During April 2024, Überbartools™ conducted an international survey of hospitality businesses—bars, pubs, clubs, hotels, distilleries and more—to help identify the causes of liquor loss, highlighting the role speed pourers play in alcohol wastage.
The survey focused on inventory management frequency, reported variances and bar tools, specifically bottle pourer types used.
Here are the key insights from the survey and some questions worth exploring:
Type of pourer used
76% of all respondents use metal pourers (50% of them solely use metal pourers and the other 50% use a combination of metal and other kinds of pourers). The 24% of all respondents use other kinds of bottle pourers such as plastic and ball pourers.
Liquor variance and cost of overpouring
81% of the respondents surveyed use metal pourers and sell over 5 cases of spirits weekly.
BevSpot, a leading food and beverage management platform, recognises metal pourers for their high-flow rate pour volume and apparent quicker service.
According to the survey results, 77% of the metal pourer users found liquor variance after stock take, and 60% of them further estimated a cost of over $200 per week from overpouring liquor.
The arising question: is there a direct correlation between the use of metal pourers and liquor variance/loss?
Stock takes frequency
95% of all respondents perform stock takes: weekly (57%), monthly (24%) and fortnightly (14%).
75% of them find liquor variance between their POS sales/receipts and physical stock on-hand. Furthermore, 33% of them calculated a cost of over $200 per week from liquor overpouring.
Question: Can more frequent stock takes help businesses spot early signs of liquor waste?
Cases of spirits sold and liquor variance
Of the 81% of all respondents selling more than 5 cases of spirits weekly, 76% of them find liquor variances after stock take.
While liquor loss may be attributable to many factors, 38% of all respondents estimated a cost of over $200 per week from liquor overpouring in their venue, 31% of respondents say losses are $100 per week and a further 31% respondents claim losses of $50 per week.
Note: We did not survey how scientific the in-venue stock take process was, suggesting that we need to look into this question on a further study.
Conclusion
The survey revealed the popularity of metal pourers, with a high likelihood of contributing to liquor variance. While further studies and surveys could identify several contributing factors, overpouring emerged as a major issue.
On the bright side, the widespread use of speed pourers across the industry shows a commitment to efficiency and cost control, as well as the high frequency of weekly stock takes.
The significant levels of liquor loss seemingly attributable to metal speed pourers is somewhat concerning, requiring further study given the prevalence of use. The right speed pourers and measuring devices are the only protectors an operator has to minimise liquor loss.
See where your pourers sit within the pourer comparison chart. If you’re unhappy with the performance, longevity and consistency of the pourers you are currently using, explore Überbartools range of innovative speed pourers.
