Alcoholic Beverages for Restaurants

Choosing the right alcoholic beverages increases restaurant profitability

Increasing overall restaurant profitability from the sale of alcohol depends on the type of alcoholic beverage brands a restaurant decides to serve. Alcoholic beverage distributors and beer distributors sell their products to restaurants at wholesale prices. Once the restaurant owner or general manager decides upon the brands of alcoholic beverages to sell, they begin to figure out pricing. Deciding the prices at which to sell products purchased from local alcoholic beverages companies begins with a bit of research.

Restaurant owners must first assess their local alcoholic beverage market. This assessment need not be a formal production. It can be as simple as looking at gross sales receipts from a busy weekend and noting which types of alcoholic beverages have the highest volume of sales. After that research is complete, the pricing process begins by first determining how many alcoholic drinks you can expect to sell from a single bottle of alcohol:

1. One 750ml bottle of wine pours four six-ounce glasses or five five-ounce glasses. The standard restaurant pour is six ounces.

2. One 750ml bottle of hard liquor pours 25 one-ounce shots for mixed alcoholic beverages.

3. One keg of beer holds 15.5 gallons and serves approximately 160 12-ounce glasses.

 

Know the latest trends in alcoholic beverage consumption

You need to know which type of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, liquor) are seeing a rise or fall in consumption in order to choose the most profitable types for your restaurant.
Try: Technomonic Inc., offers an Adult Beverage Category Report that lays out the latest alcoholic beverages trends and V&S Vin & Spirit offers information more specific to spirits or hard liquor.

Consider establishing an alcoholic beverages niche to keep inventory costs down

Establishing a niche has a little bit to do with research and a lot to do with knowing your local market. If you find most people in your local area are beer drinkers, consider stocking a wide variety of beer (domestic, imports, micro brews) and a limited supply of liquors and wine. This not only draws in a diverse beer drinking crowd, but it also keeps costs down because you aren't buying and holding a lot of slow-moving inventory, which eats into profits.
Try: Purchase inventory control software from The Bar Cop Network or Restaurant Resource Group to help you track alcoholic beverages inventory sales and costs.

Determine your potential profit from alcoholic beverage sales

Discover your potential profit margins from the sale of beer, wine and liquor to determine which type of alcohol has the potential to make your restaurant the most profit.
Try: Use Applied Beverage Technology Inc.'s Drink Profit Calculator to determine the profit margin per keg of beer. Purchase SellTech's Profit Story calculator for more detailed profit information on beer, wine and liquor sales.

 

• Once you've decided upon which alcoholic beverages to sell at your restaurant, teach your servers how to sell the products effectively by conducting beer, wine and liquor training.

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