Cold coffee and ice cream are two main go-to for people in the summer. Therefore, it is better to have a backup plan. 66% of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis, where studies find that about 45% more ice cream is consumed in the summers.
If you run a coffee shop, an ice cream parlor, or a froyo spot, the move is simple: figure out your real weekly usage, buy your highest-volume cups and lids in bulk, lock in wholesale pricing before peak season, and order cups and matching lids together so nothing sits useless on a shelf.
Start With Your Real Summer Numbers
Before you place a single order, get honest about how much you go through. Summer volume isn't your spring volume. A shop moving 400 cups a day in April might be pushing 700 in July once the patios fill up and the after-dinner ice cream crowd shows up.
Track your actual counts for a week or two, then bump those numbers up for the season. Count what actually moves:
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Cups, broken out by size
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The lids that pair with each cup
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Spoons, straws, and napkins you go through in a day
You're aiming to cover roughly two to three months at a time without buying so much you can't store it. That's the sweet spot where bulk pricing kicks in but your back room doesn't turn into a cardboard maze. If space is genuinely tight, we put together a full guide on buying bulk restaurant supplies when you have zero storage space. The short version is to order to your turnover, not to your fear of running out.
Buy Coffee Cups and Lids Together
The most common mistake operators make is ordering cups and lids separately, then discovering the lids don't seat right. Buy them as a system. When you're shopping for bulk coffee cups and lids, match the rim size first and the case count second.
For iced and cold brew season you'll lean on cold cups, but don't sleep on hot cups either. Plenty of people still order lattes in July. A few things to get right when you're buying in bulk:
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Match the rim size first, the case count second
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Stock both cold and hot cups so a heat wave or an iced-drink craze never catches you out
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Pick single- or double-wall paper coffee cups wholesale depending on whether the drink needs insulation
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Standardize on one cup family where a single lid fits multiple sizes, so you carry fewer SKUs
Wholesale coffee cups disposable pricing usually drops hard once you're ordering by the case instead of the sleeve, so if you've ever wondered whether you're overpaying for cups, buying in volume is where that gap usually closes.
Stock Ice Cream Cups in the Sizes You Actually Scoop
Ice cream is where size discipline really matters. You probably sell a kid's scoop, a regular, and a large, so those are the three cups to keep deep. Everything else can stay lean.
Buying bulk ice cream cups makes sense because they're cheap per unit and you'll burn through them fast in summer. Paper froyo and ice cream cups stack and nest, so a case of a thousand takes up far less room than you'd think.
If you do a lot of takeout or delivery, wholesale ice cream cups with dome or flat lids (plus a few sturdy to-go containers for pints and family packs) are worth keeping on hand year-round, not just for the busy months.
Order Early and Lock Your Pricing
Summer is when every shop in the country is buying the same cups you are. Suppliers get busy, popular sizes sell out, and shipping windows stretch. The operators who stay stocked are the ones who placed their bulk orders back in late spring. We broke down exactly how to gear up in our summer ice cream rush buying guide.
Order ahead of your peak, not during it. A few ways to stay covered without overloading your storage:
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Place your big bulk orders in late spring, before the rush starts
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Ask whether your supplier will hold inventory; some, Carryout Supplies included, offer free storage for a few months on custom orders
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If space is tight, split one large order into smaller scheduled deliveries
That way you lock in bulk pricing now and pull stock as you need it instead of cramming it all into your back room at once. And if you ever do cut it close, here's what to do when your shop runs out of dessert cups in August before it happens.
Add Custom Printing While You're At It
If you're already buying in volume, it's the perfect time to think about branding. Custom-printed cups turn every iced coffee and every scoop into a little piece of marketing that walks out your door. A logo'd cup on a patio table or in someone's Instagram story does more for your shop than most paid ads.
It doesn't cost as much as people assume, especially at bulk quantities, and a good supplier will have an in-house designer to help you get the artwork right.
The Bottom Line
Buying bulk coffee and ice cream cups for summer isn't complicated. Get these four things right and you'll save money, save space, and never tape a "sorry, out of cups" note to your register in July:
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Know your real summer numbers before you order
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Buy your high-volume cups and lids together as a system
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Commit to bulk on the fast movers, smaller runs on the rest
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Order before the rush instead of during it
Ready to stock up before the heat hits? Carryout Supplies has worked with coffee shops, froyo spots, and ice cream parlors since 2004. Reach out for wholesale pricing or a custom printing quote and head into summer fully covered.
