Liquor Inventory Experts

Beer systems need to be broken down in two sections, bottled beer and draft.

There are some beer systems that will take away the pen and pencil and help you count how much bottled beer is received and update your beer inventory value.

Help you manage how much bottled beer is moved from storage to the bars and finally help you count how much beer the bar started and ended with. Bottled beer systems that offer all of these features will speed up what can be a long and tedious process and in turn increase both accountability and profitability.

Draft beer systems on the other hand can be more mechanical and designed to measure the exact quantity of draft beer being poured at the taps. Draft beer systems come in several varieties: weighing kegs, flow meters, stoppers in the tap head.

What is very important to understand here is that some beer systems will only count the flow of beer through the lines while other will actually portion control the quantity of beer poured in the mug or glass.  Beer systems also vary in costs and maintenance.

There are some draft beer control systems that are relatively maintenance free and quite affordable and offer many of the features needed to better manage our "golden" liquid assets.

Whichever of the beer systems that are available on the market, it is important you begin by pin pointing the needs and the compatibility of the systems your are considering to both the business environment and the existing technology that may already be in place.

There are many people who describe themselves as bar consultants, but simply sitting at a bar and ordering a drink does not make us specialized in the field. If you are considering a bar consultant for your business, it is a good idea to understand what they can bring to your company in terms of information.

A bar consultant normally has a background in the nightclub, restaurant and hotel industry. They understand the various facets of the business from the sales, controls, marketing and human resource sides of the business. Before hiring a bar consultant, it is always a good idea to ask them where their strengths lie and of course who they have consulted for.

If you are a large nightclub with multiple pouring stations, a consultant from the hotel or restaurant field might not be suited for the job. Bar consulting must help you take decisions that will have a positive impact on your operations. There are some bar consultants that focus on controls and how to implement liquor, beer and wine inventory procedures. Others are more front of the house bar consultants and focus on service and personnel.

There are bar consultants that will help you with the image of your bar and give you marketing ideas and promotions to help increases sales. When you are in the process of hiring a bar consult, it is maybe a good idea to ask if they work alone or have a team that can cover specific or maybe all areas of the operation that need attention. In the end, proper bar consulting can bring you the added knowledge you may need to improve the overall performance and profitability of your bar.

Wine inventory software

If you a re considering a wine inventory software, it is important your start from the basics and move up. Simple questions you should ask yourself:

• How extensive is my wine list?
• Will I serve wine only by the glass or also by the bottle?
• Does my wine inventory software need to manage multiple wine storage cellars?
• Can the wine inventory software I plan to purchase offer a feature that allows and suggest the best marriages between wine and the meal that is being served?
• Can my wine inventory software not only manage wines by region, color and grape varietal, but also by vintage?
• Can my wine inventory software flag me when a specific variety in inventory has reached its peak and ready to be served?
• Does my wine inventory software consider the purchase price of the wine and with age its update value?

Wine inventory software is a tool that can help you increase sales and decrease shrinkage. Simply know what needs to be ordered and how much needs to be ordered can avoid the sometimes embarrassing scenarios when we are out a variety, but it also helps us control the quantity we are buying. We must consider the following when buying wine, ordering to much wine of a certain variety or vintage can lead to overstocking and that creates a situation where our money is tied up in inventory and not working for us.

That being said, there are some wines that can appreciate in both flavor and value over time, that is where a strong inventory software can help you better manage what can be the most important and profitable facet of your business.

Inventory count

An inventory count can be best described as a  physical inventory of what is currently in stock in the storage areas, comparing that count to what the liquor, beer and wine inventory count software thinks is in stock, and making any necessary adjustments to get the liquor, beer and wine inventory count software to match the storage area counts.

Taking an inventory count on a regular basis will not only help us have a tighter control over our liquor, beer and wine inventory but also flag us of any discrepancies. Some inventory count software will also make you aware of any product that may have gone missing like a bottle of wine or liquor. Inventory counts will also help you better asses if you are potentially carry to much inventory that can expose you to shrinkage and tie up valuable cash flow.

Inventory counts can also be indicators of low stock levels that could lead to customer dissatisfaction and lost sales. It is important that inventory counts are performed on a regular basis. Precise inventory counts can you give you the valuable information you may need to make some decisions in your business that you may otherwise not have taken.

A perfect example can be volume rebate purchases; if you are inventory count show you are carrying too much of a certain product already, it may be prudent not pursuing a special deal, on the other end of the spectrum, an update inventory count may actually encourage a large volume purchase due to the product popularity and the need to replenish low stock level.

An alcohol inventory system can cover many facets of your business and secure the profitability of each. Are you a high volume liquor bar?

Than your liquor inventory should be a priority and your focus should be on accuracy, speed and strong data that will create accountability. Maybe you sell more beer, both bottled and draft. If so, there are alcohol inventory systems that not only make counting bottled beer simple, but also help you track draft beer consumption.

If you can start counting how much draft beer is lost to spillage, foaming, waste...you will be in a better position to take the corrective actions needed to raise the profit margin bars. Wine is another component your alcohol inventory system must be able to manage. In today's hospitality industry, wine can be served by the bottle, but also by the glass and in certain concepts, wine tasting are offered as a means to increase interest and sales.

The system you choose to implement must be able to give you the information you need to take decision that have an effect on purchasing, human resources and ultimately sales. A good alcohol inventory system puts everything into perspective and gives you the tools to better manage your business today but also long into the future.

 If you are on the market for a bar inventory system or considering a bar inventory system to begin a better control of your liquid assets, it is best you begin to understand why you are in need of a bar inventory system. There are many bar systems out there and a simple search on the internet will bring up many.

