Money Down The (Beer) Tap

Came across a situation recently where a bartender was swiftly alternating the beer tap between open and close to collect a pint of beer foam (head). Apparently he had just run out of beer at his other bar, and was in the middle of preparing some of it for a current order. However, the method used to top up his half-ready beer pints had resulted in an extra 2/3 pint of beer. It was a quiet night.

Naturally, one of the owners who was present at that time, was visibly upset with the wastage. Perhaps this is a good example to showcase the lack of strong bar inventory control systems throughout the industry (safe for some)? For clear accountability would definitely influence how barmen in general are willing to prepare the drinks in a more optimum manner.

And it also reflects how most bar owners are quite concerned with bar inventory, though most systems being used are relatively simplistic. Of course, this situation is probably compounded by the astronomical (in comparison) prices of computerized control systems. However, a meticulous and disciplined manual inventory control can also be quite effective.

So perhaps the key is a significant on-going investment in staff training and motivation, with rewards & remuneration pegged clearly to tangible performance measures; and maintaining an effective inventory system.

In the long run, this would likely help to stem out money loss behind the bar (including the intentional and planned occasions), not to mention the other resources, especially time.

Easily up to one-third or more of potential revenues could be loss as a result of these problems in the industry. Even solely looking at the financial aspect, that is a lot of money down the tap...