Business types & operations
Standardising Matcha Across Multiple Locations
With one café, consistency depends on one team. With three or ten, it depends on documents and routines that travel without you. Standardise four things centrally: the product spec, the recipe SOP, the ordering model and a site audit. Everything else (layout, staffing, local specials) can flex per site. This article sets out each one in a form you can adapt for your group.
1. The central product spec
Write down exactly what each site uses, so nobody substitutes a different powder when stock runs low.
| Field | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Product (milk drinks) | Ceremonial Barista Matcha, 1 kg |
| Product (pure serve, if offered) | Ceremonial Matcha, 1 kg |
| Origin and processing | Uji (Kyoto), Japan, first harvest, stone-milled |
| Approved use | Barista: lattes, iced lattes. Ceremonial: pure preparation with water |
| Substitutes allowed | None without approval from the central owner |
| Documentation held | Whatever is available for the current batch; ask the supplier |
Most groups run one product across all sites for milk drinks. Ceremonial Barista Matcha is made for lattes and iced lattes, €195.00 per kg excl. VAT at the time of writing (November 2026; check the product page for the current price). Add Ceremonial Matcha (€265.00 per kg excl. VAT at the time of writing) only at sites that run a pure serve.
A fixed dose also gives you a fixed cost line. At 2 g: €195 × 2 ÷ 1,000 = €0.39 matcha cost per latte, excl. VAT and before waste, at every site.
2. One SOP, the same at every site
The recipe card is the core of multi-site consistency. It should be specific enough that a new barista at your newest site makes the same drink as your head barista at the flagship.
Minimum SOP contents - Dose in grams per drink and per cup size - Paste water volume and temperature (for example 40 ml at around 80 °C) - Milk type, volume and temperature - Build order, hot and iced - Mixing tool and method - Opening calibration: one test drink, tasted and logged - Storage rules: closed bag, working tin, labelling - What to do when a drink fails the taste check
Writing a matcha recipe card and SOP gives a template. Issue it with a version number and date, and retire old versions so no site works from a photocopy of last year's recipe.
What is fixed and what can flex
- Fixed centrally: product, dose, ratios, temperatures, storage rules, guest description.
- Site choice: station layout (for coffee-led sites, fitting matcha into a specialty coffee workflow shows where the station sits), equipment brand if it meets the spec, local seasonal specials approved by the central owner.
3. Choosing an ordering model
Groups usually pick one of two models. Neither is better in general; it depends on how your sites are run.
| Central ordering | Site ordering against a central spec | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | One person orders for the group, delivered to a central point or to each site | Each site manager orders the specified product |
| Strengths | One view of stock and spend; no substitutions | Sites control their own timing; less internal transport |
| Weaknesses | Internal distribution if delivered centrally; one person is a bottleneck | Risk of sites drifting to other products; spend harder to see |
| Works best when | Sites are close together, or there is a central kitchen | Sites are spread out and managers are trusted with purchasing |
Whichever model you choose, each site still needs its own reorder point. Calculate it per site from that site's daily use; reorder point and safety stock for matcha shows how.
Ordering from Yumi as a group
Each site or the central buyer can create a business account and enter the VAT number at checkout. Shipping cost is €0 to the countries in Yumi's delivery zone (EU countries plus Norway and Georgia). If you want to discuss ordering for several sites, such as delivery to more than one address or how to set up accounts, contact Yumi to talk it through. Terms for multi-site groups are not published, so do not plan on any until you have discussed them.
4. Training that scales
New sites and staff turnover are where standards slip. Use one training path for every site:
- Read the SOP and recipe card.
- Watch a trained barista make the drink.
- Make three drinks under supervision; taste against a reference.
- Pass a sign-off check by the site lead.
- Repeat the check after the first month.
The matcha training checklist for new staff can be used as the sign-off sheet. Keep signed sheets at each site so an audit can see who is trained.
5. The site audit
Visit each site on a regular rhythm, or have site leads audit each other. Score each item yes or no.
| Check | Yes / No |
|---|---|
| Only the specified product is in use | |
| Main bag closed, stored cool, dry and dark | |
| Working tin opaque, airtight, labelled with date filled | |
| Current SOP version on the bar | |
| Scale present and used for every drink | |
| Paste water temperature checked at opening | |
| Opening calibration logged today | |
| Test drink made by a random barista matches the reference | |
| Training sign-off sheets complete for all current staff | |
| Reorder point known and stock above it |
Share results across the group. A site that scores lower is a training and support question first, not a blame exercise.
Assign a central owner
All of this needs one person who owns matcha for the group: the spec, the SOP version, product questions to the supplier, and the audit schedule. Each site then has a local owner who reports to them. Without that structure, the documents exist but nobody keeps them current.
Next step
Before rolling out, order both 10 g samples and run the same tasting at two sites to confirm the recipe travels. Then fix the spec, issue the SOP, and get in touch with Yumi if you want to discuss ordering for the group.