How Much Tea Should a Hotel Order at a Time?

There is no ideal tea order size for every hotel.

A 20-room boutique property and a 300-room conference hotel will obviously buy very differently.

The right order quantity is enough to cover normal usage and delivery lead time, plus a sensible buffer - without tying up unnecessary cash or storage space.

Start with actual usage

Look at how much of each tea you use in an average week or month.

Do not divide total tea spend equally across the range. Breakfast tea may move ten times faster than a specialist herbal tea.

Order quantities should reflect that difference.

Use weeks of cover

A simple approach is to think in weeks of stock.

If you use one case of breakfast tea per week and your supplier normally delivers within a few days, holding two or three cases may be enough.

If a slow-moving tea takes three months to use, buying six cases at once makes little sense unless there is a specific commercial reason.

Allow for lead time

Your stockholding needs to cover the time between placing an order and receiving it.

A local supplier delivering quickly requires less buffer stock than an imported or made-to-order product with a long lead time.

Add sensible safety stock

Hotels should not run essential products to zero.

Hold a buffer for unexpected occupancy, events, delivery delays or seasonal demand.

The buffer should be larger for high-volume essentials and smaller for low-volume specialist teas.

Do not let minimum orders dictate the whole range

Supplier minimum orders can encourage overbuying.

If you repeatedly add slow-moving products simply to reach carriage paid, the saving on delivery may be wiped out by excess stock.

Consider the cost of holding stock as well as the delivery charge.

Storage matters

Tea should be stored dry, away from strong odours and protected from heat, light and moisture.

There is little benefit in ordering six months of stock if your storage area is already crowded or unsuitable.

Different teas need different ordering rhythms

Your fastest sellers may be ordered every week or fortnight.

Specialist teas may only need replenished every few months.

Do not force every product onto the same order cycle if that creates unnecessary stock.

Plan around seasonality

Tea usage can change with occupancy and events.

Afternoon tea may peak around Christmas. Conference business may create sudden demand for breakfast tea and herbals. Summer may shift the mix toward lighter teas.

Use what you know about the property calendar when setting order quantities.

Watch cash tied up in stock

Tea has a relatively long shelf life, but stock still uses cash.

Buying large quantities for a small unit saving can be a false economy if the product then sits untouched for months.

Cash flow and stock rotation are part of the real cost.

A simple ordering formula

For each product, consider:

·       average weekly usage

·       supplier lead time

·       minimum order or case size

·       safety stock

·       known upcoming demand

That gives you a much better order quantity than simply repeating what you bought last time.

How Shibui Tea can help

For hospitality customers, we can help estimate sensible case quantities based on rooms, service points and expected usage.

The aim is to keep core products available without filling the stockroom with teas that take a year to use.