What Size Coffee Machine Does Your Coffee Shop Need? 1, 2 or 3 Group
Last updated: July 2026
In 30 seconds:
- Size your machine on your busiest hour, not your daily total.
- 1 group suits kiosks and quiet cafés — up to roughly 30–40 coffees in the rush. From £1,240.
- 2 group is the standard coffee shop machine — one barista, steady queue, room to grow. From £2,280.
- 3 group is for queue-heavy shops with two baristas working side by side. From £3,070.
- Check your power supply first: a 1 group runs off a normal 13A socket, a 2 group needs a 20A circuit, a 3 group needs 30A.
Choosing a commercial coffee machine size is one of the first big decisions for any UK coffee shop. The accepted starting point among machine suppliers is simple: count the coffees you’ll serve in your busiest hour, then match that to the machine’s group count.
Why the busiest hour? A hundred coffees spread over eight hours is a gentle day for a 1 group machine. The same hundred with sixty of them between 8am and 9am will bury it. Machines fail at the peak, not the average.
Why not just buy big? A bigger machine costs more to buy, needs a heavier electrical supply, and takes up more counter. A 3 group is 785mm wide — over 40cm more counter than a 1 group.
The biggest mistake we see? New owners sizing on their total daily cups and buying a machine that’s one group too small for the morning rush. The queue walks out, and the machine gets blamed. Be honest about your peak, then decide.
What does “group” actually mean?
A group (or group head) is the brewing station on the front of the machine — the bit you lock the portafilter handle into. One group brews one or two espresso shots at a time.
More groups means more drinks brewing at once. It also means a bigger boiler behind them, which matters just as much. The boiler makes your steam for milk and your hot water for americanos and teas.
Fracino’s Contempo range shows how capacity climbs through the sizes. These are the machine’s rated outputs, semi-automatic and automatic versions:
| Size | Cups per hour | Boiler | Hot water per hour | Power | Width |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 group | 120–200 | 7L | 30L | 2.7kW · 13A | 380mm |
| 2 group | 240–400 | 14L | 60–80L | 4kW · 20A | 580mm |
| 3 group | 360–600 | 20L | 100L | 7.5kW · 30A | 785mm |
Don’t read “120 cups per hour” as what you’ll actually serve. That’s the machine’s ceiling. In a real café, your barista, the grinder and milk steaming set the pace — which is where group count and boiler size earn their keep.
Start with your busiest hour, not your daily total
Estimate the number of drinks you’ll make in your single busiest hour. For a new shop, look at footfall outside your unit at 8am on a weekday. For an existing shop, pull the till data.
Then apply the rule of thumb most UK suppliers work to:
- Up to ~30–40 drinks in the peak hour: a 1 group copes.
- ~40–80 drinks in the peak hour: you want a 2 group.
- 80+ drinks in the peak hour, two baristas: that’s 3 group territory.
These are working figures, not lab numbers. Milk-heavy menus run slower than espresso-heavy ones, because steaming is usually the bottleneck. If your menu is 80% lattes and flat whites, size up.
1 group — kiosks, low volume and testing the water
Quick specs (Fracino Cherub, tank-fed)
- Groups: 1
- Boiler: 2.3L · 3L water tank (no plumbing needed)
- Power: 2.85kW · standard 13A plug
- Size: 380mm wide · 18kg
- Price: from £1,240 — Fracino Cherub product page
Best for
Kiosks, sandwich shops adding coffee, farm shops, salons and first-time owners testing demand. One barista, no queue pressure.
What it handles
- Up to roughly 30–40 drinks in the busiest hour
- Runs from any normal socket — no electrician needed
- Tank-fed, so no plumbing either
Don’t use it for
- A steady morning queue — one group and a small boiler can’t brew and steam fast enough
- Milk-heavy menus at volume — steam recovery becomes the bottleneck
Honest note
If you’re between a 1 and a 2 group, most owners who chose the 1 group wish they hadn’t within a year. Fracino’s plumbed 1 group Contempo (7L boiler, from £1,940) is the halfway house — but the step to a 2 group is usually the better spend.
2 group — the standard coffee shop machine
Quick specs (Fracino Contempo CON2, plumbed electric)
- Groups: 2
- Rated output: 240–400 cups/hr (semi-auto/auto)
- Boiler: 14L · 60–80L hot water per hour
- Power: 4kW · 20A dedicated circuit
- Size: 580mm wide · 55kg
- Price: from £2,490 — Contempo 2 group electric product page
Best for
Most UK coffee shops. One barista can brew on one group while drinks sit on the other. At the weekend push, a second barista steps in and the machine keeps up.
What it handles
- 40–80 drinks in the busiest hour, comfortably
- Milk-heavy menus — the 14L boiler recovers steam pressure quickly
- Hot water for teas and americanos without starving the steam wand
Don’t use it for
- A normal plug socket — it needs its own 20A supply, fitted by an electrician
- Counters under 60cm of free width once you add a grinder beside it
Trade-off
Cost and installation. You’ll pay roughly £1,000 more than a 1 group and you need plumbing plus a dedicated circuit. In return you get the size most cafés never outgrow. Fracino’s Bambino 2 group (from £2,280) is the compact alternative on the same footprint logic.
