DrinkedIn Trends

Some trends are unstoppable, and it seems that restaurant chain bankruptcies are the latest.

Last month, Cosí Così Inc., the long-struggling fast-casual operator, filed for bankruptcy, closed 40% of company-owned restaurants, and is up for sale. Just before the filing, Così closed 29 of 74 company-owned locations. Così also has 31 franchisee-owned units that are unaffected by the action. And just last week, San Diego-based Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. filed for Chapter 11 protection.

Garden Fresh, which operates 123 Soulplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants in 15 states, is the latest restaurant chain company to file for bankruptcy in the last year. At least 12 chains - Logan’s Roadhouse, Fox & Hound, Champps, Bailey’s, Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryan’s, Johnny Carino’s, Quaker Steak & Lube, Zio’s Italian Kitchen, and Black-eyed Pea - have sought legal protection while they sort out their difficulties.

It’s a troubling trend not seen since the Great Recession, and with traffic still sluggish, the chances are more will follow soon.

Perhaps it’s just a shake-out, one that is growingly anticipated in other food and beverage realms, like the one that many are predicting for the booming craft beer business. Or maybe it’s being driven by too many players seeking the same customers. Chains have a difficult time differentiating themselves as more and more players create smaller niches, although one of the major consumer complaints unearthed by researchers, many of whom present at the VIBE Conference each year, is that there isn’t enough different and new being offered at a number of chain operations to attract repeat visits by Millennials.

The Gagliardi family has been in the pay-per-view and closed circuit business for 50 years, starting with Joseph Gagliardi. His son, Nick Gagliardi, started G&G Closed Circuit Events in 1999. G&G is the exclusive distributor in the United States for just about every PPV event. In fact, they have been the distributor of HBO Sports and HBO Boxing for commercial use for 20 years, and they have a longstanding relationship with Bellator. When Bellator makes their return to the PPV format, you can rest assured that G&G Closed Circuit Events will have the exclusive rights to their events.

Gagliardi and his team have acquired a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all aspects of PPV events, so we could think of nobody better to explain the process for hosting such promotions, and how to profit from them. Pay-per-view boxing and MMA fans in particular look for venues that will deliver an amazing experience for their favorite events. Become the place to watch these PPV events and you’ll be filling your coffers in no time. Read on for everything you need to know about hosting these money-making promotions.

The Process

You call in and speak with a G&G sales staff member who will ask you:

G&G will then:

If you’re an operator looking for a promotion that can transform a slow day into a profitable one, you may want to consider hosting a weekly pub quiz. The types of customers who gravitate towards pub quizzes tend to be fiercely loyal to the venues that provide them with their favorite bar promotion, so pull this sort of event off and you’ll have repeat customers you can count on to show up week after week. For the cost of a prize or two and the quizmaster’s compensation you can have your own quiz night (or afternoons and nights) up and running.

We’ve been checking out a few local pub quizzes, one hosted by a pizza restaurant and one hosted by a craft brewery. What stuck with us, besides our immediate compulsion to win, was not only how fun it is to answer questions spanning seemingly innumerable categories while enjoying a cocktail or beer, but how simple the promotion appeared to be. Clearly the majority of the teams (we have learned that a maximum of 6 people should be on one team) are repeat customers, and they aren’t shy about ordering food, cocktails, wine and beer. During the quiz rounds all of the focus is definitely on listening to and answering questions, but the time before the quizzes start, in between rounds, and after the games are over are all about socializing, getting to know the competition, and imbibing. Be consistent and deliver your pub quiz(zes) on the same day(s) at the same time(s) and you’ll be sitting pretty, no question (heh).

So impressed were we by the simplicity pub quizzes, we felt we needed to speak with a quizmaster to get the inside scoop on how to host these events properly. Steve Fernandez, the Tenaya Creek Brewery Pub Quiz host and a Geeks Who Drink quizmaster located in Las Vegas, answered all of our questions, a departure from his normal role.

How did you get started hosting pub quizzes?

The Tenaya Creek Pub Quiz has been running since the summer of 2013. Born out of a conversation between bartender Mia and another regular, how I became involved is attributed to sheer chance: I was sitting nearby.

Nightclub & Bar Show Mixology & Shake It Up! Competition from Nightclub & Bar Show on Vimeo.

Take a look at tools of the trade, stock up on all the basics, see the new cocktail culture, and witness the Shake It Up! Flair and Classic Competition in partnership with the United States Bartenders' Guild.

