Paper Coffee Cups Printed With Your Café Branding

Who orders printed paper coffee cups

Most of our coffee cup orders come from independent cafés, coffee carts and roasters with a small tasting bar. They want a cup that looks like their shop when it walks down the high street in a customer's hand.

Offices with a coffee point and hotels with a grab-and-go counter order them too. In both cases the cup is the one piece of branding guests carry away with them.

Roasters often use the cup to point customers towards the beans they sell by the bag. A short line under the logo, such as the name of a house blend, does that job without crowding the design.

• Independent cafés and coffee shops
• Mobile coffee vans and carts
• Roasters running a tasting counter
• Hotel lobbies and office coffee points
• Bakeries that sell a morning coffee

Matching cup sizes to your menu

Start with your menu, not with a list of cup sizes. Each drink you sell should map to one cup, and most cafés find that three sizes cover everything they pour.

A 4oz cup suits espresso and cortado, while 8oz is the usual home for a flat white. The 12oz cup carries a regular latte or cappuccino, and 16oz handles the large version that commuters ask for.

Write your sizes on the order exactly as they appear on your menu board. That way staff never reach for a 12oz cup when the till says regular and the drink is poured into an 8oz.

If you are unsure how ounces convert, our UK paper cup size guide lists every size in millilitres. Other sizes between 2oz and 20oz can be quoted if your menu needs something unusual.

Single, double or ripple wall for coffee

A single wall cup is one layer of board, so it is light and stacks tightly behind the counter. It does get hot to hold, which is why cafés pair it with a sleeve or keep it for small espresso servings.

Our double wall paper cups add a second layer with an air gap, so a fresh latte can be held without a sleeve. The outer wall also gives a smooth, firm surface that takes print well.

Ripple wall wraps the cup in a fluted outer layer. It grips well and keeps hands cooler still, and it suits large drinks that customers hold for a long walk.

Plenty of cafés mix walls across one order. A single wall 4oz for espresso and double wall for everything else is a common split, and both can carry the same artwork.

Printing your café's artwork

We print in full colour CMYK, or we can match Pantone references if your brand colours must be exact. You can choose print on one side, both sides or a full wrap around the cup.

Send your logo as AI, PDF, EPS, SVG, PNG or JPG and a designer will place it on the cup template for you. If you have no artwork yet, the Design Your Cups page lets you try a layout before you ask for a quote.

1. Send your logo and the sizes you need
2. We place it on each cup template
3. You receive a free digital proof
4. Ask for changes until it looks right
5. Approve the proof and printing starts

How a café cup design reads in the hand

A coffee cup is seen from about an arm's length, often while the customer's fingers cover part of it. Put your logo in the upper half, where a hand rarely sits, and keep small text away from the base.

A full wrap works well for patterns and bold colour, but it needs more care at the seam where the two ends meet. Our designers check that join on the proof so a logo is never cut in half.

Think about the barista too. If your staff write names or drink codes on cups, leave a plain panel on the side facing them so the marker does not land on your logo.

Lids and sleeves that suit coffee

Every takeaway coffee needs a lid, and the lid has to match the rim of the exact cup you order. We quote matching lids for each cup size at the same time as the cups, so there is no guessing.

If you choose single wall cups for hot drinks, add a sleeve to protect hands. Printed sleeves also carry a second message, such as a loyalty offer or your opening hours.

Order lids in the same quantities as the cups for each size. Running out of 12oz lids while you still have boxes of 12oz cups is one of the quickest ways to stall a busy morning.

Board, lining and food contact

Cups are made from white or brown board with a lining that keeps coffee from soaking through. Recyclable lining options are available on request if your local collection can take them.

Food-contact board is available on request as well. Mention both in your quote so the proof and the order notes match what you need.

Brown kraft board gives a more natural look, while white board shows bright colours most faithfully. Both take the same lining choices, so pick the board on looks alone.

If you are switching from plain stock cups, keep the same board colour for your first printed order. Regulars notice the logo straight away, and you can try a different board later.

Price, proof and delivery

Printed coffee cups start from £0.25 per cup, and your written quote confirms the exact figure for your size, wall and print. Design help and the digital proof are both free, and we revise the proof until you approve it.

Most first orders are timed around a reopening, a new menu or the day a cart starts trading. Count back from that date, allowing a day or two for proof changes, then the production and delivery days.

Production takes 4 to 6 working days after approval. Tracked delivery then takes 2 to 3 working days and is free to the UK, so you can start an order for your cups without adding a shipping line.

Common mistakes with café cup orders

The mistakes below come up again and again when cafés order their first printed cups. Each one is easy to avoid if you check it before you approve the proof.

Most of these come down to rushing the proof stage. Take ten minutes with the proof and a printed copy of your menu before you sign it off.

• Ordering one size for every drink on the menu
• Choosing single wall for large hot drinks with no sleeve
• Placing the logo low where fingers cover it
• Forgetting to order lids that match the rim
• Sending a blurry logo copied from a website
• Approving a proof without reading small text

If something arrives wrong

Check a few cups from each box as soon as the delivery lands. If you find a misprint or damage, report it within 10 days with photos and we will reprint or refund the affected cups.

The full process sits on our returns and reprints page, which explains what to photograph and where to send it.