Ask twelve things before you book: bean origin and roast date, machine type, barista training, FSSAI licence, power requirement, setup time, cups and waste handling, backup equipment, GST invoicing, cancellation terms, travel charges and references. A vendor who answers all twelve without hedging belongs on your shortlist.
Key takeaways: the numbers behind this post
If you only read one block on this page, read this one. Four figures answer most of what planners ask us in the first phone call about a live coffee counter; the rest of the post explains how each one moves.
- Checks to run
- 12
- Equipment, staff, safety, paperwork and terms
- Biggest red flag
- No backup machine
- One blown fuse away from no coffee at all
- Paperwork to request
- FSSAI + insurance
- Licence number, not a claim of compliance
- Quote turnaround
- 2 hours
- With inclusions and GST shown as separate lines
In short: Ask twelve things before you book: bean origin and roast date, machine type, barista training, FSSAI licence, power requirement, setup time, cups and waste handling, backup equipment, GST invoicing, cancellation terms, travel charges and references. A vendor who answers all twelve without hedging belongs on your shortlist.
The scorecard: 12 questions, 12 answers to listen for
Three quotes in three different formats are impossible to compare. Run every vendor down the same column instead. The middle column is what a capable answer sounds like; the right-hand column is where to stop the conversation and move on.
| What to ask | A good answer sounds like | Walk away if |
|---|---|---|
| Bean origin and roast date | A named estate or region, roasted inside 30 days | They cannot name the bean or the roaster |
| Machine type | Commercial two-group or dual-boiler, with a model name | A domestic or capsule machine behind a skirted table |
| Barista training | Trained in house, uniformed, with a named shift lead | Agency staff briefed on the morning |
| FSSAI compliance | A licence number, shared before load-in | A claim of compliance with no paperwork |
| Power requirement | An amperage per machine and a note on dedicated circuits | “Any normal plug point is fine” |
| Setup time | A stated load-in window, usually 90 minutes | They expect to arrive 20 minutes before guests |
| Cups and waste | Cup spec, bin plan and what happens to spent grounds | No answer on waste at all |
| Backup equipment | A second machine travels with the crew, every booking | The spare is in a warehouse, or there isn't one |
| GST invoicing | A per-guest rate with inclusions and GST on separate lines | One lump sum with no breakdown |
| Cancellation policy | Written terms with a stated refund window | Verbal assurance only |
| Travel charges | Travel and stay quoted at cost, as their own line | Travel folded invisibly into the per-guest rate |
| References | Comparable events at your guest count and format | Only photographs, no events you can ask about |
Our own answers, for the record: Indian estate arabica roasted to order inside 30 days, commercial machines with a backup unit on every booking, in-house trained baristas, FSSAI licence and liability cover shared before load-in, a 90-minute setup window, GST invoicing with inclusions itemised, written cancellation terms, and travel quoted at cost. Score us on the same twelve.
The checklist
Ask about bean origin, machine type, barista experience, FSSAI compliance, power needs, setup time, cups and waste, backup equipment, GST invoicing, cancellation policy, travel charges and references.
Score us on all twelve questions
Send your date, city, venue and guest count and you will have a menu plus a costed per-guest number within two hours. Or call +91 96731 98867 and we will price it on the call.
How to run the checklist on three vendors
This is the process in practice rather than in theory — each step is where a real event either stays on track or starts to wobble.
- 1
Write down what the coffee has to do
Step 1Keep delegates in the building between sessions, give a sponsor a branded asset, or give wedding guests something photogenic. The brief decides the shortlist far more than the budget does.
- 2
Shortlist on comparable events, not on city
Step 2Ask what each vendor has run at your guest count and in your format. A team used to 60-guest house parties and a team used to 2,000-delegate summits are not interchangeable.
- 3
Send all three the same twelve questions
Step 3In the same order, in one message. Identical questions produce comparable answers; open-ended enquiries produce three incomparable PDFs and a decision made on the headline number alone.
- 4
Insist on seeing the backup plan
Step 4A single machine with no fallback is one blown fuse away from no coffee at all. Ask whether the spare travels with the crew or sits in a warehouse across town — the answers differ a lot.
- 5
Get inclusions, GST and terms in writing
Step 5What the per-guest rate covers, what GST adds, what overtime costs, and the cancellation window. A clear one-page quote is itself a signal about how the event day will run.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single most important question to ask?
How do I compare three quotes fairly?
Should I ask for an FSSAI licence number?
What cancellation terms are reasonable?
Are you FSSAI compliant?
Do you bring a backup machine?
How do your own answers score against this list?
How we built this checklist
Fair question: where do these numbers come from? Barista Station has staffed 5,000+ events and poured 2.5M+ cups across 60+ Indian cities since 2016. Every figure in this post comes out of that operating history — quotes we issued, counters we ran, cups we counted — rather than an industry average.
- ●Checklist built from the vendor failures clients describe when they switch to us
- ●The good-answer column reflects what capable operators say unprompted
- ●Red flags drawn from the booking problems that recur across the industry
- ●Our own answers published in the note beneath the table, so you can score us too
What a quoted rate includes
- Commercial espresso machine and grinder
- Trained, uniformed baristas
- Beans, milk, syrups, cups and consumables
- Setup, service and a clean breakdown
What it excludes
- 18% GST, invoiced separately on every booking
- Travel, transport and stay for venues outside city limits, charged at cost
- Venue-supplied floor space, power points and water access
- Overtime beyond the booked service window, billed hourly
- Menu items outside the agreed list, and print production beyond the standard counter wrap
Who this post is for
- Hosts shortlisting a beverage vendor for the first time
- Procurement teams who need a comparable scorecard, not three incomparable PDFs
- Planners who have been caught out by a vendor with no backup equipment
Published 2 April 2026 · last reviewed 6 October 2026 by the Barista Station events team · +91 96731 98867