Plan now to attend the 2017 Nightclub & Bar Conference and Trade Show. Our Mixology Experience is dedicated to Shake It Up & Flair Competitions, Tastings, Education & More! Discover exciting innovations in spirits that will keep your craft ahead of the curve. Learn how to keep customers coming back, discover hundreds of new brands on the market, and learn from experts with hands-on trainings. We look forward to seeing you there!

Finding the right type of entertainment for a nightclub requires looking for acts with an appropriate mix of crowd draw and fit for your budget. An Instagram personality can be a profitable choice for attracting clientele, despite not being what we typically think of as a celebrity. Take a look at the top reasons why you should consider booking an Instagram celebrity.

You get value

Instagram celebs are a great alternative to booking a top artist at your nightclub. Big artists are good for boosting your publicity and building up a club’s name, but their high booking fees mean they aren’t always feasible as a regular draw for certain clubs. An individual who has become well known through their Instagram account, on the other hand, may have thousands of followers and even make good money from what they do, but they will usually not cost as much to book as a top artist. They will still, however, draw a big crowd, meaning the ROI for your business is high.

For one thing, online influencers like Instagram stars already know how to get attention on social media. This is something that bigger artists may not have the specialized skill in, or you have to pay extra for them to take the time to post (or for them to pay their social media manager to do it). It’s a skill that adds significantly to the value of booking an Instagram celebrity.

Just as important, the promotion provided by an Instagram celebrity often doesn’t feel like pushy advertising. It comes across as a trusted friend sharing exciting information. Their followers actually want to see more content from them, know what they’re doing, and find out where they are. You bring that same inner circle feeling to your club when an influencer tells their followers they will be there because those people feel like a community. They want to support their community and partake in that feeling of belonging, and that will build up interest in your event, helping to get more people to attend. The intimate-feeling relationship between Instagram personalities and their followers gets the followers to take action. Again, this is much different from a top artist, who can feel quite distant and untouchable to fans. Big artists have a wider base, but they may lack that devotion enjoyed by a niche online celeb.

Every year at around this time, Jennifer Knott gets the urge to use apples. “I love how versatile they are and the many ways they can be used,” she says. “All of my cocktails have apple cider paired with a different spirit.”

Knott is the head bartender at 312 Chicago, in Chicago of course, where she brings out a new cocktail menu 4 times a year. This fall she’s created an additional, special 5-cocktail menu that only features cocktails made with apple-infused ingredients. Knott buys apple cider from her local Chicago farmers market and plays around with it. It pairs well with just about anything, she says — vodka, rum, whisky, calvados — though she can’t imagine using it with gin.

This year on the menu there’s a calvados cocktail; an apple brandy cocktail; and an apple pie cocktail that’s infused rum with apples, cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. For all of them she uses an apple cider made with blended apples. “But I have used different kinds of ciders made from different kinds of apples,” she says, “and there is a large variation in taste.”

Two of Knott’s apple drinks — Mamma I’m Coming Home and Mele Caldo — are served hot, and most are at least somewhat familiar. “I take things people know and make variations on them,” she says. “And I like to make comforting drinks at this time of year.”

Knott’s not the only one. Here we take a look at the apple drinks being served up around the country:

Like most people in the restaurant business, I can honestly tell you that this is not where I saw myself when I was younger. When my family opened our pub and grill, I was fourteen, barely legal to walk around and gather plates from guests. I was still there a few years later, washing dishes. And, surprise, surprise, I’m still there now that it’s legal for me to carry over your overflowing adult beverage. I have transformed from a teenager working one night a week to help pay for movie tickets and videogames to the waitress guarding her closing weekend shifts. Even when I got an “adult job,” I still didn’t leave. I’ve officially been sucked into the industry, and I’m certainly not the last.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s plenty of reasons not to open up a restaurant (or work in one). The hours, the unsteady paycheck, the disrespect… Believe me, there are lists galore. Yet, we all stay in it. Yes, we’ve had some turnover, just like all restaurants, but my family will be there until my mom hands over the keys. Call it dedication, loyalty, family obligation, it doesn't matter; our restaurant wouldn’t have done nearly as well if we weren’t a family. There are just some things that only family will do, so, despite the many drawbacks of the restaurant industry as a whole, working with your relatives has some weighty advantages.

