Guide for roasters
Is there enough green coffee? How to work out cover and order quantity.
Green coffee cover is calculated by dividing the balance by weekly use. When cover is shorter than the supplier's lead time plus a safety margin, it is time to order. This guide goes through the three figures you need: weekly use, lead time and order quantity.
Haimoo Company Oy · Published 1 November 2026 · Reading time about 4 minutes
1. Weekly use
Weekly use tells you how much green coffee actually goes through. Work it out over longer than a single week, because individual weeks vary. Eight weeks is a practical period: it smooths out variation but still follows change.
weekly use = use over 8 weeks ÷ 8
Leave out waste, stock count adjustments and corrections of mistakes. They say nothing about use, and they distort the figure.
2. Cover in weeks
cover = balance ÷ weekly use
If the balance is 120 kg and weekly use is 20 kg, the coffee lasts six weeks. This figure says more than the balance alone: 120 kg is a lot of a slow-moving coffee, but little of the coffee everyone orders.
3. Lead time
Lead time is the time from order to arrival. Work it out from your own purchases, not from what the supplier promises. If a lot's order date and arrival date are recorded, the average of the latest lots tells you what to expect.
4. When to order
Order at the latest when cover is close to the lead time. Leave a safety margin: a delivery can be late, and use can grow. If the lead time is not known, a four-week limit is a sensible starting point.
5. How much to order
order quantity = minimum + 6 weeks of use − balance
The minimum is the quantity you do not want to go below. Example: a minimum of 30 kg, weekly use of 20 kg and a balance of 60 kg give 30 + 120 − 60 = 90 kg. Round the quantity to the supplier's sack size.
Example: three green coffees
| Coffee | Balance | Use / wk | Lasts | Minimum | To order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee A | 120 kg | 20 kg | 6 wk | 30 kg | Not yet |
| Coffee B | 60 kg | 20 kg | 3 wk | 30 kg | 90 kg |
| Coffee C | 25 kg | 2 kg | 12.5 wk | 30 kg | 17 kg, below minimum |
The figures in this example are made up.
Most common mistakes
- Looking at the balance, not the cover. The same number of kilos can last three weeks or twelve.
- Waste is counted as use. A stock count adjustment raises weekly use even though the coffee was not roasted.
- Freight is left out of the coffee price. 60 kg at €7.10 with €45 freight comes to €7.85/kg, not €7.10/kg.
- An arrived lot is not recorded straight away. The balance then looks too small, and coffee is ordered needlessly.
How Haimoo Flow does this
Flow's Reports calculate cover from the use of the last 8 weeks and separate waste and corrections when the reason has been recorded with a word from the suggestion list. To order now lists items that are below minimum or will last less than 4 weeks, grouped by the supplier of the latest purchase lot. The suggestion is minimum + 6 weeks of use − balance.
The price and freight are saved on the purchase lot, and Flow shows the unit cost including freight. Read more about Stock or Reports.
Questions about cover
All questionsHow is green coffee cover calculated?
Divide the balance by weekly use. Weekly use is the use of the last 8 weeks divided by eight. If the balance is 120 kg and use is 20 kg a week, the coffee lasts 6 weeks.
When should green coffee be ordered?
At the latest when cover is shorter than the supplier's lead time and a small safety margin combined. Haimoo Flow's To order now list raises an item that is below minimum or will last less than 4 weeks.
How much green coffee should be ordered?
The starting point is the minimum plus 6 weeks of use minus the current balance. You can adjust it according to how the supplier's lots and freight work.