3 group — queues, volume and two baristas
Quick specs (Fracino Contempo 3 group, plumbed electric)
- Groups: 3
- Rated output: 360–600 cups/hr (semi-auto/auto)
- Boiler: 20L · 100L hot water per hour
- Power: 7.5kW · 30A dedicated circuit
- Size: 785mm wide · 84kg
- Price: from £3,070
Best for
High-street shops, station and campus locations, and anywhere two baristas work the machine at the same time. The third group is really about elbow room — two people brewing without fighting over a head.
Don’t use it for
- A single-barista shop — you’ll pay for a group that mostly sits idle
- Sites without a 30A supply — the electrical work can cost more than the price gap to a 2 group
Honest note
Very few independent cafés genuinely need a 3 group on day one. Buy it for a proven queue, not a hoped-for one.
Power and plumbing: check these before you order
This is the step that catches people out. The machine size dictates the electrical supply your shop needs:
- 1 group: 2.7–2.85kW on a standard 13A socket. Plug in and go.
- 2 group: 4kW on a dedicated 20A circuit — an electrician fits this.
- 3 group: 7.5kW on a dedicated 30A circuit.
Plumbed machines also need water in and waste out: a 15mm cold feed with a washing-machine-style isolating valve, and a waste standpipe within a metre, directly below the machine. Budget for a plumber’s visit alongside the electrician if your counter isn’t already set up.
Two running-cost points worth knowing from day one. Every espresso machine takes about 15 minutes to warm up from cold, so switch on before you open. And in hard-water areas, fit a water softener and change the filter roughly every two months — limescale is the number one boiler killer. Our guide to cleaning and descaling a commercial coffee machine covers the full routine.
Tank-fed or plumbed-in?
Machine size and water supply go hand in hand, so decide them together.
- Tank-fed (Cherub, Classico, Little Gem, Piccino): a built-in 3L tank you refill by hand. No plumbing, easy to move, ideal for kiosks and counters without a water feed. All 1 group.
- Plumbed-in (Contempo, Bambino, Romano, Velocino): connected to the mains water. No refilling mid-rush, unlimited hot water, and the only way to run a 2 or 3 group at café volume.
The pattern is simple: serious volume needs plumbing. If a 2 group is right for your peak hour, plan the plumbed installation from the start.
One last practical tip: whatever size you buy, low steam pressure feels the same as an undersized machine. Before you blame the group count, run through our coffee machine no-steam and low-pressure fixes — it’s often a blocked wand tip or an overfilled boiler, not the machine’s size.
FAQ: coffee machine sizes for coffee shops
What does “group” mean on a commercial coffee machine?
A group is a brewing station — the head you lock the portafilter into. One group brews one or two espresso shots at a time. A 2 group machine has two of these stations, so two drinks can brew at once, backed by a larger boiler for steam and hot water.
How many coffees per hour can a 2 group machine make?
Fracino rates its 2 group Contempo at 240–400 cups per hour, depending on semi-automatic or automatic operation. In real café service, one barista typically produces 40–80 milk drinks an hour on it. The machine is rarely the bottleneck at this size — steaming and workflow are.
Can I run a commercial coffee machine from a normal plug socket?
Only 1 group machines. Models like the Fracino Cherub draw 2.85kW, within a standard UK 13A socket. A 2 group needs a dedicated 20A circuit and a 3 group needs 30A, both fitted by an electrician. Factor that installation cost in before choosing a size.
What size coffee machine do I need for 100 cups a day?
It depends when those 100 cups arrive. Spread evenly, a 1 group manages fine. If 50–60 of them land in a morning rush hour, choose a 2 group — around 40–80 peak-hour drinks is 2 group territory. Size on the peak hour, never the daily total.
Is a 2 group machine too big for a small coffee shop?
Rarely. The 2 group is the standard café size for a reason: it gives steam headroom for milk-heavy menus, keeps up when a queue forms, and holds its value better second-hand. The real constraints are counter space (580mm wide) and the 20A supply it needs.
Do I need a plumber to install a commercial coffee machine?
For plumbed models, yes. They need a 15mm cold water feed with an isolating valve and a waste standpipe within a metre of the machine. Tank-fed machines like the Cherub skip plumbing entirely — you refill a built-in 3L tank by hand, which suits kiosks and low volume.
How much does a coffee shop machine cost in the UK?
Entry tank-fed 1 group machines start from £1,240. Plumbed 1 groups start from around £1,940, 2 group machines from £2,280–£2,490, and 3 groups from £3,070. Add installation: an electrician for the dedicated circuit on 2 and 3 groups, plus a plumber for the water feed.
How long does a commercial espresso machine take to heat up?
Around 15 minutes from cold, across the size range. Build it into your opening routine — switch the machine on as you unlock, and it’s at working pressure by the time the first customer orders. Larger boilers hold temperature more steadily through a busy service.