will usually suffice for every 75-100 people.
- If guest are arriving in one group, one bartender for every 50 guests is more appropriate.