They’ll Cover Shifts on the Fly

The weekly schedule is always a mess. The bartender might be working two jobs, and the other one just called him in so a waitress is filling in, but now who’s covering her shift? No matter how dedicated other waitresses are, at the end of the day, they can say, “Not my problem.” It’s not their responsibility to cover someone else’s shift, even if the other person has a death in the family. It’s certainly expected that someone do it, but it’s none of their responsibilities. This is where a manager normally has to step in, but not in a family business. I’m already on my way, grabbing my bar shirt and texting my friends that I can’t make that movie tonight. 

When it’s your family’s business, you’re willing to sacrifice more, because it’s not just a business. It’s not just work – it’s the skeleton holding your family upright. You’re not about to let a shift go uncovered, because then what if a guest posts a negative review on Yelp and no one ever comes in again? Other waitresses will find another job; the family would never recover. 

The 2017 VIBE Conference, known as the premier annual event for recognizing the leading chain and hotel adult beverage executives and suppliers, will be held in San Diego, CA, from February 27 to March 1. Each year, VIBE recognizes the creation, training, execution, management, and ongoing positive results of national on-premise companies’ corporate beverage programs with the VIBE Vista Awards. It's important to keep in mind that submissions are due no later than Friday, November 11, 2016. For more information on the 2017 VIBE Vista Awards, please visit www.vibeconference.com/awards. To view the 2016 VIBE Vista Award winners, please click here.

Nominations may be submitted by sponsors, consultants, agencies, distributors, suppliers and operators, and are judged on creating positive initiatives that spark beverage sales, innovations that contribute to operational efficiencies, and training and service programs that lead to the highest quality standards and operational practices. All submissions are reviewed by a panel of Johnson & Wales University beverage faculty, staff and alumni.

The VIBE Vista Awards recognize top performance in the Multi-Unit Chain Restaurants and Hotel, Cruise Lines, and Casinos divisions. The awards highlight programs and promotions in the following categories:

VIBE Vista Award benefits include:

Please check back for updates. If you have any questions, please email Andrea Floyd: [email protected].

Hispanic consumers are increasingly crucial to the success of bars and restaurants, and that’s not likely to change much in the 21st century. Peter Filiaci is a vice president in the Strategy and Insights Group at Univision Communications. He will address the importance of the Hispanic consumer in his session, “Connecting with Hispanic Consumers to Drive Growth,” at the upcoming VIBE Conference. Filiaci will reveal how over the next 10 years their continued rapid growth in the younger demographics will be in stark contrast to the aging non-Hispanic population, and what that means for restaurant chains.

VIBE: Briefly, why is the Hispanic consumer so important now?

Peter Filiaci: I think it’s because the overall growth in consumption is driven by growth in demographics. The census data for the next 10 years projects 20% (or 2.6 million) more young Hispanic adults, while there will be a continuing aging and decline on the non-Hispanic side. This has been happening for a while but it’s projected to continue to lead the growth of population. An analysis we had done for us shows that between 2014 and 2019, Hispanic spending on beverage alcohol is projected to grow 32%, which is more than twice the rate from non-Hispanics.

VIBE: Much of the beverage attention regarding Hispanic consumers has been focused on Mexican beer, but there’s more to the story than that, isn’t there?

Filiaci: What we’ve seen consistently over the years is Hispanics are much more likely to order food and beverages together on over 90% of the occasions they visit, whereas for non-Hispanics typically beverages are included only about 75% of the time. Beverages are clearly helping to drive up check averages. On the consumption side, a lot of beer companies and brands have advertised to this community, not just the makers of Mexican beer, but also domestic and imports. Heineken is a good example of a company that has marketed to this consumer, even though they wouldn’t necessarily be a natural fit, but they really committed to it after looking at the numbers and they have done a good job.

On-premise traffic may not be picking up the way operators want, but when it comes to spirits, all the news is good. According to Nielsen CGA's On Premise service, which measures restaurant and bar sales, spirits volume and value is growing. In fact, spirits are growing better than beer and wine, although on-premise lags off.

In the on-premise, volume is up 1.6% and value 2.6% in the 52-week period ending in mid-July.

“Off outperforms, which presents a challenge for suppliers, distributors and retailers to drive traffic into bars and restaurants and ensure the right products are presented at the right price to deliver a great experience and true sense of value,” according to the report.

With value growing ahead of volume, it appears retailers are trading customers up to more premium brands and categories, but in the off-premise more than on.

