How to sell to cafés: a guide for food and drink makers

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

To sell to cafés, offer something that fits how a café runs day to day: the same quality every delivery, a shelf life that matches how fast it sells, a price per portion that works on the menu, and deliveries on fixed days. Then write to the owner with a short, specific email and offer a tasting. This guide covers how to sell to cafés step by step: what they buy, how they differ from shops, the allergen rules, pricing per portion, samples, delivery and an example pitch email.

1. What do cafés buy from small makers?

A café buys two kinds of product: things it serves, and things it sells to take home.

• Served: cakes, traybakes, pastries, bread, savoury bakes, and ingredients for the menu such as chutney, chilli jam, honey or granola.
• Drinks: soft drinks for the fridge. Soft drinks are standard-rated for VAT at 20%, so price them with that in mind.
• Retail: jars, biscuits and gifts on a shelf by the till, bought the same way a shop buys them.

How to sell baked goods to cafés

A café that doesn't bake on site needs cakes and bakes delivered, often several times a week. The owner wants to know four things: how many portions, how long it keeps, what it costs per portion, and when it arrives. Answer all four in your first email.

Supplying coffee shops

Coffee shops sell food from the counter, alongside a drink and often to take away. Individually wrapped items such as brownies, flapjacks and cookies suit them: no slicing, no plating, and easy to sell from a basket by the till. Wrapped items are prepacked, so each one needs a full label (see section 3). Pastries for the morning rush need to arrive before opening.

How to sell to restaurants

Restaurants buy for a menu. The person to talk to is the head chef or the owner, and the time to call or visit is between lunch and dinner service, never during it. Chefs care about consistency and cost per plate: a dessert, bread for the table or a condiment that turns up the same every time and fits their food cost. Offer catering-size packs if you can.

2. How selling to cafés differs from selling to shops

Consistency matters more in a café, because customers come back for the same thing. If a carrot cake is taller one week and drier the next, regulars notice. Write down your recipe, bake weights and tin sizes so every batch matches, whoever bakes it.

Orders also move around. Agree how the café can change a standing order (by text, by email or through an order form), and by when.

3. Allergens and labelling for food you supply to cafés

The rules depend on whether you supply food wrapped or unwrapped. Check the Food Standards Agency's guidance for your products, and ask your local council if you're unsure.

Prepacked food

If you supply items that are packed before they reach the café, such as individually wrapped brownies or jars of chutney for the shelf, each one needs a full label:

• The name of the food
• An ingredients list, with any of the 14 allergens emphasised (in bold, for example)
• The net quantity
• A best before or use by date
• Storage conditions
• Your business name and address

Unwrapped food the café slices or serves

If you supply unwrapped food, such as a whole cake the café will slice, you must give the café allergen information so it can tell customers what is in each slice. Make it easy for them:

• Give a one-page allergen sheet for every product, listing all 14 allergens with "contains" or "does not contain" against each.
• Put the product name and allergens on the box or tray each delivery arrives in.
• Tell the café in writing, before delivery, whenever a recipe or ingredient supplier changes, and send a new sheet.

Register before you start

Food businesses must register with their local council at least 28 days before trading. Registration is free. Have proof of registration and product liability insurance ready, because a café may ask for both before it buys from you.

4. How to sell cakes to cafés: price per portion

A café owner thinks in portions, because that is how the menu is priced. Give a price per whole cake or tray, and the price per portion at an agreed number of slices.

• Ask what the café charges per slice and what it would like a portion to cost. Then check your price per portion against that.
• Offer a cutting guide. A diagram on the box lid showing a 4 × 4 cut keeps portions the same size.
• Price wrapped portions separately. Individually wrapped items cost you more in packaging, labour and labels, so they need a higher price per portion.
• Set a minimum order that makes the delivery worth it, for example two trays per drop.

For the cost lines in more detail, and how to present prices to trade buyers, see our guide to building a wholesale price list and trade sheet.

5. Samples, tastings and delivery rhythm

Samples and tastings

• Bring a whole cake or tray, so the owner and staff can all taste it. Staff who like it can recommend it to customers.
• Visit at a quiet time. Mid-afternoon on a weekday works better than lunchtime or a weekend morning.
• Leave your allergen sheet, price list and delivery days with the sample.
• Offer a short trial: a fixed order for two weeks, then a check-in on what sold and what was left.

Delivery rhythm

• Fixed delivery days. For example Tuesday and Friday, before the café opens.
• A clear cut-off. "Changes by 2pm the day before" means you know how much to bake.
• Standing orders. The same order each delivery, adjusted by the café when it needs to.
• Payment terms in writing. Weekly or monthly invoices, and the number of days to pay.

After a few weeks, ask what sells out and what is left at closing. Adjust the order before the café has to ask, and suggest a seasonal bake to keep the counter fresh.

6. How to sell to cafés: an example pitch email

Write to the owner by name, mention something real about the café, and make it easy to say yes to a tasting. Our guide to writing pitch emails to shop buyers covers subject lines, follow-ups and the PECR rules on emailing businesses. A small café may be a sole trader, which needs consent before you send marketing email, so check the business type first or introduce yourself in person.

If there's no reply, follow up once about a week later, ideally by calling in with a sample at a quiet time.

Questions about selling to cafés

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