Before hiring a conference coffee station, ask about bean origin, machine type, barista training, FSSAI compliance, backup equipment, setup time, power needs, branding, GST invoicing and cancellation policy.
- ●Ask about backup machines
- ●Check FSSAI compliance
- ●Confirm what's included
- ●Get cancellation terms in writing
At a glance: the numbers that matter
Here are the hard numbers this guide is built on. They are indicative "from" figures for planning a conference coffee station — your firm quote depends on date, city, guest count, service hours and menu.
- Checks to run
- 10
- Beans, machines, staff, safety, backup, branding, terms
- Backup equipment
- Every booking
- A second machine travels with the crew
- Food safety
- FSSAI
- Licence and liability cover on file
- Quote turnaround
- 2 hours
- With inclusions and GST stated separately
In short: ask about bean origin and roast date, machine type, barista training, FSSAI paperwork, backup equipment, setup time, power needs, branding rights, GST invoicing and written cancellation terms. A vendor who answers all ten without hedging belongs on the shortlist.
Vendor scorecard: what to ask and what 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.
| What to ask | A good answer sounds like | Walk away if |
|---|---|---|
| Beans and roast | A named origin with a roast date inside 30 days | They cannot name the bean or the roaster |
| Machines | Commercial dual-boiler, plus a backup unit on site | Domestic or capsule machines |
| Baristas | Trained in house, uniformed, with a named shift lead | Agency staff briefed on the morning |
| Food safety | FSSAI licence shared before load-in | No paperwork available |
| Capacity | A drinks-per-hour figure for your specific peak | A guest number with no throughput maths behind it |
| Branding | Vector files seven days ahead and a print proof | Their own logo on your sponsor's counter |
| Pricing | A per-guest rate with inclusions and GST stated | One lump sum with no breakdown |
| Cancellation | Written terms with a stated refund window | Verbal assurance only |
Our own answers, for the record: Indian arabica roasted to order, commercial dual-boiler machines with a backup on every booking, in-house trained baristas, FSSAI compliant, 90-minute setup, GST invoicing and written cancellation terms.
The 10 questions
Use this list on every vendor call:
- Which beans and roast do you use?
- What espresso machines do you bring?
- How are your baristas trained?
- Are you FSSAI compliant?
- Do you bring a backup machine?
- How early do you arrive?
- What power and water do you need?
- Can you brand the counter for our sponsor?
- Do you provide GST invoices?
- What's your cancellation policy?
How to choose a conference coffee station vendor
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 coffee has to do here
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 city
Step 2Ask what the 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
Run every vendor down the same scorecard
Step 3Use the table above. Identical questions produce comparable answers; open-ended enquiries produce three incomparable PDFs and a decision made on the headline number alone.
- 4
Insist on backup equipment
Step 4A single espresso machine with no fallback is one blown fuse away from no coffee at all. Ask whether a second machine travels with the crew or sits in a warehouse across town.
- 5
Get inclusions 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
How do you answer these?
What should I ask before hiring a conference coffee station vendor?
What is the biggest red flag?
Do you bring a backup machine?
How we built this vendor 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 on this page comes out of that operating history — quotes we issued, counters we ran, cups we counted — rather than from 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 the quoted rate includes
- Multiple espresso machines
- Queue-free serving layout
- Break-time scheduling
- Full sponsor-branded counter, backdrop & cups
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, 16A 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 guide is for
- Hosts shortlisting beverage vendors 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
Planning an event? Let us handle the coffee.
Get a menu and per-guest quote within 2 hours. Call +91 96731 98867.
Published 24 May 2026 · last reviewed 24 May 2026 by the Barista Station events team.