Bar inventory systems vary in the ways they perform, but in the end, the best bar inventory system is the one that best fits the needs of your bar and the objectives you are looking to attain.

1. How often to I plan to take a complete bar inventory?
2. Am I taking a bar audit to keep my staff accountable daily, weekly, by shift?
3. If I take weekly inventory of my liquor, beer and wine, what will I do with the information I gather?
4. Can I afford a bar inventory system from a purchase perspective and do I have the internal resources to maintain it?

The purchase of a bar inventory system entails many facets and what one must realize early on is that liquor, beer and wine inventory is not a band aid on a wound, but it must become long term and relentless part of the business management for it to be successful. Once you know what your needs out, reach out to the different suppliers and ask as many questions as possible as this can be a decision that can have an extremely positive impact on your company bottom line.

Profile of the week: The Beverage Director/Beverage Manager

Does your hotel, high volume restaurant, nightclub or country club have a beverage director or beverage manager? If the answer is yes, do they know what their job description is?

The beverage director/manager is put in place to oversee the entire beverage operation. As a member of the management team, they are in charge of hiring all beverage related personnel, negotiating and purchasing all of the beverages and beverage equipment needed by the business, creating and maintaining the standards in regards to the beverage operation.

Another key area is establishing proper inventory levels and the controls required to keep the company's profit objectives in line. In most cases, the modern beverage director/manager will work with the technology the industry has now come to embrace. Liquor, beer and wine inventory software programs help the collection and analysis of information to make the sound decisions the company needs to stay in line with their profit goals.

A beverage director will normally report to the director of operations or chief financial officer of the establishment.  The prior experience a beverage manager has is typically experience in the industry. At some point in their careers, they have worked as bartenders, servers or even been responsible for the actual inventory taking of a hospitality establishment. A management background or experience is a great asset as they will have to position themselves between the beverage staff (waitresses, liquor runners' bartenders...) and upper management. They must be able to take or report certain delicate situations which may arise with the beverage personnel with the ultimate goal of keeping the liquor, beer and wine pour cost percentages in line with the budgets created by the management team.

The relationship between cost and price

 A question we often ask ourselves and our liquor, beer and wine inventory consultants is; what should my pour cost percentage be? The answer can be quite simply calculated if we understand and adopt the proper formula.

To start, we need to establish the net cost of our product and divide this by the selling price of the item in our business. The cost percentage portion pays for the ingredients needed to make the drink and the profit percentage is the gross margin we make when a drink is sold. The cost percentage should be in line with the beverage cost percentage that has been established in our budget. Generally, liquor costs run at 20%-25%, while wine and beer can run anywhere from 32% to 50%. Please keep in mind this may not be the right cost percentages for your business. If your establishment is in a high tourism area and you can sell your drinks at a higher price, your pour cost percentage should be lower. Another factor that will have an impact is your cost of goods sold. If you purchase in higher volumes than your typical bar, hotel or restaurant, you may benefit from reduced pricing which will in turn reduce your pour cost percentage.

Here is an examples on how to make sure our selling price and cost percentages are in line with our budgeted expectations.

Selling Price:  Cost divided by Cost % = sales price

                          1.5 oz vodka cost $0.95/15% = $6.35              

When it comes to price mixed drinks, the easiest and most widely used method is using the cost of the prime ingredient. This of course is not as accurate as costing out the whole recipe, but to arrive to a sound price structure, we must look at each drink by itself to establish a cost/price relationship in line with the overall price structure of our business.

To confirm we are making progress in our profit making goals, we need targets and ways to measure the success or failures our business may be encountering. It is for this reason, we create budgets which will allow us to better monitor and take the corrective actions needed to reach our goals.

What is a budget? It a financial plan for a specific period, month, quarter, year...where we try to compare the sales we hope to make versus the costs associated to these sales.

The budget we create will at first be just a plan that details the sales we expect to make, costs and the desired profits. But as we enter the budget period, the budget takes on a new personality; it becomes one of our control tools that help us compare the actual results versus the desired results. The liquor, beer and wine inventory software we choose to collect the data is a crucial tool to assure the accuracy of the data we utilize to compare and reconcile our budget results.

We must realize our budgets will go through certain phases and the set of figures we input can change as our business environment evolves. In the first phase, we project the financial future in detail and make sales realistic forecasts, but changes do occur and we may be obliged to review our budgets as we enter our specific period.

In the last phase of the budget, we compare the data and we are then in a position to analyze areas that require more attention or maybe modify the budget initially created as our goals are either unattainable or the "bar" has been placed too low.

Here is a recent article from TBO. It mentions the Scannabar liquor inventory software and how it is helping hospitality owners save money, without any physical handcuffs put on the staff. With the help of new innovative solutions bar owners are able to keep a tight watch on what is going on in there business.

Here are some of the highlights:

"One year ago, Michaud installed a liquor inventory system called Scanabar that tags each bottle upon arrival. Managers each night then use a special scanner that measures fluid levels on each bottle to a fraction of an ounce."

"The scanner then wirelessly connects to an accounting system that checks the amount of liquor sold from that bottle, flags any bottles that are inexplicably low and assigns each bartender a daily accuracy score."

"Sometimes, the system merely shows bartenders mix differently by habit."

"When we first got the system, we had 20 bartender scores all over, so we tested them and found they all made a margarita differently," Michaud said. "They didn't mean to. But sometimes you hire someone from TGIFridays who always made a drink a certain way."

 To read the rest of the article you can by following the link below:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/15/auto-pour-systems-take-power-out-bartenders-hands/