“Consumers are keenly aware of the price difference for identical or similar products in on-premise versus off, and so restaurant and bar operators need to ensure their pricing can be justified by the overall experience,” according to Scott Elliot, SVP of Nielsen CGA. "What we are just starting to uncover is the complex picture which just begins to scratch the surface of the interdependence between on- and off-premise. Opportunities exist for suppliers, distributors and retailers to work together to drive optimal assortment, ranging and pricing.”

Join us on September 27, 2016 at 2:00 PM EST for our free webinar, “How to Profit with Pay-Per-View Events,” sponsored by G&G Closed Circuit Events, LLC. Pay-per-view boxing night is a big event, and fans will visit local bars, restaurants and nightclubs to watch the bouts. Sign up for this free webinar to learn how to leverage the popularity of PPV events so you can build your customer base and bottom line.

Speaker Nick Gagliardi, owner of G&G Closed Circuit Events, will teach you how to take advantage of national advertising campaigns, news stories, and social media hype that create desire and FOMO for the fights. The coverage and social media buzz that surrounds boxing events enables you to profit from the excitement of watch parties at your business…if you understand how to best use them to generate revenue.

During this webinar, Gagliardi and his veteran sales team (which boasts over 50 years of combined experience serving bars, nightclubs and restaurants) will present the A-to-Z guide for hosting successful PPV events, creating and maintaining a relationship with event sales reps, and helping you to build a loyal customer base looking to spend big dollars.

Sign up now take advantage of this free opportunity!

Pen and paper is one of the biggest causes for mistakes in our industry. I’ve seen nightclubs not let in high profile guests who would have spent thousands inside the door all because one person didn’t know who they were. I’ve seen guest list lines get bottlenecked as the host sifted through pages to try to find the name that was written down. I’ve also seen people who were told they were on the list get turned away because they weren’t added before the list got printed.

None of these things should happen anymore, and it’s costing your nightclub thousands of dollars as a result.

That’s why it’s time to retire the old pen and paper guest list and upgrade to a digital system that’ll bring in even more revenue opportunities. Here are the 4 main benefits of a digital guest list.

1. Increase Efficiency

You’re able to streamline your guest list line when you have a digital, centralized list. Plus, it’s a lot easier for your staff to handle. All they have to do is either scan the guests’ QR code or search for their name, mark them as arrived, and then they’re on to the next guest. No more sifting through pages of paper. Now guests are inside and spending more money at the bar to drive up your bar sales.

JW Marriott program uses fresher ingredients for beverages

Two years ago, the JW Marriott chain introduced its Cocktails with Purpose program, rolling it out in select locations with the goal of meeting guests’ desire for wellness.

The program was hugely successful and although it continues to have a place on the chain’s bar menus, its principles are now embraced through many of the cocktails the bars shake up.

“We use almost all fresh ingredient in the cocktails for our Lobby Lounge,” says Brianna Muniz, food and beverage manager at the JW Marriott Chicago. “We implement a lot of different elements that are very appealing to our health-conscious guests.”

The idea is to meet consumer needs but also offer an elevated bar experience, she says. “The quality of your drinks is elevated when you don’t have processed flavors, and it makes for a much more balanced cocktail when you use fresh ingredients. It’s a better tasting cocktail too. I think it’s become the expectation, to do at least fresh lemon and lime juice. Here we have changed our expectation to do everything we possibly can and don’t like to source out anything. This way, we also have the opportunity to source local ingredients.”

Discover what’s trending with the brandy-like spirit from Peru, both in the glass and the shaker.

Author (and winner of the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature) Rudyard Kipling called pisco “the noblest and most beautiful product of our era.” He went on to say he theorized it’s made from “little cherub wings, the glory of a tropical sunrise, the red of sunset clouds and fragments of ancient epics written by the great fallen masters.” That romantic, idealized version of the spirit may be a bit over the top, but it also kind of sums up the optimism of producers and bartenders right now. Peruvian pisco is hot, its use goes way beyond the Pisco Sour, and it’s time to squash notions that it’s not as “serious” as other types of spirits.

Because pisco is often unfairly lumped into the same category as low-end vodka and rum, there is a price-to-quality assumption among consumers that’s just not quite accurate. “A common misconception about Peruvian pisco is that it’s just a strong neutral spirit and it should be inexpensive,” notes Diego Loret de Mola, founder of BarSol Pisco. “Like winemaking, terroir, weather, altitude and geography have tremendous influence in the tasting profile of a pisco.” Keep in mind: for Peruvian pisco, grapes are the only permitted ingredient. It’s naturally fermented and it can’t be brought to proof with water, adulterated with any flavoring, or even aged in wood. Its very methods of production mean it feasibly can’t – and shouldn’t – have a cheap price tag.

