We get a call a week from a Bay Area pho restaurant looking to switch coffee suppliers. The first conversation tends to ramble because the operator does not know what to ask, and the supplier does not know what to listen for. Here is the short version of what to tell us, in order, on the first call.
One: how many cups of coffee a day, at peak.
Not weekly volume. Daily peak. A 60-cover pho restaurant doing 80 percent table coverage at lunch is pouring 30 to 50 ca phe sua da in a 90-minute window. That number drives everything: bean order size, grinder size, brewing setup, delivery cadence. Estimate it. We can refine it after the first month.
Two: how you currently brew.
Phin per table, large-batch phin, drip pots, espresso machine pulled as Vietnamese-style, or some mix. This determines what grind we ship. A drip-pot operation needs a different grind than a phin-per-table service. If you are not sure, take a photo of your setup and send it. We have seen most variants of this and we will tell you what would work better if your current setup is fighting you.
Three: what you want the cup to taste like.
Sweet and chocolatey. Bitter and strong. Smooth and balanced. Heavy body or lighter. Closer to the cup at your favorite competitor or different. There is no wrong answer, but the answer matters. We will dial the roast and the blend ratio to match what you describe. If you do not know what you want, point at a competitor cup you like and we will work backwards from that.
Four: any hard constraints (organic, kosher, allergens, budget ceiling).
Organic certification, religious certification, allergen isolation in your kitchen, hard budget ceiling per pound. Anything that takes options off the table for us. Tell us on the first call. We will tell you whether we can hit the spec without surprises.
Five: who handles deliveries and reorders.
Owner, kitchen manager, beverage manager, FOH lead. We deal with one person on your team. Tell us who, give us their phone, and tell us how they prefer to be contacted (text, call, email). We do not chase down billing or reorders across three people; we keep it simple so you do not have to think about it.
What we will tell you on the same call.
Roughly what your monthly bean cost will be. Sample shipment and timeline. Earliest first delivery. Whether you need to change your equipment or whether your current setup will work. If we cannot serve your account well (volume too small or too far outside our delivery range), we will tell you that too and recommend someone who can.
Want to start that call? Call Van at (415) 658-1864 or send a wholesale inquiry with the five answers above. We will send a sample within a week and quote you a real number. See the Vietnamese coffee wholesale page for the lineup and the customers page to see who is already running our coffee.