Most bartenders and consumers view pisco as a mixing spirit, but in Peru, it’s also quite often sipped by itself. Loret de Mola points out that piscos distilled from fully fermented wine are big, round and lush; they can hold their own mixed with other ingredients, but some prefer them solo. However, mosto verde piscos – those distilled from partially fermented wines – make for fantastic solo sipping. “They are very aromatic on their expression, and on the mouth the texture is much softer, lighter, delicate, and smoother, yet the aromas and flavors are extremely expressive, very lingering with a long finish.” BarSol Mosto Verde Italia and BarSol Mosto Verde Torontel are aromatic in the glass, while BarSol Mosto Verde Quebranta (made from a non-aromatic varietal) is much more subtle.

Lingering over a pisco that’s a puro (single grape varietal) versus an acholado (a blend of two or more grape varietals) does create a different tasting experience, says Pisco Portón master distiller Johnny Schuler. While puros allow one grape’s character to shine through, acholados “provide a complexity and flavor profile that create a unique sensory experience for the palate.” He recommends Pisco Portón Mosto Verde, which is made by partially fermenting the must (the freshly pressed grape juice). “[This] leads to more flavor and aroma in every bottle and a true expression of its Andean terroir.”

One of the most powerful tools in your digital marketing kit is email marketing. But how do you break through the clutter that exists in your customers’ inboxes these days? More bars and nightclubs have discovered the power of digital media. They post events, promotions, messages, photos, and videos in a variety of places (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo) and, most recently, tell stories on Snapchat. All of those media channels depend on your customers and prospects to find you on their “streams.”

Communicating directly to customers can be a great way to build a one-to-one relationship. But more than 200 billion emails are sent every day, and the average employed person receives 121 messages each day, according to the latest statistics. Why should they read yours?

Who’s on Your List?

The first (and most important) step in building an effective e-marketing program is gathering and growing a database of loyal customers; people who like your establishment and want to hear from you. No one will willingly give you his email address if he believes you will simply be bombarding him with endless promotional messages. You need to give those customers a reason to sign your guest book or subscribe online to your e-news. Sweepstakes, invitations to exclusive events, and VIP status are all great incentives to get people to subscribe. Be sure to add a “sign-up” button to your website and social media sites too (again with clear language that explains what you’ll send them, how often, and why they should sign up). But never simply add someone to your e-mail list without express permission.
Another way to expand your email reach is to collaborate with other local businesses on their email promotions.

If you have more detailed information on your customers, personalize your messages. For example, if you know which people come to your live music night, you can use that information to alert them to upcoming bands. Or, alternatively, inform them that you also serve Sunday brunch. (“Beer on Saturday night…Bloody Mary on Sunday (late) morning!)

I see it all the time: Venues spending their money on mass marketing efforts, blasting vague messages to a broad range of people who may or may not be their customers, all because they don’t know who their customers are, what their objectives are, or how to use the tools that are readily available to them. Fortunately, it’s a simple problem to fix and doesn’t require a lot of upfront capital to get on track.

Follow these 5 tips to get a better handle on your marketing and get the biggest bang for your buck.

1. Know Your Audience

Before you start any type of marketing, you first need to know who your audience is. Customers are the number one component of a successful venue; without customers, you don’t have a business. Discover who your customers are, what their idea of a good party is, the music they like to hear, the alcohol they like to drink, and the experience they expect. This information dictates your entire marketing strategy, including your promotions.

The best way to collect this information is through a system that tracks every guest who walks through your door. This data aggregates in a central analytics system which allows you to understand what nights / promotions / events drive people through the door, which channels bring the most traffic to your website and your venue, and how much on average people are spending. That’s valuable data that helps you put resources behind the things that are working and stop the things that aren’t.

Living in New York, I am struck by how many people travel here every summer to enjoy a “typical” city experience, which may include a night of music, dancing, and celebrating. If you own a club in the United States, you may not get many opportunities to travel abroad to enjoy international nightlife.

This brief overview captures some of the fascinating experiences that clubs on other continents offer. You can consider “importing” them to your own venue to draw new customers and give your current club-goers a truly unique evening.

Where in the World Are the Best Nightclubs?

According to Luxatic, many of them are in Las Vegas. (That’s just one more reason you should attend the 2017 Nightclub & Bar Show.)

What are some of the engaging ideas and trends you’ll find on the other side of the globe? Sirena in Brazil brings the outside in, creating a virtual rainforest. Ministry of Sound in London has built a global brand and even has its own record label. Ce La Vi (which translates to “This is Life”) is one of the top clubs in Singapore. They focus on the “end to end customer experience and create an illusion of exclusivity.” They celebrate loyal customers’ and resident DJ’s birthdays, turning those nights into special experiences for all club-goers (and attracting new prospects).

Offering own-brand beverages allows San Francisco bar to stand out.

In 2007, H. Joseph Ehrmann started thinking in new ways about the whiskey he served at his bar, Elixir, in San Francisco. Although he already had a strong bar program, he wanted to make it very personal to his bar and to offer something guests couldn’t get anywhere else.

So, he decided to offer his own label — private label whiskeys. That year, Sazerac Company approached him and asked if he’d like to purchase a private barrel of whiskey. “As it was new and different, I jumped on the opportunity and from there started asking other companies if they did anything similar,” Ehrmann says. “As the opportunities grew, so did my private barrel program.”

These purchases give him control over that barrel, he says, which really brings distinction to his bar, which is known for whiskeys and offers more than 500.

“I select a barrel and say what flavor profile I’m looking for, how much I want it to cost, how I want to use it — in shots or cocktails — and the characteristics it should exhibit. Then I can communicate to our guests why we chose that barrel and how it fits our lineup. So then they get the sense that this bar is also a little more special because it’s procured this collection. And, because we are experts in whiskey, the barrels we have selected are comparable to a chef’s choice in a restaurant.”

At the annual cocktail conference in July, fans gleaned intel about the botanical booze at seminars, tastings, dinners and more.

At Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this past July, gin fans were giddy with delight at all of the opportunities to compare, learn about and, of course, taste offerings from around the world. Here are a few of the most gin-worthy happenings from this summer.

Ford’s Gin Martinis and Oysters

Lucky guests who nabbed a reservation for this invite-only event on Friday afternoon at Seaworthy restaurant at the Ace Hotel were treated to a very civilized respite complete with beverages and bi-valves. For it, Dan Warner of The 86 Co. created three very different gin Martinis, and worked in tandem with Seaworthy executive chef Kerry Heffernan to pair them with a flight of tri-coastal oysters: East, West and Gulf. Guests began with a perfectly crafted Gin & Tonic garnished with an orange twist before the tableside Martini service began.

Each drink – presented from a beverage cart that also housed jars of the botanicals used in the gin – started with Ford’s Gin as its base, but the addition of other ingredients made for three unique cocktails, the perfect way to showcase the differences among oysters harvested from waters in different parts of the country. The East Coast Martini used Manzanilla Sherry and dry vermouth, and was garnished with an olive; its briny and savory notes were downright synergistic with the salty tang of an East Coast oyster. Delicate and floral, the West Coast Martini stirred in Muscadet wine from France’s Loire Valley and Lillet Blanc, perfect with a creamy and sweet West Coast oyster. And for the Gulf Coast drink, the duo looked to Ford’s Gin founder Simon Ford himself, who loves to throw back Guinness with oysters. Warner’s interpretation added in a Guinness reduction and Cocchi Americano, garnished with a radish slice.

“Time is money.” So goes the old adage that is correct in so many ways. This being the case, we should be sure we are being paid for our time. And yet mostly we aren’t even considering it when establishing prices at the bar. Here’s a look at why you should be considering your time when pricing your drinks, and a strategy for doing it in a considered and logical manner.

A Traditional Pricing Strategy

The traditional method of establishing prices at the bar is based on product and not the time associated with the creation of the finished product. For years we have been employing a method for pricing that focuses on the cost of goods of the product being sold. Beer has been marked up the least, somewhere between 3 and 5 times cost. Wine is next with a price around 4 to 6 times cost. Spirits and cocktails are priced at 6 to 8 times cost. Actual prices for specific drinks are adjusted from these results based on cost (low-cost items are marked up the most, high-cost items are marked up less), concept, market, and a survey of what competitors are charging.

This is a pretty good method for determining the price of your offerings, especially considering that so many operators don’t apply any method to pricing and simply charge “what the competition is charging,” or charge “what seems right.” But it fails to take into account the work that goes into creating specific offerings. This is especially more relevant in the present than just a few years ago…now that so many more cocktails require so many more steps to produce. These drinks should be priced accordingly, resulting in you getting paid for your valuable and limited time.

A New Pricing Strategy